ES2913123T3 - Wet cleaning device and base station for a wet cleaning device with a dirty liquid container and method for the operation of a base station - Google Patents

Abstract

Wet cleaning device (1) with a cleaning element (2) for wet cleaning of a surface to be cleaned and with a dirty liquid tank (3) for receiving the liquid (31) used during a cleaning process , assigning to the dirty liquid tank (3) an evaporation device (4) for the evaporation, specifically both for boiling, as well as for vaporization, of the liquid (31) contained in the dirty liquid tank (3), characterized in that the evaporation device (4) has a heat-conducting element connected to a heat generator, in particular a blower (6), a drive (27) or a printed circuit board, of the wet cleaning device (1).

Description

DESCRIPTION

Wet cleaning device and base station for a wet cleaning device with a dirty liquid container and method for the operation of a base station

Scope of the technique

The invention relates to a wet cleaning device with a cleaning element for wet cleaning of a surface to be cleaned and with a dirty liquid tank for receiving a liquid used during a cleaning process, assigning to the dirty liquid tank dirty liquid an evaporation device for the evaporation, specifically for both boiling and vaporization, of the liquid contained in the dirty liquid container.

The invention further relates to a base station for a wet cleaning device with a dirty liquid container for receiving dirty liquid from the wet cleaning device.

The invention also relates to a method for operating a base station or a wet cleaning device, the liquid used during a cleaning process being housed in a dirty liquid tank, the liquid contained in the dirty liquid tank evaporating using an evaporation device.

State of the art

Wet cleaning devices, base stations and methods for operating such a base station or such a wet cleaning device are already known from the prior art. US 5907887 A, for example, describes a wet cleaning device according to the preamble of claim 1.

Known wet cleaning devices have a cleaning element, for example a rotating cleaning roller or a cleaning element, especially a microfiber cloth, placed on a flat support plate. To carry out a cleaning operation, the liquid is applied directly to the cleaning element or to the surface to be cleaned in the area of the cleaning element. During the cleaning operation, the liquid with any collected dirt passes from the cleaning element to a dirty liquid reservoir of the wet cleaning device. For this purpose, the cleaning element can, for example, be surrounded by a displaceable housing and perform a spin. The centrifuged liquid passes into the dirty liquid tank of the wet cleaning device, which must be emptied by a user of the wet cleaning device from time to time.

In this case, the inconvenience arises that the user has to manually empty the tank of dirty liquid, potentially coming into contact with the liquid.

In the state of the art it is also known from US 5,907,887 A the possibility of heating a dirty liquid container with electrical heating elements, in order to evaporate the dirty liquid.

Summary of the invention

The object of the invention is to perfect a wet cleaning device, a base station, as well as a method for their operation. This task is solved by a wet cleaning device according to claim 1, a base station for a wet cleaning device according to claim 7 and a method for operating a base station or a wet cleaning device according to claim 7. claim 10.

To solve this problem, the invention proposes that the evaporation device has a heat-conducting element connected to a heat generator, in particular a blower, a drive or a printed circuit board, of the wet cleaning device.

Thus, the heat necessary for evaporation is provided by an evaporation device which is suitable for heating the liquid for a vaporization process or a boiling process. The heat generators already present in the wet cleaning device are used for the evaporation device. Suitable are, for example, heat-generating components such as a blower of a suction device of the wet cleaning device, a drive, especially a displacement drive of the wet cleaning device, or also a printed circuit board used for the control of the wet cleaning device. The heat from these heat generators is advantageously conducted to the evaporation device with the aid of heat-conducting elements. The heat conducting elements may advantageously include heat conducting metals, for example in the form of heat conducting sheets. In principle, heated tubes can also be used. Depending on the temperature of the evaporation device or the heat-conducting element, the evaporation process can be influenced. If the evaporation device works, for example, at a temperature of 100°C, the water evaporates, for example, by means of a boiling process. If the temperature of the device evaporation or of the heat-conducting element is lower, for example, if it is 50°C, the evaporation takes place by means of a vaporization process. In both cases, the liquid contained in the dirty liquid tank evaporates, but at different evaporation rates. The liquid contained in the dirty liquid tank evaporates and is separated from any solid substances it may contain. Thus, the user of the wet cleaning device no longer has to empty the tank of dirty liquid and eventually come into contact with the content. By evaporation is meant both the boiling process and also the vaporization process, the liquid to be evaporated having to be heated to the boiling temperature during the boiling, ie, for example, in the case of water, to 100°C. Unlike vaporization, boiling is a rapid evaporation, that is, a rapid phase transition from the liquid state to the gaseous state. Alternatively, the liquid may also be evaporated by vaporization, the liquid being aerated and preferably heated to improve the rate of vaporization. In this case, the vaporization rate can be influenced by a plurality of parameters, including ambient air temperature, air humidity, air movement, surface properties, and the like.

