FR3055789A1 - DEVICE FOR CLEANING A ROTATING BRUSH OF SUCTION ROBOT AND METHOD THEREOF - Google Patents

Abstract

Apparatus for cleaning a rotating brush of a floor suction robot, comprising a movable body (10) arranged to contact at least one outer surface of the rotating brush to remove matted debris from the rotating brush characterized in that the movable body (10) comprises at least one cutting edge, arranged at the periphery of the movable body (10), and in that the movable body (10) is rotatable about an axis, for said at least one cutting edge rolls on said at least one outer surface of the rotating brush when the latter is in contact with the movable body (10) and rotating to be cleaned.

Description

© Publication no .: 3,055,789 (to be used only for reproduction orders)

©) National registration number: 16 58530 ® FRENCH REPUBLIC

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY

COURBEVOIE © IntCI ⁸

A 47 L 9/04 (2017.01), A 46 B 17/06

A1 PATENT APPLICATION

Date of filing: 13.09.16. (© Applicant (s): SEB S.A. Public limited company - FR. © Priority : @ Date of public availability of the request: 16.03.18 Bulletin 18/11. @ Inventor (s): CHARMETTAN LUCIEN and VIVIER JEAN-DAMIEN. (56) List of documents cited in the preliminary search report: See the end of this brochure References to other related national documents: ©) Holder (s): SEB S.A. Société anonyme. O Extension request (s): (§) Agent (s): SEB DEVELOPPEMENT Société anonyme.

SUCTION ROBOT ROTATOR AND METHOD

DEVICE FOR CLEANING A CORRESPONDING BRUSH.

FR 3 055 789 - A1

Device for cleaning a rotary brush of a floor suction robot, comprising a movable body (10) arranged to come into contact with at least one external surface of the rotary brush in order to remove tangled waste on the rotary brush , characterized in that the movable body (10) comprises at least one cutting edge, arranged at the periphery of the movable body (10), and in that the movable body (10) is movable in rotation about an axis, for that said at least one cutting edge rolls on said at least one external surface of the rotary brush when the latter is in contact with the movable body (10) and in rotation to be cleaned.

B.1 742

DEVICE FOR CLEANING A ROTATING BRUSH

SUCTION ROBOT AND CORRESPONDING METHOD

The present invention relates generally to a device for cleaning a rotary brush mounted on a suction robot or autonomous robot for cleaning floors.

Devices for cleaning a rotary brush, such as that disclosed in WO2014094869 (A1), are known in the prior art with a cleaning finger which moves along the rotary brush to remove waste therefrom (hair, animal hair, son ...) that are tangled there. In return, this system has the particular disadvantage of requiring user intervention, and the cleaning sequence requires a certain amount of time. In addition, the system is complex with the cleaning finger which must move along the rotating brush.

An object of the present invention is to respond to the drawbacks of the documents of the prior art mentioned above and in particular, first of all, to propose a device for cleaning a rotary brush of a floor suction robot, which is effective, not very complex and which does not require human intervention to be used.

For this, a first aspect of the invention relates to a device for cleaning a rotary brush of a soil suction robot, comprising a movable body arranged to come into contact with at least one external surface of the rotary brush in order to removing tangled waste on the rotary brush, characterized in that the movable body comprises at least one cutting edge, arranged at the periphery of the movable body, and in that the movable body is movable in rotation about an axis, so that said at least one cutting edge rolls on said at least one external surface of the rotary brush when the latter is in contact with the movable body

-2and rotating to be cleaned. The device according to the present invention is not very complex, since the movable body simply rolls on the rotary brush to remove the hair or hair of animals or even wires which are tangled around the rotary brush. The cutting edge can then cut, or cut, or deteriorate the waste as it passes between the cutting edge and the external surface, so that it detaches from the rotary brush on their own. As the rotary brush is coupled to a motor of the suction robot, there is no need to motorize the mobile body, it is the rotary brush which drives the mobile body itself, which avoids any intervention of the 'user. The automatically cut waste can then be vacuumed by the vacuum robot.

Advantageously, the movable body has a circular cross section, and said at least one cutting edge is arranged in a direction perpendicular to a radius of the circular section. In other words, said at least one cutting edge is transverse or substantially transverse to the axis of rotation of the movable body.

Advantageously, the movable body comprises at least one groove adjacent to said at least one cutting edge. Such a groove makes it possible to accommodate scraping bristles of the rotary brush which would be entrained between the external surface and the movable body. The scraping bristles are therefore not cut by the cutting edge.

Advantageously, said at least one cutting edge forms a thread. Such a net is advantageous because during the rotation of the movable body, the point of contact between the cutting edge and the rotary brush (and its external surface) moves along the axis to process the entire length of the rotating brush.

Advantageously, the thread has a pitch of 2.5 ± 0.5 mm, and / or a depth of 1.55 ± 0.2 mm.

Advantageously, the movable body has an elongated cylindrical shape.

