EP4059404B1

EP4059404B1 - Intelligent vacuum cleaning and dust collecting apparatus

Info

Publication number: EP4059404B1
Application number: EP21197092.6A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Yun Jiang Chu
Original assignee: Guangdong Joy Intelligent Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Guangdong Joy Intelligent Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-03-18
Filing date: 2021-09-16
Publication date: 2024-02-14
Anticipated expiration: 2041-09-16
Also published as: US20220296064A1; EP4059404A1; CN112842156A

Description

BACKGROUND

Technical Field

The invention relates to a field of robotic vacuum cleaners, and in particular, relates to an intelligent vacuum cleaning and dust collecting apparatus.

Description of Related Art

A robotic vacuum cleaner, also known as an automatic sweeper, an intelligent vacuum cleaner, a sweeping robot, etc., is a type of intelligent household appliance capable of automatically completing floor cleaning in a room by virtue of artificial intelligence of a certain degree. Through brushing and vacuuming, a robotic vacuum cleaner generally sucks up the ground debris into its own garbage storage bin to complete ground cleaning. Generally, robots that complete cleaning, vacuuming, and wiping are also collectively classified as robotic vacuum cleaners.
At present, regarding a laser-type intelligent robotic vacuum cleaner, the barcode on the dust collector is required to be scanned with the laser head for the laser-type intelligent robotic vacuum cleaner to perform recharging and alignment. Regarding a visual-type intelligent robotic vacuum cleaner, the black and white code on the dust collector is required to be scanned with the camera to for the visual-type intelligent robotic vacuum cleaner to perform recharging and alignment. It can be seen that a special identification barcode is needed to be provided on the dust collector, but such identification barcode is difficult to shape, and high production costs are thus required. Another example of vacuum cleaning and dust collecting apparatus is disclosed in US 2020/359868 A1 .