Irrespective of the configuration according to the invention of the wet cleaning device with an evaporation device, the wet cleaning device can be configured, for example, for wet cleaning of hard floor coverings, for example tiled floors or of parquet The wet cleaning device can also be configured as an adapter for detachable connection to a base device or as a stand-alone one-piece device. In addition to wet cleaning devices to be manually guided by a user over the surface to be cleaned, one can also speak of self-propelled wet cleaning devices, especially cleaning robots. In this case, the wet cleaning devices in question are not exclusively limited to devices that can only perform a wet cleaning task. In this sense, the wet cleaning device can also especially be a device that can perform dry and wet cleaning tasks, for example as a suction and cleaning device. In addition to the usual floor cleaning devices for cleaning a floor, wet cleaning devices are also meant for cleaning surfaces above the floor, for example for cleaning window panes, shelves, strips of baseboards, steps and the like.

It is furthermore proposed that the evaporation device additionally has an electrically and/or chemically actuated heating element. The evaporation device can, for example, have a heatable evaporation surface in the form of a hot plate or different heating elements arranged side by side. The heating elements can be powered, for example, electrically or chemically. The electrical heating elements can be, for example, resistance heaters, Peltier elements or the like. Chemically powered heating elements can be powered, for example, by gases that are stored in gas cartridges within the wet cleaning device.

According to a particularly advantageous configuration, the evaporation device can be removably arranged in the wet cleaning device. In this way, the evaporation device can be removed from the wet cleaning device, exchanged or cleaned. Furthermore, it can be advantageous to provide the evaporation device with a coating that prevents a build-up of dirt and/or evaporation residues such as limescale. Suitable coatings are, for example, hydrophobic coatings with a lotus effect.

It is proposed to have a condensing device for condensing the steam after the dirty liquid tank. The condensing device can be arranged in particular in the direction of flow of the vapor between the dirty liquid container and a clean liquid container. Thus the steam is not simply led out of the wet cleaning device, but is liquefied again inside the wet cleaning device by means of the condensing device, so that the liquid cleaned of solid substances is again available for the device. wet cleaning, for example, for a subsequent cleaning operation. In a particularly simple case, the condensing device can be a reservoir wall of a flow channel following the dirty liquid reservoir. Particularly preferably, this wall is cooled so that condensation occurs particularly quickly and completely. The condensing device is preferably arranged in a flow channel between the dirty liquid tank and the clean liquid tank, so that the condensing device liquefies the vapor coming out of the dirty liquid tank, which is subsequently supplied as liquid. directly to the clean fluid reservoir. It can also be advantageous to equip the condensation device with, for example, ribs, cams, spikes or the like, on which liquid droplets can form, which in turn speeds up the condensation process.

It is proposed that the dirty liquid container has a dirt filter to separate the solid substances contained in the liquid. Consequently, the liquid contained in the dirty liquid container is freed of at least coarse solids before the evaporation process, so that the solids remain in the dirty filter and can be collected, dried and transported there. Particularly advantageously, the dirt filter is arranged at a defined distance from a lower surface of the dirty liquid container, so that when liquid enters the dirty liquid container, it first flows through the dirty liquid filter. , leaving the solid substances in the dirt filter, and only then continuing the flow of the already filtered liquid down to the dirty liquid tank as a result of the force of gravity, but no longer coming into contact with the dirt filter and with the solid substances found in it.

