KR102556546B1 - Robot cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention includes a cleaner body having a control unit and having a dust container accommodating portion; a wheel unit mounted on the cleaner body and driven by the control unit; and a dust bin detachably coupled to the dust box accommodating part, wherein a first opening and a second opening are disposed at the same height on an inner wall of the dust bin accommodating part, and the dust bins are disposed side by side along the circumference, an inlet and an outlet communicating with the first and second openings, respectively, when the dust bin is accommodated in the dust bin accommodating portion; and a guide part that extends obliquely downward along the inner circumference of the dust bin and separates and guides the flow of air introduced through the inlet and the flow of air discharged toward the outlet into lower and upper portions, respectively. do.

Description

Robot cleaner {ROBOT CLEANER}

The present invention relates to a robot cleaner that performs a function of cleaning a floor while autonomously traveling in a certain area.

In general, robots have been developed for industrial use and have been in charge of a part of factory automation. In recent years, the field of application of robots has been further expanded, and home robots that can be used at home as well as aerospace robots and medical robots are being produced.

A representative example of a household robot is a robot vacuum cleaner. The robot cleaner performs a function of cleaning the floor while driving in a certain area by itself. For example, a household robot cleaner autonomously travels inside a house and sucks dust (including foreign substances) on the floor or mops the floor.

Such a robot cleaner generally has a rechargeable battery and various sensors capable of avoiding obstacles while driving, and performs a cleaning function while traveling inside a house by itself.

For smooth autonomous driving of the robot cleaner, it is important to set the entire path and detect obstacles on the driving path. The robot cleaner also performs functions such as filming and monitoring the inside of a house by using autonomous driving characteristics. In order to perform the above functions, various sensors are used in the robot cleaner, but research on an optimized design is still insufficient.

In addition, a typical robot cleaner has a structure in which a suction unit is provided at the bottom of the cleaner body. However, the structure in which the suction unit is built into the cleaner body has problems such as a decrease in suction power and inability to separate the brush roller. Therefore, a structure in which the suction unit is disposed in a protruding form from the cleaner body has been proposed as in the patent documents below, but the structure increases the possibility of collision between the suction unit and an obstacle, and a blind spot of the sensing unit in which the suction unit is provided in the cleaner body. There were many issues to be resolved in terms of location and so on.

In the structure in which the dust bin is coupled to the cleaner body and the dust bin cover is coupled to the dust bin, accurate assembly of each component and ease of assembly are important, and no product having such a structure has been released yet.

In addition, air introduced into the robot cleaner passes through a HEPA filter for filtering fine dust before being discharged through an exhaust port. Conventional robot cleaners use a part of the cleaner body to replace or clean the HEPA filter. There was the inconvenience of having to disassemble.

Patent Document 1: US Patent Publication US 2013/0305484 A1 (published on November 21, 2013) Patent Document 2: US Patent Publication US 2013/0061420 A1 (published on March 14, 2013) Patent Document 3: US Patent Publication US 2013/0061417 A1 (published on March 14, 2013)

The first object of the present invention is to provide a new sensing unit that can implement front monitoring/photography function, SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) function and obstacle detection function while minimizing the sensing unit, and improve obstacle detection performance. there is.

A second object of the present invention is to complement the sensing unit, to more directly detect collision with an obstacle, and to detect in advance if there is a steeply lowered step or cliff in front Provide a suction unit that can detect is to do

A third object of the present invention is to provide a structure in which a dust bin can be firmly fixed to a dust bin accommodating part and assembly convenience between a cleaner body, a dust bin, and a dust bin cover can be improved.

A fourth object of the present invention is to provide a new flow structure inside the dust bin capable of increasing the capacity of the dust bin while considering the height restriction of the cleaner body.

A fifth object of the present invention is to provide a structure in which a filter for filtering fine dust can be easily replaced.

The robot cleaner of the present invention includes a cleaner body having a wheel unit for autonomous driving; a suction unit protruding from one side of the cleaner body and sucking air containing dust; a sensing unit disposed on one side of the cleaner body; a dust bin accommodated in a dust bin accommodating part formed on the other side of the cleaner body and collecting dust filtered from sucked air; and a dust bin cover configured to be rotatably hinged to the cleaner body and disposed to cover an upper surface of the dust bin when coupled to the dust bin.

