JP2020509789A - Cleaning robot and its cleaning mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning mechanism having a high squeezing ability, capable of reducing energy consumption and reducing noise. A cleaning mechanism includes a flexible roller, a motor for driving the flexible roller to rotate, a water squeezing roller, a roller brush, and a dirty water collection tank. The dirty water collection tank is positioned above the flexible roller. The water squeezing roller is arranged adjacent to the sewage collection tank. The center of the water squeezing roller is arranged parallel to the center of the flexible roller, and the surface of the water squeezing roller is pressed against the surface of the flexible roller. The roller brush contacts the flexible roller. As the flexible roller rotates, the water squeeze roller pushes the waste water in the flexible roller into the waste water collection tank. [Selection diagram] Fig. 1

Description

  The present invention relates to the technical field of cleaning equipment. Specifically, the present invention relates to a cleaning robot and a cleaning mechanism thereof.

A cleaning robot is an automatic cleaning device that reduces pressure on people to be cleaned. The cleaning robot generally adopts a structure including a roller brush, a roller, a wastewater collection tank, and a clean water tank.
Clean water is supplied to the rollers from one end of a sewage collection tank. The sewage squeezed from the rollers is absorbed into the sewage tank through negative pressure. Sewage is generally squeezed by providing a protrusion at the bottom of the sewage collection tank, which presses against the surface of the roller and squeezes sewage from the roller.
Due to the sliding friction between the roller and the protrusion, the load on the roller motor increases, thereby consuming more energy and reducing the battery life of the cleaning robot. The small depth in the roller of the recess of the projection limits the ability to squeeze the wastewater. Furthermore, the friction between the sewage collection tank and the rollers is relatively high.

Based on this, it is necessary to provide a cleaning mechanism that has a high squeezing capacity, reduces energy consumption, and can reduce noise.
The present invention also provides a cleaning robot.

To achieve the object of the present invention, the following technical solution is adopted.
An embodiment of the cleaning mechanism according to the present invention includes a flexible roller, a motor for driving the flexible roller to rotate, a water removal roller, a roller brush, and a sewage collection tank. The sewage collection tank is positioned above the flexible roller, and the squeeze roller is disposed adjacent to the sewage collection tank. The center of the water squeezing roller is disposed parallel to the center of the flexible roller, and the surface of the water squeezing roller is pressed against the surface of the flexible roller. The roller brush contacts the flexible roller. As the flexible roller rotates, the water removal roller pushes sewage from the flexible roller into the sewage collection tank.

  The cleaning mechanism employs a method of squeezing out sewage by a squeezing roller. Instead of sliding friction, resistance to the flexible roller is reduced due to rotational friction between the flexible roller and the water-squeezing roller, thereby reducing energy consumption in the squeezing process. Noise due to rolling friction is also consequently reduced compared to noise due to sliding friction. The water squeezing roller can be installed as required and with a depth of pressing that is not limited by the sewage collection tank. As the depth of the water squeezing roller increases, the squeezing capacity is enhanced.

  In another embodiment, the water squeeze roller is made from a hard material.

  In another embodiment, the water squeezing roller presses the flexible roller to form a recess on the surface of the flexible roller. About one-half to one-half of the water squeezing rollers are located in the recesses.

  In another embodiment, one third of the water squeezing rollers are located in the recess.

  In another embodiment, the number of water squeezing rollers is one, and the water squeezing roller and the roller brush are respectively located on two sides of the sewage collection tank.

  In another embodiment, the number of water squeezing rollers is two, each being disposed on both sides of the sewage collection tank.

  Other embodiments further include a refuse collection bin. The trash bin is located on one side of the flexible roller and just below the roller brush. One side of the trash bin abuts a flexible roller.

  Another embodiment further comprises a scraper, wherein the scraper is arranged in an arc shape and has one end connected to the side of the trash can that abuts the flexible roller.

  Another embodiment further comprises a load-bearing wheel, wherein the load-bearing wheel is positioned between the trash can and the scraper and abuts the trash can and the scraper, respectively.

  An embodiment of the cleaning robot according to the present invention includes the above-described cleaning mechanism.