Solid substances are usually dirt particles, dust, dried plant parts, hair and the like. The dirt filter can be configured in a particularly advantageous way in the form of a screen or grid with a mesh size of less than 1 millimeter. Naturally, it is also possible not to use a dirt filter, so that the solid substances contained in the liquid can only remain separated after complete evaporation of the liquid contained in the dirty liquid container, where they can also be dried and disposed of.

It can also be provided that the wet cleaning device has a dirt chamber with a flow connection to the dirty liquid container, into which the solid substances precipitated during evaporation can be transferred. In particular, the wet cleaning device can have a blower for transferring solid substances into the dirt chamber. In the dirt chamber, solid substances can accumulate in a conventional filter bag or the like. The user of the wet cleaning device can then remove the filter bag from the wet cleaning device and dispose of it without the user having to come into contact with the solid substances. Particularly preferably, the wet cleaning device can also have a suction device that is common in vacuum cleaners, so that the wet cleaning device can be designed both for wet cleaning tasks and for suction tasks. In this way, the blower can also be used to transfer the solid substances from the dirty liquid tank to the dirt chamber. Alternatively, solid substances can also be sucked up by means of a base station for the wet cleaning device. In this case, the base station can be configured both actively and passively, i.e. have its own blower for the suction of solid substances or provide a flow deflection for the blower of the wet cleaning device, so that the dirty liquid deposit can be sucked into a dirt chamber with the suction air flow of the blower of the wet cleaning device.

Provision can be made for assigning to the dirty liquid tank a humidity detector configured to measure a humidity level inside the dirty liquid tank, especially a humidity level of the solid substances contained in the dirty liquid tank. In this case, the humidity detector can send a detection result, for example, to an evaluation and control device of the wet cleaning device, which then automatically causes a displacement of the solid substances from the dirty liquid container to the dirt chamber, for example by connecting the blower. The moisture detector advantageously monitors the residual moisture continuously, preferably during a pause in the operation of the wet cleaning device, in which the wet cleaning device is not used, and sends the detection results to the evaluation device and control. In the event that the humidity falls below a humidity limit value, the solid substances can then advantageously be transported from the dirty liquid container into the dirt chamber with the help of the blower of the wet cleaning device. The humidity detector can advantageously be an optical sensor that measures the reflection properties of solid substances which in turn depend on a level of humidity. In addition, the moisture detector can also make use of other measurement procedures, such as capacitive sensory analysis, resistance measurement, and others.

In addition to the above-proposed wet cleaning device, the invention also proposes a base station for a wet cleaning device which has a dirty liquid container for receiving dirty liquid from the wet cleaning device, the dirty liquid container being assigned an evaporation device for evaporating, i.e. boiling or vaporizing, the liquid contained in the dirty liquid container, the evaporation device having in particular an electrically and/or chemically actuated heating element and/or a heat-conducting element of the connected base station to a heat generator, especially a blower or printed circuit board. According to this configuration, a base station designed separately from the wet cleaning device has a dirty liquid tank and an evaporation device for processing the dirty liquid from the wet cleaning device.

The wet cleaning device is connected to the base station for emptying the dirty liquid tank, passing the liquid contained in the dirty liquid tank of the wet cleaning device to the dirty liquid tank of the base station, where it evaporates and is available as a clean liquid. Solid substances are isolated and can be disposed of separately. In this case, the evaporation device can be configured as described above in connection with the wet cleaning device.

With regard to the base station, it is also especially proposed to arrange a condensing device for condensing the vapor downstream of the dirty liquid container, in particular in the direction of flow of the vapor between the dirty liquid container and a clean liquid container. According to this embodiment, the cleaned liquid is stored in a clean liquid reservoir of the base station, thus it can in turn be transferred from the base station to a wet cleaning device, in order to use it there for a next cleaning operation. The condensing device can be configured as described above in connection with the wet cleaning device.