Advantageously, the mobile body has a length at least equal to a length of the rotary brush, its axis of rotation is parallel to an axis of rotation of the rotary brush when the latter is in contact with the mobile body, and said at least a cutting edge is arranged along the movable body.

Advantageously, the movable body is arranged to be driven freely in rotation by the rotary brush when the latter is in rotation and in contact with the movable body to be cleaned. The system advantageously uses the motor of the rotary brush.

If the cutting edge does not form a thread or a helix, it is possible to envisage a succession of circular cutting edges arranged one after the other along the movable body.

Advantageously, the cleaning device comprises a charging station for the suction robot, and the movable body is integrated in the charging station. Such an implementation is advantageous, because the cleaning can be done once the robot docked at its charging station. There is no additional sub-assembly, cleaning can be carried out independently after a suction session, without any particular operation for the user.

Advantageously, the weight of the robot can be used to apply a contact force between the rotary brush and the movable body. In particular, the docking of the suction robot on the charging station can cause a partial lifting of the suction robot via the movable body.

A second aspect of the invention relates to a soil suction device comprising:

- a cleaning device according to the first aspect of the invention,

- a soil suction robot comprising a rotary brush, the rotary brush comprising along its axis of rotation at least one protuberance forming at least one external surface arranged to come into contact with the movable body.

Advantageously, said at least one external surface is of helical shape. The contact between the moving body and the rotating brush is increased during a revolution around the axis of rotation.

Advantageously, the rotary brush comprises along its axis 5 two protuberances forming two external surfaces, and two rows of scraping bristles, each arranged between two external surfaces.

Advantageously, the suction robot comprises suction means. The cut waste is directly sucked up by the robot itself.

Advantageously, the mobile body is integrated in a charging station of the suction robot.

A third aspect of the invention relates to a method of cleaning a suction device, comprising the steps consisting in:

- dock the suction robot at the charging station,

- rotate the rotary brush of the suction robot.

Advantageously, the rotary brush is rotated for a predetermined time, greater than or equal to 5 s. Such a rotation time makes it possible to guarantee that the entire surface of the rotary brush has been cleaned by the movable body.

Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will appear more clearly on reading the following detailed description of an embodiment of the invention given by way of non-limiting example and illustrated by the appended drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a charging station of a suction robot, comprising a device for cleaning a rotary brush of the suction robot, according to the invention;

- Figure 2 shows an operating diagram of the cleaning device of Figure 1, cleaning a rotary brush of a suction robot;

FIG. 3 represents a rotary brush arranged to be cleaned by the device of FIG. 1;

- Figure 4 shows in detail the rotary brush during cleaning.

FIG. 1 represents a charging station 20 arranged to receive a robot for vacuuming floors 30, visible in FIG. 2, or cleaning robot, or even autonomous robot. Indeed, following an independent cleaning of the floors, the suction robot 30 needs to recharge its battery, and there is a coupling between the charging station 20 and the suction robot 30 to perform this recharging.

Typically, as shown in FIG. 2, the suction robot 30 includes a suction slot 31 and a rotary brush 40 as shown in FIG. 3, which includes scraping bristles 42. During the soil suction session, hair, bristles or son become entangled in the rotary brush 40, and the invention proposes to include a movable body 10 in the charging station 20 of FIG. 1.

As seen in FIG. 1, the movable body 10 has an elongated shape, comprises on its external surface at least one cutting edge 11 (here the edge of a thread), and it is mounted in pivot connection on the station. charge

20.

The movable body 10 comprises at least one cutting edge 11 visible in FIG. 4 (here a helical thread), or a plurality of cutting edges which are arranged to come into contact with external surfaces 41 of the rotary brush to remove this hair. , tangled hairs or wires. As shown in FIG. 2, this operation is carried out when the suction robot 30 is docked at the charging station 20, the movable body 10 coming opposite the rotary brush 40 and in contact with the external surfaces 41 formed by protrusions of the rotary brush, which have the function of a supporting heel for the cutting edge 11. This operation therefore does not require

-6no manual operation and may not even be noticed by the user.

When the suction robot 30 is docked at the charging station 20, it is possible to rotate the rotary brush 40, to drive the movable body 10 in rotation. Indeed, the latter is mounted in free pivot connection on the charging station 20, so that the rotation of the rotary brush 40 is sufficient to rotate it. In addition, part of the weight of the suction robot 30 is applied to the movable body 10 by means of the rotary brush 40, so that the cutting edge 11 will effectively cut, cut or tear away the tangled waste. , during its rolling on the rotary brush 40.

Indeed, during the rotation shown in Figure 2, the movable body 10 rotates freely about its axis of rotation, and the cutting edge 11 will roll and / or rub on the external surfaces 41, so that the tangled waste will be sectioned and can be sucked directly by the suction robot, which includes suction means for this purpose.