In order to achieve the first object of the present invention, a robot cleaner of the present invention includes a cleaner body including a wheel unit and a control unit for controlling driving of the wheel unit; a suction unit protruding from one side of the cleaner body and sucking air containing dust; and a sensing unit disposed on one side of the cleaner body, wherein the sensing unit includes: a first sensing unit inclined with respect to one surface of the cleaner body so as to photograph both the front and the upper sides of the sensing unit; and a second sensing unit that is disposed in a direction crossing the first sensing unit and detects an obstacle located in front of the first sensing unit.

The sensing unit may be disposed to overlap the suction unit in a vertical direction of the cleaner body.

The first sensing unit may be located at an upper edge portion where a top surface and a side surface of the cleaner body meet.

The second sensing unit may be located on a side surface of the cleaner body.

The control unit may detect a current position within the driving area using an upward image captured by the first sensing unit.

The control unit may compare front images captured by the first sensing unit with each other at a predetermined time interval, and generate a control signal when the front images are different from each other.

The second sensing unit may include a first laser irradiating a laser toward a front lower side; A second laser that irradiates the laser toward the front upper side; and a camera that photographs laser beams irradiated by the first laser and the second laser within a preset shooting area.

The first laser, the second laser, and the camera may be arranged in a line along a vertical direction of the cleaner body.

The first laser beam may be disposed to be inclined downward with respect to the side surface of the cleaner body, and the second laser beam may be disposed inclined upwardly with respect to the side surface of the cleaner body.

The control unit may control driving of the wheel unit by determining that an obstacle is located in front when blocking of the laser captured through the camera is detected.

The photographing area may include an area from a floor to an upper portion of the cleaner body.

The sensing unit may include a window disposed to cover the first and second sensing units and formed of a light-transmitting material; and a case mounted on the cleaner body and accommodating at least a portion of the window.

The window may include a first window formed of a light-transmitting material and disposed to cover the first sensing unit; and a second window formed of a translucent material and disposed to cover the second sensing unit.

A through hole may be formed in a portion of the second window corresponding to the first sensing unit, and the first window may be disposed to cover the through hole.

The second window may include a first portion having the through hole; a second portion extending downward from the first portion in an inclined shape and disposed to cover the first and second laser beams; an extension portion extending downward from the second portion and covered by the case; and a third portion extending downwardly from the extension portion, protruding from the outside of the case, and covering the camera.

In order to achieve the second object of the present invention, a robot cleaner of the present invention includes a cleaner body including a wheel unit and a control unit for controlling driving of the wheel unit; and a suction unit protruding from one side of the cleaner body and sucking air containing dust, wherein the suction unit includes: a case; and a bumper switch that is disposed to cover at least one surface of the case and is pressurized upon contact with an obstacle to transmit a contact signal to the control unit.

When a contact signal is transmitted through the bumper switch, the control unit may determine that the vehicle has collided with an obstacle and control driving of the wheel unit.

The bumper switch may include a front bumper switch provided on a front side of the case; and side bumper switches respectively provided on both sides of the case.

The side bumper switch may be disposed to protrude laterally from both sides of the cleaner body.

The bumper switch includes a bumper mounted on the case, exposed to the outside, and configured to be movable inward by being pressed when in contact with an obstacle; and a switch disposed inside the bumper to generate an electrical signal by being pressed when the bumper moves inward.

The bumper switch may further include an elastic member interposed between the bumper and the case to press the bumper.

The suction unit may further include a cliff sensor disposed at a front end of the bottom side of the case to detect a topography below.

The control unit may control the driving of the wheel unit when detecting that the terrain below is lowered to a predetermined level or higher through the cliff sensor.

The suction unit may further include a charging terminal disposed at a front end portion of the bottom side of the case and configured to be connected to a charging station.

The cliff sensors may be provided on both sides of the charging terminal, respectively.

The case may include a main case portion having a brush roller configured to be rotatable therein; And it may include a cover case portion detachably coupled to the main case portion to open and close an opening provided at one side of the main case portion.

The suction unit is configured to be operable in the main case part, and may further include an operation unit for releasing the locking of the cover case part with respect to the main case part during the operation.

The suction unit may further include an elastic member disposed inside the other side of the main case part and elastically pressing the brush roller.