It is further proposed that the dirty liquid container has a dirt filter for separating the solid substances contained in the liquid and/or that the base station has a dirt chamber with a flow connection to the dirty liquid container, to which they transfer the solid substances precipitated during evaporation especially by means of a blower. In this case, the dirt filter can be arranged and configured in the dirty liquid container as described above in connection with the wet cleaning device. the blower to transfer the solids from the dirty liquid tank to the dirty chamber it can be a blower of the base station or also the blower of the wet cleaning device.

In addition, the base station (like the wet cleaning device) may also have a humidity detector assigned to the dirty liquid reservoir that can measure a humidity level within the dirty liquid reservoir.

Finally, the invention also proposes a method for the operation of a base station and/or a method for the operation of a wet cleaning device, the liquid used during a cleaning operation being collected in a dirty liquid tank, the liquid evaporating contained in the dirty liquid tank by means of an evaporation device, and the liquid being evaporated by means of a heat-conducting element connected to a heat generator, especially a blower, drive or printed circuit board, of the wet cleaning device.

The method may also include the condensation of the vapor by means of a condensation device arranged downstream of the dirty liquid tank, especially a supply to a clean liquid tank. It is further proposed that the liquid contained in the dirty liquid container be filtered by means of a dirt filter and/or that the solid substances precipitated during evaporation pass, in particular by means of a blower, into a dirt chamber which has a connection for flow with dirty fluid reservoir.

The method may further comprise a humidity detector that measures a humidity level within the dirty liquid tank, especially a humidity level of the solid substances contained in the dirty liquid tank.

In this case, the special configurations and method advantages result analogous to the previously described embodiments of the wet cleaning device and the base station.

Brief description of the drawings

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to exemplary embodiments. It is shown in: Figure 1 a perspective view of a wet cleaning device according to the invention,

Figure 2 a longitudinal section of the wet cleaning device,

Figure 3 a base station according to the invention with a wet cleaning device,

Figure 4 a longitudinal section through the base station and the wet cleaning device according to Figure 3. Description of embodiments

Figure 1 shows a wet cleaning device 1 configured as a self-propelled cleaning robot. The wet cleaning device 1 has a distance measuring device 21 with which the wet cleaning device 1 can be oriented within an environment. The distance measuring device 21 is arranged inside a device housing 20 of the wet cleaning device 1 and is based, for example, on optical distance measurement.

FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal section of the wet cleaning device 1. The wet cleaning device 1 has moving wheels 22 (only one of the moving wheels 22 can be seen in the illustration) as well as a drive. 27, in particular advantageously an electric motor, for the rotation of the displacement wheels 22. The wet cleaning device 1 additionally has a cleaning element 2 in the form of a rotating cleaning roller. The cleaning element 2 is surrounded, for example, with a microfiber lining with which solid substances 32 and liquid 31 can be collected from a surface to be cleaned. The cleaning element 2 is arranged in a first housing part 23 and a second housing part 24, which are relatively movable relative to each other and release the cleaning element 2 during a cleaning operation of the wet cleaning device 1 , so that it can be deposited on the surface to be cleaned. During a regeneration operation, the housing parts 23, 24 form a complete housing within which the cleaning element 2 can rotate and, in this case, expel the solid substances 32 and the liquid 31. The housing part 23 has a dirty liquid channel 25, which directs solid substances 32 and liquid 31 to a dirty liquid reservoir 3, and a clean liquid channel 26, through which unused liquid 31 can be transported from a clean liquid reservoir 7 to cleaning element 2.

The dirty liquid container 3 is assigned an evaporation device 4, which here has several heating elements 5, for example heating resistors, arranged side by side. The dirty liquid channel 25 has a ramp 28 along which the liquid 31, contaminated with solid substances 32 and reaching the tank of dirty liquid 3, can flow to the evaporation device 4. In the dirty liquid tank 3, a dirt filter 9 is arranged before the evaporation device 4. The dirt filter 9 is here a grid, and the liquid can 31 flow through its meshes as a consequence of the force of gravity, while the solid substances 32 remain in the dirt filter 9. Thus, only the filtered liquid 31 reaches the evaporation device 4, evaporating there. The steam 33 flows from the evaporation device 4 through a channel forming a condensing device 8, on the wall of which the steam 33 can condense. The condensate, i.e. the purified liquid 31, then passes into the clean liquid container 7, from where it can be transported back to the cleaning element 2 via the clean liquid channel 26.