It is a schematic diagram of the whole structure of the cleaning mechanism concerning a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is the schematic of the structure of a cleaning mechanism. It is the schematic of the whole structure of the cleaning mechanism concerning a 2nd embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram of a cleaning mechanism according to a third embodiment of the present invention. It is the schematic of the structure of a cleaning mechanism. It is a schematic diagram of a cleaning mechanism according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram of a cleaning mechanism according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

  In order to facilitate understanding of the present invention, the present invention will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. Preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown in the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention may be embodied in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this invention will be thorough and complete. It should be noted that when an element is referred to as being "fixed" to another element, it may be directly on top of the other element or there may be intervening elements. When an element is considered to be "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected to the other element or there may be intervening elements. Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The terms used in the description of the present invention herein are for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the present invention.

[First Embodiment]
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a cleaning robot according to a first embodiment of the present invention includes a shell and a cleaning mechanism 100 positioned in the shell.
The cleaning mechanism 100 includes a flexible roller 10 and a sewage collection tank 20 positioned above the flexible roller 10.
The water squeezing roller 30 is positioned on one side of the flexible roller 10 and the roller brush 40 is positioned on the side of the flexible roller 10 and contacts the flexible roller 10 to remove dust. The collection box 50 is located on the side of the flexible roller 10 and below the roller brush 40.
The motor 13 drives the flexible roller 10 to rotate, and the flexible roller 10 can remove dirt on the ground when rotating. When the flexible roller 10 rotates, the water-squeezing roller 30 presses the wastewater in the flexible roller 10 into the wastewater collection tank 20 to collect the wastewater.
The roller brush 40 is driven by a roller brush motor to remove dirt on the flexible roller 10 and drop the dirt into a trash collection box 50 below the roller brush 40 to remove dirt.

  The axis of rotation of the flexible roller 10 is made of a hard material and the periphery is made of a flexible material such as, for example, sponge, cotton cloth or the like, so that water is easily absorbed and the cleaning function Is easily realized. The flexible roller 10 is driven to rotate by a motor, which is mounted inside the shell.

  The sewage collection tank 20 collects sewage discharged from the flexible roller 10 and guides the clean water onto the flexible roller 10 to supply the flexible roller 10 with clean water. It is located above the flexible roller 10. The bottom of the sewage collection tank 20 is provided with a plurality of small holes for discharging clean water and receiving sewage. In this embodiment, there is a small gap between the sewage collection tank 20 and the flexible roller 10 to facilitate the flow of sewage into the sewage collection tank 20 and to facilitate rotation of the flexible roller 10.

The water squeezing roller 30 has a cylindrical shape, and the water squeezing roller 30 is disposed near the sewage collection tank 20 and presses sewage into the sewage collection tank 20. The surface of the water-squeezing roller 30 is pressed against the surface of the flexible roller 10. In the present embodiment, there is a gap between the water-squeezing roller 30 and the side surface of the sewage collection tank 20.
The water-squeezing roller 30 presses the flexible roller 10 so that the surface of the flexible roller 10 forms the concave portion 12. Be positioned. This will not affect the normal rotation of the flexible roller 10, but will allow sewage to be squeezed out of the flexible roller 10. It will be appreciated that the flexible roller 10 can also rotate when a portion of the water removal roller 30 located within the recess 12 is larger. In this embodiment, one-third of the squeeze roller 30 is located in the recess 12, which is the optimal press size.

  It can be appreciated that the number of water squeezing rollers 30 can be one or more, and that multiple water squeezing rollers 30 can be used without affecting normal operation of the cleaning mechanism 100. In the present embodiment, the number of the water squeezing rollers 30 is one, and the water squeezing rollers 30 and the roller brush 40 are positioned on two sides of the sewage collection tank 20, respectively.

  The water squeezing roller 30 is made of a hard material to promote the pressing of the flexible roller 10. For example, the water squeezing roller 30 is made of a wood material, a plastic material, a metal material, or the like, and can achieve the above object. The water squeezing roller 30 is mounted in the shell, for example, connected to the shell or mounted in the shell through a mounting bracket near the sewage collection tank 20.