In order to achieve the third object of the present invention, a robot cleaner of the present invention includes a cleaner body having a control unit and having a dust container accommodating unit; a wheel unit mounted on the cleaner body and driven by the control unit; a suction unit mounted on the cleaner body to suck air containing dust; a dust bin detachably attached to the dust bin accommodating part and filtering and collecting dust from the inhaled air; and a dust bin cover having a hinge part rotatably coupled to the cleaner body and detachably coupled to the dust bin to cover an upper surface of the dust bin.

In a state in which the dust bin cover is coupled to the dust bin, the dust bin is restricted from being separated from the dust bin accommodating portion.

A mounting protrusion may protrude from a bottom surface of the dust container accommodating part, and a mounting groove corresponding to the mounting protrusion may be formed on a bottom surface of the dust bin.

A recess portion may be formed along an outer circumference of the dust container accommodating portion in the cleaner body, and a portion of the dust container cover may be accommodated in the recess portion while the dust container cover is coupled to the dust container.

An alignment mark may be formed on an upper portion of the dust container, and a guide mark corresponding to the alignment mark may be formed on the recess portion.

An accommodating groove recessed more than the recess portion may be formed in the recess portion, and a catching hook may be protruded from an outer circumference of the dust container to be caught at a step of the accommodating groove when the dust container is accommodated in the dust container accommodating portion. .

The dust box cover may include a hinge part rotatably connected to the cleaner body, and the hinge part may be accommodated in the receiving groove in a state in which the dust box cover is coupled to the dust box.

A catching hook may protrude from an outer circumference of the dust bin, and a step to which the catching hook is caught may be formed in the cleaner body when the dust bin is accommodated in the dust bin accommodating part.

In a state in which the dust box cover is coupled to the dust box, the dust box cover may be disposed to cover the catching hook.

The dust box cover may include a hook portion configured to be fastened to a locking portion of the dust box.

The locking part may be exposed to the rear of the cleaner body.

The dust bin includes a handle receiving portion formed on an upper surface; a handle hinged to the handle accommodating portion and configured to be rotatably accommodated in the handle accommodating portion; and an elastic part that elastically presses the handle so that the handle protrudes obliquely with respect to the upper surface.

In a state in which the dust box cover is coupled to the dust box, the handle may be pressed by the dust box cover and accommodated in the handle accommodating portion.

When the fastening between the dust bin cover and the dust bin is released, the dust bin cover may tilt upward with respect to the dust bin.

When the dust bin cover is tilted upward with respect to the dust bin, driving of the wheel unit may be stopped.

A touch key may be provided on the dust bin cover.

The dust bin cover may include a touch screen that outputs visual information and receives a touch input for the visual information.

A display unit for outputting visual information may be provided on the dust bin cover.

A sub-circuit board electrically connected to a main circuit board provided in the cleaner body is provided inside the dust bin cover, and an infrared receiving unit for receiving an infrared signal may be mounted on the sub-circuit board.

The dust box cover may protrude beyond the upper surface of the cleaner body so that the infrared receiving unit can receive an infrared signal introduced through a side surface of the dust box cover.

In addition, a third object of the present invention is a cleaner body having a dust container receiving portion that is opened in the rear and upward; a dust bin detachably attached to the dust bin accommodating part through an upward opening and filtering and collecting dust from sucked air; and a dust bin cover having a hinge part rotatably coupled to the cleaner body and detachably coupled to the dust bin to cover an upper surface of the dust bin, wherein the dust bin is mounted in the dust bin accommodating part; This can also be achieved by a robot cleaner in which the backward movement of the dust bin is restricted and the upward movement of the dust bin is restricted in a state where the dust bin cover is fastened to the dust bin.

In order to achieve the fourth object of the present invention, a robot cleaner of the present invention includes a cleaner body having a control unit and having a dust container accommodating unit; a wheel unit mounted on the cleaner body and driven by the control unit; and a dust bin detachably coupled to the dust box accommodating part, wherein a first opening and a second opening are disposed at the same height on an inner wall of the dust bin accommodating part, and the dust bins are disposed side by side along the circumference, an inlet and an outlet communicating with the first and second openings, respectively, when the dust bin is accommodated in the dust bin accommodating part; and a guide part extending obliquely downward along an inner circumference of the dust bin and guiding a flow of air introduced through the inlet and a flow of air discharged toward the outlet into a lower portion and an upper portion, respectively.