SUMMARY

The invention aims to provide an intelligent vacuum cleaning and dust collecting apparatus exhibiting beneficial effects including automatic garbage cleaning, automatic mopping, automatic dust collecting, automatic charging, and low costs to solve the above-mentioned problems.
To accomplish the foregoing purpose, the following technical solutions are provided by the invention.
An intelligent vacuum cleaning and dust collecting apparatus includes a robotic vacuum cleaner and a dust collector, and the robotic vacuum cleaner includes a housing, an infrared receiving assembly, a dust bin assembly, host charging elastic pieces, a driving motor, running wheels, and a sweeping assembly. The infrared receiving assembly is disposed on a side surface of the housing, and the dust bin assembly is detachably disposed on a tail end of the housing. The host charging elastic pieces and the driving motor are disposed inside the housing, and the infrared receiving assembly and the driving motor are electrically connected to the host charging elastic pieces. The running wheels are disposed on a bottom portion of the housing, and the running wheels are connected to an output end of the driving motor. The sweeping assembly is connected to the bottom portion of the housing. The sweeping assembly includes a sweeping shaft and a sweeping brush, and the sweeping brush is disposed on the sweeping brush. A communication transmitting light is disposed inside the housing. The dust collector includes a dust collector body, four groups of infrared emitting lights, virtual wall signal lights, dust collector charging elastic pieces, and a dust collector assembly. The infrared emitting lights and the virtual wall signal lights are disposed on a side surface of the dust collector body, the dust collector charging elastic pieces are disposed on a bottom portion of the dust collector body, and the dust collector assembly is disposed inside the dust collector body. The dust collector charging elastic pieces contact the host charging elastic pieces, and the dust collector assembly abuts against the dust bin assembly. A communication receiving light is disposed on the bottom portion of the dust collector body.
In a further solution of the invention, the infrared receiving assembly includes a left front side infrared receiving light, front side infrared receiving light, a right front side infrared receiving light, a left rear side infrared receiving light, tail portion infrared receiving light, and a right rear side infrared receiving light. The left front side infrared receiving light, the front side infrared receiving light, the right front side infrared receiving light, the left rear side infrared receiving light, the tail portion infrared receiving light, and the right rear side infrared receiving light are all fixed to the side surface of the housing.
In a further solution of the invention, the dust bin assembly includes a dust bin, an air inlet, and a dust collecting opening. The air inlet and the dust collecting opening are both disposed on a side surface of the dust bin, and the air inlet and the dust collecting opening form a dust collecting air passage.
In a further solution of the invention, the host charging elastic pieces include a first host charging elastic piece and a second host charging elastic piece, and the first host charging elastic piece and the second host charging elastic piece are both fixed onto the housing.
In a further solution of the invention, the dust collector charging elastic pieces include a first dust collector charging elastic piece and a second dust collector charging elastic piece, and the first dust collector charging elastic piece and the second dust collector charging elastic piece are both fixed onto the dust collector body. The first dust collector charging elastic piece contacts the first host charging elastic piece, and the second dust collector charging elastic piece contacts the second host charging elastic piece.
In a further solution of the invention, the dust collector assembly includes a fan and a nozzle, the fan is disposed inside the dust collector body, and the nozzle is disposed on the side surface of the dust collector body.
In a further solution of the invention, a charging base is disposed on the dust collector body, and the charging base and the dust collector body are integrally formed as one piece. The dust collector charging elastic pieces and the communication receiving light are fixed onto the charging base, the charging base and the dust collector body form a dust collector alignment groove, and an angle of the dust collector alignment groove is 0° to 60°.
In a further solution of the invention, a host limit groove is disposed on the side surface of the housing, and the host limit groove is disposed on a side surface of the dust collecting opening. An angle formed between the host limit groove and the housing is 0° to 60°, and the host limit groove is matched with the dust collector alignment groove.
In a further solution of the invention, a water tank is disposed at a bottom side of the dust bin, and the water tank is detachably connected to the dust bin.
In a further solution of the invention, heat dissipation holes are disposed on the side surface of the housing, and a control button is disposed on the bottom portion of the housing.
Compared to the related art, beneficial effects of the invention include the following.
The robotic vacuum cleaner of the intelligent vacuum cleaning and dust collecting apparatus provided by the invention may automatically clean up garbage and automatically mop the floor. The robotic vacuum cleaner may perform automatic dust collection during the working process through the dust collector, and the robotic vacuum cleaner may also perform automatic charging through the dust collector. The dust collector does not require a barcode or a black and white code to allow the robotic vacuum cleaner to be automatically charged, so that a high degree of automation is provided, operation may be easily performed, and costs are lowered.
To make the aforementioned more comprehensible, several embodiments accompanied with drawings are described in detail as follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention. and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a structure of an intelligent vacuum cleaning and dust collecting apparatus according to the invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a structure of a robotic vacuum cleaner of the intelligent vacuum cleaning and dust collecting apparatus according to the invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a structure of the robotic vacuum cleaner with a side housing being removed.
FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the robotic vacuum cleaner of the intelligent vacuum cleaning and dust collecting apparatus according to the invention.
FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a structure of the robotic vacuum cleaner with a top housing being removed.
FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a structure of a dust collector of the intelligent vacuum cleaning and dust collecting apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 7 is a side view of the dust collector of the intelligent vacuum cleaning and dust collecting apparatus according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Description will now be made in detail to clearly and completely present preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Nevertheless, the disclosed embodiments are merely part of the embodiments of the invention, not all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the invention, all other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art without making any inventive effort fall within the scope that the invention seeks to protect.
With reference to FIGs. 1 to 7, in the embodiments of the invention, an intelligent vacuum cleaning and dust collecting apparatus includes a robotic vacuum cleaner 1 and a dust collector 9. The robotic vacuum cleaner 1 includes a housing 22, an infrared receiving assembly, a dust bin assembly, host charging elastic pieces, a driving motor, running wheels 23, and a sweeping assembly. The infrared receiving assembly is disposed on a side surface of the housing 22, and the infrared receiving assembly is configured to receive signals sent out from infrared emitting lights 10 and virtual wall signal lights 11 of the dust collector 9. The dust bin assembly is detachably disposed on a tail end of the housing 22. To be specific, with reference to FIG. 4, the dust bin assembly includes a dust bin 26, an air inlet, and a dust collecting opening 8. The air inlet and the dust collecting opening 8 are both disposed on a side surface of the dust bin 26, and the air inlet and the dust collecting opening 8 form a dust collecting air passage. Moreover, a water tank 29 is disposed at a bottom side of the dust bin 26, and a mop may be secured to the water tank 29, so that the robotic vacuum cleaner 1 may mop the floor when running. The water tank 29 is detachably connected to the dust bin 26, and to be specific, the water tank 29 may be engaged with the dust bin 26. The host charging elastic pieces and the driving motor are disposed inside the housing 22, and the infrared receiving assembly and the driving motor are both electrically connected to the host charging elastic pieces. The running wheels 23 are disposed on a bottom portion of the housing 22, the running wheels 23 are connected to an output end of the driving motor through a transmission belt, and the driving motor is configured to drive the running wheels 23. The sweeping assembly is connected to the bottom portion of the housing 22. With reference to FIG. 5, the sweeping assembly includes a sweeping shaft 24 and a sweeping brush 25. The sweeping brush 25 is disposed on the sweeping shaft 24, the sweeping shaft 24 rotates and drives the sweeping brush 25 to synchronously rotate, and the sweeping brush 25 sweeps the ground. A communication transmitting light 16 is disposed inside the housing 26. Moreover, heat dissipation holes 30 are disposed on the side surface of the housing 22 to speed up heat dissipation of the robotic vacuum cleaner 1. A control button is disposed on the bottom portion of the housing 22, and the robotic vacuum cleaner 1 may be controlled to start or stop operating through the control button. With reference to FIGs. 6 and 7, the dust collector 9 includes a dust collector body 27, four groups of the infrared emitting lights 10, the virtual wall signal lights 11, dust collector charging elastic pieces, and a dust collector assembly. The infrared emitting lights 10 and the virtual wall signal lights 11 are disposed on a side surface of the dust collector body 27, the dust collector charging elastic pieces are disposed on a bottom portion of the dust collector body 27, and the dust collector assembly is disposed inside the dust collector body 27. The dust collector charging elastic pieces are in contact with the host charging elastic pieces, and the dust collector assembly abuts against the dust bin assembly. To be specific, the dust collector assembly includes a fan and a nozzle 13, the fan is disposed inside the dust collector body 27, and the nozzle 13 is disposed on the side surface of the dust collector body 27. A communication receiving light 19 is disposed on the bottom portion of the dust collector body 27, and the communication receiving light 19 is configured to receive a signal sent out from the communication transmitting light 16 of the robotic vacuum cleaner 1. The robotic vacuum cleaner 1 of the intelligent vacuum cleaning and dust collecting apparatus provided by the invention may automatically clean up garbage and automatically mop the floor. The robotic vacuum cleaner 1 may perform automatic dust collection during a working process through the dust collector 9, and the robotic vacuum cleaner 1 may also perform automatic charging through the dust collector 9. The dust collector 9 does not require a barcode or a black and white code to allow the robotic vacuum cleaner 1 to be automatically charged, so that a high degree of automation is provided, operation may be easily performed, and costs are lowered.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, with reference to FIGs. 2 and 3, the infrared receiving assembly includes a left front side infrared receiving light 2, a front side infrared receiving light 3, a right front side infrared receiving light 4, a left rear side infrared receiving light 5, a tail portion infrared receiving light 6, and a right rear side infrared receiving light 7. The left front side infrared receiving light 2, the front side infrared receiving light 3, the right front side infrared receiving light 4, the left rear side infrared receiving light 5, the tail portion infrared receiving light 6, and the right rear side infrared receiving light 7 are all fixed to the side surface of the housing 22. The left front side infrared receiving light 2, the front side infrared receiving light 3, the right front side infrared receiving light 4, the left rear side infrared receiving light 5, the tail portion infrared receiving light 6, and the right rear side infrared receiving light 7 are all configured to receive the signals sent out from the infrared emitting lights 10 and the virtual wall signal lights 11 of the dust collector 9.