  The trash can 50 is located on one side of the flexible roller 10 and directly below the roller brush 40. One side of the bin 50 abuts the flexible roller 10 so that any trash removed by the flexible roller 10 can fall into the bin 50. The garbage collection box 50 is U-shaped, but the corners are arranged in a square shape.

  In addition, a scraper 51 is provided on the side of the garbage bin 50 adjacent to the flexible roller 10 to scrape debris on the flexible roller 10. The load supporting wheel 60 is disposed between the dust collection box 50 and the scraper 51 to increase the load resistance of the dust collection box 50. The scraper 51 is arranged in an arc shape and has one end connected to one side of the refuse collection box 50 abutting on the flexible roller 10.

[Second embodiment]
Referring to FIG. 3, the cleaning mechanism 200 of the present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the number of the water-squeezing rollers 30 is two and the water-squeezing rollers 30 are disposed on two sides of the wastewater collection tank 20, respectively. And different.
That is, one of the water squeezing rollers 30 is located on the left side of the sewage collection tank 20 and is disposed near the sewage collection tank 20, and the other water squeezing roller 30 is located on the right side of the sewage collection tank 20. , Disposed near the sewage collection tank 20. The roller brush 40 is disposed below the water-squeezing roller 30 and is disposed adjacent to the water-squeezing roller 30 to reduce the volume of the entire cleaning mechanism 100.

[Third embodiment]
The cleaning mechanism of this embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the number of the water-squeezing rollers 30 is three and the water-squeezing rollers 30 are disposed on two sides of the wastewater collection tank 20, respectively.
That is, one of the water squeezing rollers 30 is located on the left side of the sewage collection tank 20 and is disposed near the sewage collection tank 20, and the other water squeezing roller 30 is located on the right side of the sewage collection tank 20. , Disposed near the sewage collection tank 20. The roller brush 40 is disposed below the water-squeezing roller 30 and near the water-squeezing roller 30 to reduce the volume of the entire cleaning mechanism 100. The last water squeeze roller 30 is disposed below the water squeeze roller 30 on the left side of the sewage collection tank 20 and can also act to squeeze sewage.

[Fourth embodiment]
Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the cleaning mechanism 300 according to the present embodiment is configured so that the cleaning mechanism 100 stores clean water for cleaning the flexible roller 10 and dirty water generated by the flexible roller 10. The third embodiment is different from the first embodiment in further including a water tank 70 used in the first embodiment. The water tank 70 has a closed structure.

The cleaning mechanism 70 includes a water tank main body 71 and a partition member 72 provided in the water tank main body 71.
The partition member 72 divides the water tank main body 71 into a first chamber 73 and a second chamber 74. The first chamber 73 communicates with the first pipe 75. The second chamber 74 communicates with the second pipe 76.
The first chamber 73 is for storing clean water or dirty water, and the second chamber 74 is for storing dirty water or clean water.
The partition member 72 can be moved along the inner wall of the tank main body 71 by external force or water pressure in order to adjust the capacity of the first chamber 73 and the second chamber 74. The tank body can be flexible.
An external force such as a user's force directly switches the partition member 72. The first pipe 75 and the second pipe 76 communicate with the wastewater collection tank 20, respectively.

When the first chamber 73 is used to hold clean water, the second chamber 74 is used to hold sewage. When the first chamber 73 is used to hold sewage, the second chamber 74 is used to hold clean water. In this embodiment, the first chamber 73 is for holding clean water, and the second chamber 74 is for holding sewage.
That is, the first pipe 75 is a clean water pipe, the first chamber 73 is a clean water cavity, the second pipe 76 is a sewage pipe, and the second chamber 74 is a sewage cavity. The first pipe 75 and the second pipe 76 are both connected to the sewage collection tank 20. The first pipe 75 provides clean water to the sewage collection tank 20, and the second pipe 76 receives sewage in the sewage collection tank 20.

In this embodiment, the partition member 72 includes a piston 720 and a guide member 721. The piston 720 contacts the inner wall of the water tank main body 71.
The guide member 721 is movably connected to the water tank main body 71. The piston 720 moves along the inner wall of the water tank main body 71 due to the water pressure to adjust the capacity of the first chamber 73 and the second chamber 74.
For example, when the volume of clean water entering the water tank body 71 is greater than the volume of sewage entering the water tank body 71, the piston 720 is subjected to the pressure of the clean water and moves toward the sewage chamber. Conversely, when the volume of sewage entering the water tank body 51 is greater than the volume of clean water entering the water tank body 71, the piston 720 is subjected to sewage water pressure and moves toward the clean water chamber.