The inlet is provided below the guide part so that the air introduced through the inlet flows in the lower part of the guide part, and the outlet is provided above the guide part so that the air discharged toward the outlet flows in the upper part of the guide part. may be provided.

The guide part may extend from an upper side of the inlet to a lower side of the outlet.

The outlet may be formed right next to the inlet.

The guide part may be formed to block between the inlet and the outlet.

At least one cyclone filtering dust in the air introduced into the dust bin may be provided inside the dust bin.

The cyclone may include a first cyclone filtering dust from the air introduced through the inlet; and a second cyclone accommodated in the accommodating portion defined by the guide portion and disposed inside the first cyclone to filter fine dust.

The robot cleaner may further include a filter disposed to cover the accommodating portion to filter dust in the air passing through the second cyclone.

The filter may be in close contact with an inner circumferential surface of the accommodating part.

An empty space communicating with an upper portion of the guide portion may be formed on an outer circumference of the filter so that air passing through the filter may flow into an upper portion of the guide portion.

The dust bin may include a main body case having the inlet, the outlet, the accommodating part, and the guide part, and accommodating the first and second cyclones therein; an upper case coupled to an upper portion of the body case and having an upper opening portion overlapping the receiving portion; and an upper cover detachably coupled to the upper case to open and close the upper opening and having the filter mounted on a rear surface thereof.

In addition, the fourth object of the present invention is a cleaner body having a dust container receiving portion; and a dust bin detachably coupled to the dust bin accommodating part, wherein the dust bin is formed around the dust bin and is formed on an inner wall of the dust bin accommodating part when the dust bin is accommodated in the dust bin accommodating part. an inlet and an outlet communicating with the second opening, respectively; a guide unit extending along the inner circumference of the dust bin to separate and guide the flow of air introduced through the inlet and the flow of air discharged toward the outlet into a lower part and an upper part; a first cyclone filtering dust from the air introduced through the inlet; a second cyclone accommodated in the receiving portion defined by the guide portion and disposed inside the first cyclone to filter fine dust; and a filter disposed to cover the accommodating portion and filtering dust in the air passing through the second cyclone.

The filter may be in close contact with the upper surface of the guide part or in close contact with the inner circumferential surface of the accommodating part.

An empty space communicating with an upper portion of the guide portion may be formed on an outer circumference of the filter so that air passing through the filter may flow into an upper portion of the guide portion.

The dust bin may include a main body case having the inlet, the outlet, the accommodating part, and the guide part, and accommodating the first and second cyclones therein; an upper case coupled to an upper portion of the body case and having an upper opening portion overlapping the receiving portion; and an upper cover detachably coupled to the upper case to open and close the upper opening and having the filter mounted on a rear surface thereof.

In order to achieve the fifth object of the present invention, a robot cleaner of the present invention includes a cleaner body having an intake port and an exhaust port; and a filter unit accommodated inside the cleaner body and disposed in front of the exhaust port to filter fine dust. A filter case configured to be rotatably exposed to the outside; and a filter mounted in the filter accommodating portion.

A dust container accommodating portion may be formed in the cleaner body, and the exhaust port may be formed on an inner wall of the cleaner body defining the dust container accommodating portion.

The filter case may be accommodated inside the cleaner body through an opening formed in the inner wall, and may define the dust container accommodating portion together with the inner wall in a state of being accommodated in the cleaner body.

The filter case may be located in the dust container accommodating part in a state of being rotated to open the opening.

A ventilation hole communicating with the filter accommodating part and facing the exhaust hole may be formed in the filter case.

The effects of the present invention obtained through the above solutions are as follows.

First, the first sensing unit of the sensing unit is disposed obliquely with respect to one surface of the cleaner body to take pictures of the front and the top, and the control unit separates the captured images into front and top images for different purposes. The sensing unit can be used more efficiently, and the sensing unit, which has been provided for each purpose in the past, can be integrated into one.

In addition, the second sensing unit of the sensing unit includes first and second lasers for radiating lasers toward the front lower side and the front upper side, respectively, and a camera for photographing the laser, so that both the frontal feature and the upper obstacle are sensed together. As a result, obstacle avoidance capability of the robot cleaner may be improved.