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, with reference to FIG. 5, the host charging elastic pieces include a first host charging elastic piece 14 and a second host charging elastic piece 15, and the first host charging elastic piece 14 and the second host charging elastic piece 15 are both fixed onto the housing 22. Moreover, the dust collector charging elastic pieces include a first dust collector charging elastic piece 17 and a second dust collector charging elastic piece 18, and the first dust collector charging elastic piece 17 and the second dust collector charging elastic piece 18 are both fixed onto the dust collector body 27. The first dust collector charging elastic piece 17 are in contact with the first host charging elastic piece 14, and the second dust collector charging elastic piece 18 are in contact with the second host charging elastic piece 15. After receiving the signals sent out from infrared emitting lights 10 and virtual wall signal lights 11 of the dust collector 9, the infrared receiving assembly of the robotic vacuum cleaner 1 moves in the direction of the dust collector 9. Through auxiliary position-limitation caused by a host limit groove 20 and a dust collector alignment groove 21, the dust collecting opening 8 and the nozzle 13 are completely attached and sealed, so that the first host charging elastic piece 14 and the second host charging elastic piece 15 in the robotic vacuum cleaner 1 contact the first dust collector charging elastic piece 17 and the second dust collector charging elastic piece 18 in the dust collector 9. The dust collector 9 and the robotic vacuum cleaner 1 generate a charging current and charge the robotic vacuum cleaner 1.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, with reference to FIGs. 6 and 7, a charging base 28 is disposed on the dust collector body 27, and the charging base 28 and the dust collector body 27 are integrally formed as one piece. The dust collector charging elastic pieces and the communication receiving light 19 are fixed onto the charging base 28, the charging base 28 and the dust collector body 27 form the dust collector alignment groove 21, and an angle of the dust collector alignment groove 21 is 0° to 60°. Moreover, the host limit groove 20 is disposed on the side surface of the housing 22, the host limit groove 20 is disposed on a side surface of the dust collecting opening 8, and an angle formed between the host limit groove 20 and the housing 22 is 0° to 60°. The host limit groove 20 is matched with the dust collector alignment groove 21 to facilitate alignment and attachment of the robotic vacuum cleaner 1 and the dust collector 9. Since angles are provided for the dust collector alignment groove 21 and the host limit groove 20 and each of the angles is between 0° and 60°, an angle between the robotic vacuum cleaner 1 and the dust collector 9 is between 0° and 60°, such that the robotic vacuum cleaner 1 may be smoothly introduced onto the dust collector 9. Further, the first host charging elastic piece 14 and the second host charging elastic piece 15 in the robotic vacuum cleaner 1 may easily contact the first dust collector charging elastic piece 17 and the second dust collector charging elastic piece 18 in the dust collector 9, and the dust collector 9 and the robotic vacuum cleaner 1 generate the charging current and charge the robotic vacuum cleaner 1.
The operating principle provided by the invention is as follows. The robotic vacuum cleaner 1 receives the signals sent out from the four groups of the infrared emitting lights 10 on the dust collector 9 through the infrared receiving lights at six positions including the left front side infrared receiving light 2, the front side infrared receiving light 3, the right front side infrared receiving light 4, the left rear side infrared receiving light 5, the tail portion infrared receiving light 6, and the right rear side infrared receiving light 7. The robotic vacuum cleaner 1 receives the signals sent out from the four groups of the infrared emitting lights 10 in the dust collector 9 through the left front side infrared receiving light 2, two groups of the front side infrared receiving lights 3, and the right front side infrared receiving light 4. The robotic vacuum cleaner 1 continues moving towards the dust collector 9 and reaches a certain range in front of the dust collector 9 by avoiding the virtual wall signal transmitted by the virtual wall signal light 11. The robotic vacuum cleaner 1 continues moving towards the location of the dust collector 9. A distance between the robotic vacuum cleaner 1 and the dust collector 9 is detected through a distance sensor on the robotic vacuum cleaner 1, and the robotic vacuum cleaner 1 turns 180° at a position 300 mm away from the dust collector 9. After turning 180°, the robotic vacuum cleaner 1 receives the signals sent out from the four groups of the infrared emitting lights 10 in the dust collector 9 through the right rear side infrared receiving light 7, two groups of the tail portion infrared receiving lights 6, and the right rear side infrared receiving light 7, and the robotic vacuum cleaner 1 continues to drive towards the dust collector 9. Through auxiliary position-limitation caused by the host limit groove 20 and the dust collector alignment groove 21, the dust collecting opening 8 and the nozzle 13 are allowed to be completely attached and sealed, so that the first host charging elastic piece 14 and the second host charging elastic piece 15 in the robotic vacuum cleaner 1 are in contact with the first dust collector charging elastic piece 17 and the second dust collector charging elastic piece 18 in the dust collector 9. The dust collector 9 and the robotic vacuum cleaner 1 generate a charging current and perform charging to the robotic vacuum cleaner 1. The dust collector 9 issues a command to stop the robotic vacuum cleaner 1 from moving backwards. The robotic vacuum cleaner 1 transmits a signal to the communication receiving light 19 in the dust collector 9 through the communication transmitting light 16, and the dust collector 9 starts collecting dust after receiving the signal. The nozzle 13 on the dust collector 9 and the dust collecting opening 8 in the robotic vacuum cleaner 1 are attached and sealed. As the fan of the dust collector 9 functions, an air flow enters from the air inlet, exits through the dust collecting opening 8 of the robotic vacuum cleaner 1, and reaches a garbage bag of the dust collector 9 through the nozzle 13, and one cycle is completed in this way. The robotic vacuum cleaner 1 and the dust collector 9 begin charging after the dust collection work is completed.
The robotic vacuum cleaner 1 of the intelligent vacuum cleaning and dust collecting apparatus provided by the invention may automatically clean up garbage and automatically mop the floor. The robotic vacuum cleaner 1 may perform automatic dust collection during the working process through the dust collector 9, and the robotic vacuum cleaner 1 may also perform automatic charging through the dust collector 9. The dust collector 9 does not require a barcode or a black and white code to allow the robotic vacuum cleaner 1 to be automatically charged, so that a high degree of automation is provided, operation may be easily performed, and costs are lowered.