In this embodiment, the side wall of the water tank body 71 defines a guide hole 77. The guide member 721 is sealed in the guide hole 77 to guide the piston 720 to move. The guide member 721 is sealed and mounted in the guide hole 77 to ensure that water leakage can be prevented.
For example, a sealing rubber ring is provided on the periphery of the guide hole 77. Preferably, guide hole 77 is provided at a position near the top of water tank body 71 so that water can be prevented from leaking from tank body 71 through guide hole 77. In another embodiment, the guide hole 77 is formed at another position of the water tank main body 71.

  In this embodiment, the guide member 721 is movably connected to the left or right side of the water tank main body 71. That is, the guide hole 77 is formed on the left or right side of the water tank main body 71. The first pipe 75 communicates with the left side of the water tank main body 71, and the second pipe 76 communicates with the right side of the water tank main body 71.

Further, a clean water pump 78 is disposed on the first pipe 75 to provide power for pumping clean water into the sewage collection tank 20.
The second chamber 74 is connected to a vacuum pump 79 through a pipe. The vacuum pump 79 can increase the negative pressure in the second chamber 74 to draw sewage in the sewage collection tank 20 into the second chamber 74.

Further, the water level sensor is disposed on the inner wall of the second chamber 74, and the alarm is disposed on the cleaning robot. The alarm is electrically connected to the water level sensor.
When the second chamber 74 is full of sewage, the water level sensor senses the water level signal and sends the water level signal to the alarm. The alarm reminds the user to clean the sewage tank.

[Fifth Embodiment]
Referring to FIG. 6, a cleaning mechanism 400 according to the fourth embodiment is different from the cleaning mechanism 400 according to the fourth embodiment in that a guide member 721 of two water tanks 70 is movably connected to an upper portion or a bottom portion of a water tank body 71. And different.
That is, the guide hole 77 opens at the top or bottom of the water tank main body 71. The first pipe 75 communicates with the upper part of the water tank main body 71, and the second pipe 76 communicates with the lower part of the water tank main body 71.

[Sixth embodiment]
Referring to FIG. 7, the cleaning mechanism 500 of the present embodiment is different from the fourth embodiment in that the partition member 72 includes a leaf 722 and a rotating shaft 723. The leaf 722 includes a first partition 724 and a second partition 725. The first partition 724 and the second partition 725 are each pivotally connected to the rotating shaft 723 so as to rotate along the rotating shaft 723 due to water pressure.
The first partition 724 and the second partition 725 abut against the water tank main body 71, respectively, and the rotating shaft 723 causes the first partition 724 and the second partition 725 to form the first chamber 73 and the second chamber 74. , Water tank body 71. When the water pressure on one side is high, the first partition 724 and the second partition 725 move in opposite directions to adjust the capacity of the first chamber 73 and the second chamber 74.

  The embodiments referred to above are merely illustrative of some embodiments of the present invention, the description of which is more specific and detailed, but is to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. Should not be. It should be noted that several modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims.

(Second embodiment)
Referring to FIG. 3, the cleaning mechanism 200 of the present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the number of the water-squeezing rollers 30 is two and the water-squeezing rollers 30 are disposed on two sides of the wastewater collection tank 20, respectively. And different.
That is, one of the water squeezing rollers 30 is located on the left side of the sewage collection tank 20 and is disposed near the sewage collection tank 20, and the other water squeezing roller 30 is located on the right side of the sewage collection tank 20. , Disposed near the sewage collection tank 20. The roller brush 40 is arranged below the water-squeezing roller 30 and is arranged adjacent to the water-squeezing roller 30 to reduce the volume of the entire cleaning mechanism 200 .

[Fourth embodiment]
Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the cleaning mechanism 300 of the present embodiment, the cleaning mechanism 300, to accommodate the sewage produced by clean water and the flexible roller 10 for cleaning the flexible roller 10 The third embodiment is different from the first embodiment in further including a water tank 70 used in the first embodiment. The water tank 70 has a closed structure.