In addition, as the first sensing unit and the second sensing unit are integrated to form one module called a sensing unit, a robot cleaner having a new form factor may be provided.

Second, a mechanically operated bumper switch is provided in the suction unit protruding from one side of the cleaner body, so that a collision with an obstacle can be directly sensed. In addition, since the side bumper switches provided on both sides of the suction unit protrude in a lateral direction from both sides of the cleaner body, detection of obstacles in a lateral direction can be effectively performed.

When the above-described bumper switch is combined with the sensing unit, a more improved obstacle detection and direction change function may be implemented.

In addition, since the cliff sensor is mounted on the inclined portion of the suction unit, when there is a steeply lowered step or cliff in front, it can be detected in advance and an appropriate avoidance maneuver can be made.

In addition, since the cover case portion of the suction unit opens and closes the opening of the main case portion, the brush roller built into the main case portion may be drawn out. Therefore, cleaning of the brush roller can be made easier.

Third, when the dust bin is attached to the dust bin accommodating part, the rearward movement of the dust bin is restricted by the hooking structure between the dust bin and the dust bin accommodating part, and when the dust bin cover is fastened to the dust bin, the upward movement of the dust bin is also restricted, so that the dust bin is not attached to the dust bin. It can be firmly fixed to the accommodating part, and assembly convenience between the cleaner body, the dust box, and the dust box cover can be improved.

In addition, the middle frame of the dust box cover is disposed to cover the upper portion of the infrared receiving unit, and the receiving portion having the front open to receive infrared rays is provided, so that the three-wavelength lamp disposed on the ceiling or the infrared receiving unit by sunlight is provided. malfunction can be prevented. In addition, since the side surface of the dust box cover protrudes from the upper surface of the cleaner body, reception performance of the infrared receiving unit may be improved.

Fourth, since the outlet of the dust bin is formed at the same height as the inlet, the capacity of the dust bin can be increased without increasing the height of the cleaner body. In addition, since the outlet of the dust bin is formed right next to the inlet, the downward inclination angle of the guide unit that separates and guides the flow of air flowing in through the inlet and the flow of air discharged toward the outlet into lower and upper portions, respectively, is reduced, The air introduced into the air can form a sufficient rotational flow, and dust collected on the bottom of the dust bin can be prevented from scattering.

Fifth, the filter case is hinged to the cleaner body and configured to open and close an opening formed on an inner wall of the dust container accommodating portion, so that the filter case is disposed in the dust container accommodating portion in a state of being rotated to open the opening, and the filter accommodating portion is exposed to the outside. However, there is an advantage in that the filter can be easily replaced.

1 is a perspective view showing an example of a robot cleaner according to the present invention.
2 is a plan view of the robot cleaner shown in FIG. 1;
3 is a side view of the robot cleaner shown in FIG. 1;
4 is a view showing the sensing unit shown in FIG. 1;
5 is an exploded perspective view of the sensing unit shown in FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 conceptually shows a cross section of the sensing unit shown in FIG. 4;
FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining separation of images captured by the first sensing unit shown in FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is a view for explaining the concept of detecting an obstacle by the second sensing unit shown in FIG. 4;
Fig. 9 shows the suction unit shown in Fig. 1;
Fig. 10 is a side view of the suction unit shown in Fig. 9;
Fig. 11 is a front view of the suction unit shown in Fig. 9;
12 is a bottom view of the suction unit shown in FIG. 9;
FIG. 13 is a view for explaining the concept of protruding a brush roller by manipulation of a manipulation unit in the suction unit shown in FIG. 9;
FIG. 14 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the flow of air inside the robot cleaner shown in FIG. 1;
15 is a view showing a state before a dust bin is mounted in a dust bin accommodating part in the robot cleaner shown in FIG. 1;
16 is a view showing the dust bin shown in FIG. 1;
17 is a bottom view of the dust bin shown in FIG. 16;
18 is a view showing a state in which a dust container is mounted in the dust container accommodating part shown in FIG. 15;
19 is a front view of the dust bin shown in FIG. 16;
20 is a conceptual view showing a state in which an upper case and an upper cover are separated from the dust bin shown in FIG. 16;
Fig. 21 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA shown in Fig. 19;
22 is a left side view of the dust bin shown in FIG. 16;
23 is a view showing the dust box cover shown in FIG. 1;
24 is an exploded perspective view of the dust box cover shown in FIG. 23;
25 is a view showing the rear surface of the dust box cover shown in FIG. 23;
26 is a cross-sectional view showing a structure in which the hook part shown in FIG. 25 is fastened to a dust bin;
27 is a view showing the inside of the dust container accommodating part shown in FIG. 15;
28 is a conceptual view showing a state in which the filter unit shown in FIG. 27 is rotated;
29 is an exploded perspective view of the filter unit shown in FIG. 28;