FIG. 3 shows in detail a rotary brush 40, which comprises two external surfaces 41 and two rows of scraping bristles 42, which are arranged in a helix along the rotary brush 40. This arrangement makes it possible to effectively drive the mobile body 10 in rotation.

Figure 4 shows in detail the rotary brush interacting with the movable body 10, during cleaning. The movable body 10 is in contact with one of the external surfaces 41, by means of its cutting edge 11 which is a thread, this is why we see the hatching off-center on the movable body 10.

During the rotation of the movable body 10 and the rotary brush 40, the point of contact of the cutting edge 11 with the external surface 41 will pass through the latter by moving along the axial direction, so that all of the portions of the external surfaces 41 will undergo the contact / friction / scraping of the cutting edge 11. For this, it is necessary

-7maintain the rotation long enough, 5 s or 10 s for example if the rotary brush rotates at 6000 rpm, and the width of the external surfaces 41 represents 10% to 20% of the periphery of the rotary brush 40 seen according to the section of figure 4.

In the same way as the cutting edge 11, a groove bottom edge 12 runs along the movable body 10, due to its helical shape.

In order not to damage the scraping bristles 42, the depth of the groove in the movable body 10 is sufficient to allow the scraping bristles 42 to pass between the movable body 10 and the rotary brush 40, without compromising contact between these two components. Indeed, as shown by the left scraping hair of FIG. 4, the end of the latter is between the groove bottom edge 12 and the external surface 41. It is possible, for example, to provide a groove depth of 1.55 mm ± 0.2 mm. As for the thread, the latter can have a pitch of 2.5 mm ± 0.5 mm.

Ideally, the cutting edge should be sharp, and one can consider manufacturing the movable body in steel, in order to provide good hardness and good resistance.

It will be understood that various modifications and / or improvements evident to those skilled in the art can be made to the various embodiments of the invention described in the present description without departing from the scope of the invention defined by the appended claims.

-8B.1 742

Claims (12)

1. Device for cleaning a rotary brush (40) of a floor suction robot (30), comprising a movable body (10) arranged for 5 coming into contact with at least one external surface (41) of the rotary brush (40) in order to remove tangled waste on the rotary brush (40), characterized in that the movable body (10) comprises at least one edge of cutout (11), arranged at the periphery of the movable body (10), and in that the movable body (10) is movable in rotation about an axis, so that said at 10 at least one cutting edge (11) rolls on said at least one external surface (41) of the rotary brush (40) when the latter is in contact with the movable body (10) and in rotation to be cleaned. 2. Cleaning device according to the preceding claim, in which the movable body (10) has a circular cross section, and 15 wherein said at least one cutting edge (11) is arranged in a direction perpendicular to a radius of the circular section. 3. Cleaning device according to one of the preceding claims, in which the movable body (10) comprises at least one groove adjacent to said at least one cutting edge (11). 20 4. Cleaning device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein said at least one cutting edge (11) forms a thread. 5. Cleaning device according to the preceding claim, in which the thread has a pitch of 2.5 ± 0.5 mm, and / or a depth of 25 1.55 ± 0.2mm. 6. Cleaning device according to one of the preceding claims, in which the movable body (10) has an elongated cylindrical shape. -97. Cleaning device according to one of the preceding claims, in which the movable body (10) has a length at least equal to a length of the rotary brush (40), in which its axis of rotation is parallel to an axis of rotation of the rotary brush (40) 5 when the latter is in contact with the movable body (10), and wherein said at least one cutting edge (11) is arranged along the movable body (10). 8. Cleaning device according to one of the preceding claims, in which the movable body (10) is arranged to be driven. 10 freely in rotation by the rotary brush (40) when the latter is in rotation and in contact with the movable body (10) to be cleaned. 9. Cleaning device according to one of the preceding claims, comprising a charging station (20) of the suction robot (30), and in which the movable body (10) is integrated in the charging station 15 (20). 10. Soil suction device comprising: - a cleaning device according to one of the preceding claims, - a soil suction robot (30) comprising a rotary brush (40), the rotary brush (40) comprising along its axis of rotation at least one protuberance forming at least one external surface (41) arranged to enter in contact with the movable body (10). 11. Soil suction apparatus according to the preceding claim, wherein said at least one external surface (41) is of helical shape. 12. A soil suction device according to one of claims 10 to 11, in which the rotary brush (40) comprises along its axis two protrusions forming two external surfaces (41), and two rows of scraping bristles (42), each arranged between two external surfaces (41). - ΙΟΙ 3. Soil suction apparatus according to one of claims 10 to 12, wherein the movable body (10) is integrated in a charging station (20) of the suction robot (30). 14. Method for cleaning a suction device (30) according to the preceding claim, comprising the steps consisting in: - dock the suction robot (30) at the charging station (20), - rotate the rotary brush (40) of the suction robot (30). 15. A cleaning method according to the preceding claim, wherein the rotary brush (40) is rotated for a time. 10 predetermined, greater than or equal to 5 s. 1/2