After drying, the solid substances 32 filtered by the dirt filter 9 pass through a blower 6 into a dirt chamber 10, which can have, for example, a filter bag. The dirt chamber 10 can also be assigned a moisture sensor (not shown) which measures the moisture level of the solids 32 located in the dirt filter 9. Depending on the measured moisture level, the blower 6 can be started to cause a displacement of the solid substances 32 from the dirt filter 9 to the dirt chamber 10.

Figure 3 shows a device comprising a wet cleaning device 1 and a base station 11 in an interconnected state.

The longitudinal section of the device shown in FIG. 4 shows in detail the wet cleaning device 1, which has a cleaning element 2 in the form of a cleaning roller, as well as drive wheels 22, with the aid of which the wet cleaning device 1 can move over a surface to be cleaned. The wet cleaning device 1 has a dirty liquid container 3 as well as a clean liquid container 7. Contrary to the embodiment according to FIG. 2, this wet cleaning device 1 does not have an evaporation device 4 nor a condensing device 8 for the regeneration of the dirty liquid.

Rather, the base station 11 here has a dirty liquid container 12 and a clean liquid container 16, as well as an evaporation device 13, a condensation device 17 and a dirt chamber 19. By means of a pump 29 arranged in the base station 11, liquid 31 and solid substances 32 are sucked from the dirty liquid tank 3 of the wet cleaning device 1. For this purpose, the dirty liquid tank 3 of the wet cleaning device 1 is connected to a channel liquid 30 of the base station 11. The pump 29 transports the liquid 31 and the solid substances 32 to the dirty liquid tank 12 of the base station 11, where they are guided along heating elements 14 of the evaporation device 13. The Evaporated liquid 31 enters the clean liquid tank 16 in the form of vapor 33 through a connection channel 34 and is condensed by means of the condensing device 17 arranged there. The condensation device 17 is an inner wall of the clean liquid tank 16. The liquid 31 separated from the solid substances 32 by evaporation is collected inside the clean liquid tank 16, and can be transported from there through a channel of liquid 18 to the clean liquid tank 7 of the wet cleaning device 1. The solid substances 32 that remain inside the dirty liquid tank 12 during the evaporation process fall by gravity from a partial area of the dirty liquid tank 12 to the dirt chamber 19 of the base station 11. A suction flow from a blower 15 supports this process. The dirt chamber 19 can, for example, have a filter bag that a user of the base station 11 can remove and dispose of in a particularly convenient way.

As explained above with respect to the wet cleaning device 1 according to FIGS. 1 and 2, the dirty liquid container 12 of the base station 11 can, in principle, also have a humidity sensor that measures the humidity level of the solid substances 32 contained in the dirty liquid container 12. Based on this measurement, for example, the blower 15 of the base station 11 can be controlled.

In the exemplary embodiments shown here, both the evaporation device 4 of the wet cleaning device 1 and the evaporation device 13 of the base station 11 can be operated at different temperatures so that the liquid to be evaporated evaporates well. through the boiling process or through the vaporization process. In particular, the heating elements 5, 14 can be heated to different temperatures for this purpose, an evaporation process taking place if the temperature of the heating elements 5, 14 remains below the boiling temperature of the liquid to be evaporated. producing, when reaching the boiling temperature, a boiling process. Provided that the evaporation device 4, 13 uses, alternatively or in addition to the electrically and/or chemically driven heating elements, heat generators already present in the wet cleaning device 1 or in the base station 11, the achievable temperature depends on the waste heat from these heat generators. The heat generators can be, for example, a blower 6, a drive 27 or the like. Normally, these are not heated to the point of reaching the boiling point of, for example, water, so a vaporization process is used here for evaporation.