Hereinafter, a robot cleaner related to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

1 is a perspective view showing an example of a robot cleaner 100 according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the robot cleaner 100 shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a robot cleaner 100 shown in FIG. is a side view of

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3 , the robot cleaner 100 performs a function of cleaning the floor while traveling in a certain area by itself. Floor cleaning as used herein includes suctioning dust (including foreign matter) on the floor or mopping the floor.

The robot cleaner 100 includes a cleaner body 110, a suction unit 120, a sensing unit 130, and a dust bin 140.

The cleaner body 110 includes a control unit (not shown) for controlling the robot cleaner 100 and a wheel unit 111 for driving the robot cleaner 100 . The robot cleaner 100 can be moved or rotated left and right by the wheel unit 111 .

The wheel unit 111 includes a main wheel 111a and a sub wheel 111b.

The main wheels 111a are provided on both sides of the cleaner body 110, and are configured to be rotatable in one direction or another direction according to a control signal from the controller. Each of the main wheels 111a may be configured to be driven independently of each other. For example, each main wheel 111a may be driven by a different driving motor.

The sub wheel 111b supports the cleaner body 110 together with the main wheel 111a and assists the robot cleaner 100 by the main wheel 111a. Such a sub wheel 111b may also be provided in a suction unit 120 to be described later.

As described above, the controller 111 controls driving of the wheel unit 111 so that the robot cleaner 100 autonomously travels on the floor.

Meanwhile, a battery 180 for supplying power to the robot cleaner 100 is mounted on the cleaner body 110 . The battery 180 is configured to be rechargeable and detachable from the lower surface of the cleaner body 110 .

The suction unit 120 is disposed in a form protruding from one side of the cleaner body 110 to suck air containing dust. The one side may be the side on which the cleaner body 110 travels in the forward direction (F), that is, the front side of the cleaner body 110.

In this drawing, it is shown that the suction unit 120 has a shape protruding from one side of the cleaner body 110 toward the front and both left and right sides. Specifically, the front end of the suction unit 120 is disposed at a position forwardly spaced apart from one side of the cleaner body 110, and both left and right ends of the suction unit 120 are spaced apart from one side of the cleaner body 110 to both left and right sides, respectively. placed in the position

As the cleaner body 110 is formed in a circular shape and both sides of the rear end of the suction unit 120 protrude from the cleaner body 110 to both left and right sides, respectively, there is an empty space between the cleaner body 110 and the suction unit 120. A space, that is, a gap may be formed. The empty space is a space between both left and right ends of the cleaner body 110 and both left and right ends of the suction unit 120, and has a shape recessed into the robot cleaner 100.

When an obstacle is caught in the empty space, a problem in which the robot cleaner 100 is caught in the obstacle and cannot move may occur. To prevent this, a cover member 129 may be disposed to cover at least a portion of the empty space. The cover member 129 may be provided on the cleaner body 110 or the suction unit 120 . In this embodiment, cover members 129 are protruded from both sides of the rear end of the suction unit 120, and are arranged to cover the outer circumferential surface of the cleaner body 110.

The cover member 129 is disposed to fill at least a portion of the empty space, that is, the empty space between the cleaner body 110 and the suction unit 120. In other words, the cover member 129 is arranged to fill at least a portion of the space recessed inward between the left and right outer circumferential surfaces of the curved cleaner body 110 and both left and right ends of the suction unit 120 protruding from the left and right outer circumferential surfaces. do. Accordingly, a structure in which an obstacle can be prevented from being caught in the empty space or can be easily separated from an obstacle even if an obstacle is pinched in the empty space can be implemented.