Claims

A vacuum cleaning and dust collecting apparatus, comprising a robotic vacuum cleaner (1) and a dust collector (9), wherein the robotic vacuum cleaner (1) comprises a housing (22), an infrared receiving assembly, a dust bin assembly, host charging elastic pieces, a driving motor, running wheels (23), and a sweeping assembly, the infrared receiving assembly is disposed on a side surface of the housing (22), the dust bin assembly is detachably disposed on a tail end of the housing (22), the host charging elastic pieces and the driving motor are disposed inside the housing (22), the infrared receiving assembly and the driving motor are electrically connected to the host charging elastic pieces, the running wheels (23) are disposed on a bottom portion of the housing (22), the running wheels (23) are connected to an output end of the driving motor, the sweeping assembly is connected to the bottom portion of the housing (22), the sweeping assembly comprises a sweeping shaft (24) and a sweeping brush (25), the sweeping brush (25) is disposed on the sweeping brush (25), and a communication transmitting light (16) is disposed inside the housing (22);
wherein the dust collector (9) comprises a dust collector body (27), four groups of infrared emitting lights (10), virtual wall signal lights (11), dust collector charging elastic pieces, and a dust collector assembly, the infrared emitting lights (10) and the virtual wall signal lights (11) are disposed on a side surface of the dust collector body (27), the dust collector charging elastic pieces are disposed on a bottom portion of the dust collector body (27), the dust collector assembly is disposed inside the dust collector body (27), the dust collector charging elastic pieces are in contact with the host charging elastic pieces, the dust collector assembly abuts against the dust bin assembly, and a communication receiving light (19) is disposed on the bottom portion of the dust collector body (27).
The vacuum cleaning and dust collecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the infrared receiving assembly comprises a left front side infrared receiving light (2), a front side infrared receiving light (3), a right front side infrared receiving light (4), a left rear side infrared receiving light (5), a tail portion infrared receiving light (6), and a right rear side infrared receiving light (7), and the left front side infrared receiving light (2), the front side infrared receiving light (3), the right front side infrared receiving light (4), the left rear side infrared receiving light (5), the tail portion infrared receiving light (6), and the right rear side infrared receiving light (7) are all fixed to the side surface of the housing (22).
The vacuum cleaning and dust collecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the dust bin assembly comprises a dust bin (26), an air inlet, and a dust collecting opening (8), the air inlet and the dust collecting opening (8) are both disposed on a side surface of the dust bin (26), and the air inlet and the dust collecting opening (8) form a dust collecting air passage.
The vacuum cleaning and dust collecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the host charging elastic pieces comprise a first host charging elastic piece (14) and a second host charging elastic piece (15), and the first host charging elastic piece (14) and the second host charging elastic piece (15) are both fixed onto the housing (22).
The vacuum cleaning and dust collecting apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the dust collector charging elastic pieces comprise a first dust collector charging elastic piece (17) and a second dust collector charging elastic piece (18), the first dust collector charging elastic piece (17) and the second dust collector charging elastic piece (18) are both fixed onto the dust collector body (27), the first dust collector charging elastic piece (17) is in contact with the first host charging elastic piece (14), and the second dust collector charging elastic piece (18) is in contact with the second host charging elastic piece (15).
The vacuum cleaning and dust collecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the dust collector assembly comprises a fan and a nozzle (13), the fan is disposed inside the dust collector body (27), and the nozzle (13) is disposed on the side surface of the dust collector body (27).
The vacuum cleaning and dust collecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a charging base (28) is disposed on the dust collector body (27), the charging base (28) and the dust collector body (27) are integrally formed as one piece, the dust collector charging elastic pieces and the communication receiving light (19) are fixed onto the charging base (28), the charging base (28) and the dust collector body (27) form a dust collector alignment groove (21), and an angle of the dust collector alignment groove (21) is 0° to 60°.
The vacuum cleaning and dust collecting apparatus according to claim 7, wherein a host limit groove (20) is disposed on the side surface of the housing (22), the host limit groove (20) is disposed on a side surface of the dust collecting opening, an angle formed between the host limit groove (20) and the housing (22) is 0° to 60°, and the host limit groove (20) is matched with the dust collector alignment groove (21).
The vacuum cleaning and dust collecting apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a water tank (29) is disposed at a bottom side of the dust bin (26), and the water tank (29) is detachably connected to the dust bin (26).
The vacuum cleaning and dust collecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein heat dissipation holes (30) are disposed on the side surface of the housing (22), and a control button is disposed on the bottom portion of the housing (22).