reference list

1 Wet cleaning device 26 Clean liquid channel

Cleaning element 27 Drive Dirty liquid tank 28 Ramp Evaporation device 29 Pump Heating element 30 Liquid channel Blower 31 Liquid Clean liquid tank 32 Solid substance Condensing device 33 Steam

Dirt filter 34 Connection channel Dirt chamber

Base station

Dirty liquid tank

evaporation device

heating element

Blower

clean liquid reservoir

condensing device

liquid channel

dirt chamber

device housing

distance measuring device

Scroll wheel

casing part

casing part

Dirt liquid channel

Claims (12)

1. Wet cleaning device (1) with a cleaning element (2) for wet cleaning of a surface to be cleaned and with a dirty liquid tank (3) for receiving the liquid (31) used during a process cleaning, the dirty liquid tank (3) being assigned an evaporation device (4) for the evaporation, specifically both for boiling and also for vaporization, of the liquid (31) contained in the dirty liquid tank (3) , characterized in that the evaporation device (4) has a heat-conducting element connected to a heat generator, in particular a blower (6), a drive (27) or a printed circuit board, of the wet cleaning device (1) . Wet cleaning device (1) according to Claim 1, characterized in that the evaporation device (4) additionally has an electrically and/or chemically actuated heating element (5). Wet cleaning device (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that after the dirty liquid container (3), in particular in the direction of steam flow (33), between the dirty liquid container (3) and a clean liquid tank (7), a condensation device (8) for the condensation of the vapor (33). Wet cleaning device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the dirty liquid container (3) has a dirt filter (9) for separating the solid substances (32) contained in the liquid. (31). Wet cleaning device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by a dirt chamber (10) which has a flow connection to the dirty liquid container (3), into which solid substances can be transferred (32) precipitated during evaporation, especially by means of a blower. Wet cleaning device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a humidity detector configured to measure a humidity level inside the dirty liquid tank (3) is assigned to the dirty liquid tank (3). ), especially a moisture level of the solid substances (32) contained in the dirty liquid tank (3). 7. Base station (11) for a wet cleaning device (1), with a dirty liquid tank (12) for receiving dirty liquid from the wet cleaning device (1), characterized in that the liquid tank dirty liquid (12) is assigned an evaporation device (13) to evaporate the liquid (31) contained in the dirty liquid tank (12), the evaporation device (13) presenting in particular an electrically driven heating element (14) and /or chemically and/or a heat conducting element connected to a heat generator, in particular a blower (15) or a printed circuit board, of the base station (11). Base station (11) according to claim 7, characterized in that following the dirty liquid container (12), in particular in the direction of steam flow (33), between the dirty liquid container (12) and a clean liquid tank (16), a condensation device (17) for the condensation of the vapor (33). Base station (11) according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the dirty liquid container (12) has a dirt filter for separating the solid substances (32) contained in the liquid and/or that the base station (11) has a dirty chamber (19) comprising a flow connection to the dirty liquid tank (12) and into which solid substances (32) precipitated during evaporation can be transferred, in particular by means of a blower (fifteen). Method for operating a base station (11) or a wet cleaning device (1), in particular a base station (11) or a wet cleaning device (1) according to one of Claims 1 to 9, collecting in a dirty liquid tank (3, 12) the liquid (31) used during a cleaning process, the liquid (31) contained in the dirty liquid tank (3, 12) evaporating by means of an evaporation device (4, 13), characterized in that the liquid (31) is evaporated by means of a heat-conducting element connected to a heat generator, especially a blower (6), a drive (27) or a printed circuit board, of the base station (11) or wet cleaning device (1). Method according to claim 10, characterized in that the vapor (33) is condensed by means of a condensing device (8, 17) arranged after the dirty liquid tank (3, 12), in particular it is supplied to a liquid tank clean (7, 16). Method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that the liquid (31) contained in the dirty liquid container (3, 12) is filtered by means of a dirt filter (9) and/or that the solid substances (32) precipitated during evaporation are transferred, in particular by means of a blower (6, 15), to a dirt chamber (10, 19) which has a flow connection to the dirty liquid container (3, 12).