The cleaning mechanism 300 includes a water tank main body 71 and a partition member 72 provided in the water tank main body 71.
The partition member 72 divides the water tank main body 71 into a first chamber 73 and a second chamber 74. The first chamber 73 communicates with the first pipe 75. The second chamber 74 communicates with the second pipe 76.
The first chamber 73 is for storing clean water or dirty water, and the second chamber 74 is for storing dirty water or clean water.
The partition member 72 can be moved along the inner wall of the tank main body 71 by external force or water pressure in order to adjust the capacity of the first chamber 73 and the second chamber 74. The tank body 71 can be flexible.
An external force such as a user's force directly switches the partition member 72. The first pipe 75 and the second pipe 76 communicate with the wastewater collection tank 20, respectively.

In this embodiment, the partition member 72 includes a piston 720 and a guide member 721. The piston 720 contacts the inner wall of the water tank main body 71.
The guide member 721 is movably connected to the water tank main body 71. The piston 720 moves along the inner wall of the water tank main body 71 due to the water pressure to adjust the capacity of the first chamber 73 and the second chamber 74.
For example, when the volume of clean water entering the water tank body 71 is greater than the volume of sewage entering the water tank body 71, the piston 720 is subjected to the pressure of the clean water and moves toward the sewage chamber. Conversely, the volume of the sewage entering the water tank body 71, is greater than the volume of clean water entering the water tank body 71, the piston 720 may be subjected to water pressure of sewage, to move towards the clean water chamber.

In this embodiment, the guide member 721 is movably connected to the left or right side of the water tank main body 71. That is, the guide hole 77 is formed on the left or right side of the water tank main body 71. The first pipe 75 communicates with the right side of the water tank main body 71, and the second pipe 76 communicates with the left side of the water tank main body 71.

[Fifth Embodiment]
Referring to FIG. 6, the cleaning mechanism 400 of the present embodiment is different from the fourth embodiment in that a guide member 721 is movably connected to an upper portion or a bottom portion of the water tank main body 71.
That is, the guide hole 77 opens at the top or bottom of the water tank main body 71. The first pipe 75 communicates with the lower part of the water tank main body 71, and the second pipe 76 communicates with the upper part of the water tank main body 71.

Claims (10)

A flexible roller;
A motor that drives the flexible roller to rotate,
A water removal roller,
Roller brush,
A sewage collection tank,
With
The sewage collection tank is positioned above the flexible roller;
The water squeezing roller is disposed adjacent to the wastewater collection tank,
The center of the water-squeezing roller is disposed parallel to the center of the flexible roller, and the surface of the water-squeezing roller is pressed against the surface of the flexible roller,
The roller brush contacts the flexible roller,
A cleaning mechanism that pushes sewage in the flexible roller into the sewage collection tank when the flexible roller rotates.   The cleaning mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the water-squeezing roller is made of a hard material. The water-squeezing roller presses the flexible roller to form a recess on the surface of the flexible roller,
The water-squeezing roller is provided in the recess,
The cleaning mechanism according to claim 1, wherein one-fourth to one-half of the water-squeezing roller is provided in the recess.   The cleaning mechanism according to claim 3, wherein one third of the water-squeezing roller is provided in the recess. The number of the water-squeezing rollers is one,
The cleaning mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the water removal roller and the roller brush are provided on two sides of the wastewater collection tank, respectively. The number of the water-squeezing rollers is two,
The cleaning mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the water-squeezing rollers are provided on two sides of the wastewater collection tank, respectively. Further equipped with a garbage collection box,
The waste bin is provided on one side of the flexible roller and directly below the roller brush, one side of the waste bin abutting the flexible roller. The cleaning mechanism according to claim 1. Further equipped with a scraper,
The cleaning mechanism according to claim 6, wherein the scraper is arc-shaped and has one end connected to a side of the refuse bin that abuts the flexible roller. The cleaning mechanism further includes a load supporting wheel,
The cleaning mechanism according to claim 8, wherein the load supporting wheel is provided between the dust collection box and the scraper, and is in contact with the dust collection box and the scraper.   A cleaning robot comprising the cleaning mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 9.