The cover member 129 protruding from the suction unit 120 may be supported on an outer circumferential surface of the cleaner body 110 . If the cover member 129 protrudes from the cleaner body 110, the cover member 129 may be supported on the rear surface of the suction unit 120. According to the above structure, when the suction unit 120 collides with an obstacle and receives an impact, a part of the impact may be transferred to the cleaner body 110 and the impact may be dispersed.

The suction unit 120 may be detachably coupled to the cleaner body 110 . When the suction unit 120 is separated into the cleaner body 110, a mop module (not shown) may be detachably coupled to the cleaner body 110 to replace the separated suction unit 120. Accordingly, the user may mount the suction unit 120 on the cleaner body 110 when removing dust from the floor, and mount the mop module on the cleaner body 110 when wiping the floor.

When the suction unit 120 is mounted on the cleaner body 110, the mounting may be guided by the cover member 129 described above. That is, since the cover member 129 is disposed to cover the outer circumferential surface of the cleaner body 110, the relative position of the suction unit 120 with respect to the cleaner body 110 may be determined.

A sensing unit 130 is disposed on the cleaner body 110 . As shown, the sensing unit 130 may be disposed on one side of the cleaner body 110 where the suction unit 120 is located, that is, in front of the cleaner body 110 . The sensing unit 130 may protrude from the upper and side surfaces of the cleaner body 110, and the upper end 134b1 of the sensing unit 130 is formed at a position protruding upward from the upper surface of the cleaner body 110.

The sensing unit 130 may be disposed to overlap the suction unit 120 in the vertical direction of the cleaner body 110 . The sensing unit 130 is disposed above the suction unit 120 so that the frontmost suction unit 120 of the robot cleaner 100 does not collide with the obstacle or detects a front obstacle or a feature.

The sensing unit 130 is configured to additionally perform other sensing functions in addition to these sensing functions. This will be explained in detail later.

The cleaner body 110 is provided with a dust container accommodating portion 113, and a dust container 140 for separating and collecting dust in the sucked air is detachably coupled to the dust container accommodating portion 113. As shown, the dust container accommodating portion 113 may be formed on the other side of the cleaner body 110, that is, on the rear side of the cleaner body 110. The dust container accommodating part 113 has a shape that is opened in the rear and upper directions of the cleaner body 110 . It may be concavely formed from the rear side of the cleaner body 110 toward the front side.

A part of the dust bin 140 is accommodated in the dust bin accommodating part 113, and the other part of the dust bin 140 protrudes toward the rear of the cleaner body 110 (ie, the reverse direction (R) opposite to the forward direction (F)). can be formed to

The dust bin 140 has an inlet (140a, see FIG. 16) through which dust-containing air is introduced and an outlet (140b, see FIG. 16) through which dust-separated air is discharged. When the 140 is mounted, the inlet 140a and the outlet 140b are formed on the inner wall of the dust container accommodating part 113, respectively, with the first opening 110a (see FIG. 15) and the second opening 110b (see FIG. 15). configured to communicate.

The intake flow path inside the cleaner body 110 corresponds to a flow path from the inlet 110' communicating with the communication part 120b" to the first opening 110a, and the exhaust flow path extends from the second opening 110b to the exhaust port ( 112).

According to this connection relationship, air containing dust introduced through the suction unit 120 is introduced into the dust bin 140 through the air intake passage inside the cleaner body 110, and at least one cyclone in the dust bin 140 Air and dust are separated from each other as they pass through. Dust is collected in the dust bin 140, and air is discharged from the dust bin 140, passes through an exhaust passage inside the cleaner body 110, and is finally discharged to the outside through the exhaust port 112.

Hereinafter, the sensing unit 130 will be described in more detail.

4 is an exploded perspective view of the sensing unit 130 shown in the robot cleaner 100 in FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the sensing unit 130 shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. It is a diagram conceptually showing a cross section of the illustrated sensing unit 130 . For reference, in FIG. 6, some components are excluded or briefly illustrated for convenience of description.

Referring to FIGS. 4 to 6 , the sensing unit 130 includes a first sensing unit 131 and a second sensing unit 132 .

The first sensing unit 131 is disposed obliquely with respect to one surface of the cleaner body 110 so as to take pictures of both the front and the top. A camera may be used as the first sensing unit 131 . Here, one surface of the cleaner body 110 is a surface parallel to the floor and may be a floor surface, an upper surface or a side surface of the cleaner body 110, and the first sensing unit 131 is within an acute angle range with respect to the one surface. It can be placed obliquely. For example, the first sensing unit 131 may be inclined at 30 degrees with respect to the top surface of the cleaner body 110 parallel to the floor.

The first sensing unit 131 may be located at an upper corner portion where the upper surface and side surface of the cleaner body 110 meet. In this drawing, it is shown that the first sensing unit 131 is disposed at an upper central corner of the cleaner body 110 and is inclined with respect to the upper and side surfaces, respectively.

As the first sensing unit 131 is disposed inclined at an acute angle with respect to one surface of the cleaner body 110, the first sensing unit 131 captures images of the front and the top.

7 illustrates a concept in which an image captured by the first sensing unit 131 is divided into a front image A and an upper image B.

Referring to FIG. 7 , a front image A and an upper image B captured by the first sensing unit 131 have a vertical angle of view α of the first sensing unit 131. can be divided based on That is, among the captured images A+B, an image corresponding to a part α1 of the angle of view α is recognized as a front image A, and an image corresponding to another part α2 of the angle of view α. may be recognized as an upward image (B). As shown in FIG. 6 , the angle of view α may form an obtuse angle.

The front image A captured by the first sensing unit 131 is used to monitor the front in real time. For example, when the robot cleaner 100 is used for home use, the front image A captured by the first sensing unit 131 monitors unauthorized entry into an empty house, or electronic devices (e.g., For example, it can be used to provide an image of a house to a mobile terminal owned by a user.

When the front image A captured by the first sensing unit 131 is configured to monitor unauthorized entry into an empty house, the following control may be performed. The control unit may compare front images A captured by the first sensing unit 131 with each other at a predetermined time interval, and generate a control signal when the front images A are different from each other. The control may be performed while the cleaner body 110 is stopped. The control signal may be a warning sound output signal or a transmission signal providing a notification to an electronic device or a captured front image A through remote access.

When the front image A captured by the first sensing unit 131 is provided to an electronic device through a remote connection, the following control may be performed. When a video request signal is received from an electronic device remotely connected to, the control unit may separate the front image A from among the images captured by the first sensing unit 131 and transmit the same to the electronic device. The control unit may be configured to control driving of the wheel unit 111 to move to a specific location and transmit the front image A at the location to the electronic device. To this end, as shown in FIG. 6 , the angle of view α may have a range in which the first sensing unit 131 can capture an upward image B including the ceiling.

The upward image B captured by the first sensing unit 131 is used to create a map of the driving area and detect the current position within the driving area. For example, when the robot cleaner 100 is used for home use, the controller generates a map of the driving area by using the boundary between the ceiling and the side of the upper image B captured by the first sensing unit 131. and the current position within the driving area can be detected based on the main feature points of the upper image B.

The controller may use the front image A as well as the upper image B to generate a map of the driving area and detect a current position within the driving area.

The second sensing unit 132 is disposed in a direction crossing the first sensing unit 131 to detect an obstacle or a feature located in front. In this drawing, it is shown that the second sensing unit 132 is disposed elongately along the vertical direction on the side surface of the cleaner body 110 .

The second sensing unit 132 includes a first laser 132a, a second laser 132b, and a camera 132c.

The first laser 132a radiates a laser toward the front lower side of the robot cleaner 100, and the second laser 132b radiates a laser toward the front upper side of the robot cleaner 100. The first laser 132a and the second laser 132b may be aligned in a vertical direction. In this drawing, it is shown that the second laser 132b is disposed under the first laser 132a.

The camera 132c is configured to photograph the laser irradiated by the first laser 132a and the second laser 132b within a preset shooting area. The predetermined shooting area includes an area from the floor to the top of the robot cleaner 100 . Accordingly, an obstacle in front of which the robot cleaner 100 is traveling may be detected, and a problem in which the robot cleaner 100 collides with or gets stuck in an upper obstacle may be prevented.

The preset shooting area may be, for example, an area with an angle of view of 105 degrees in a vertical direction (ie, a vertical direction), an angle of view of 135 degrees in a left-right direction (ie, a horizontal direction), and 25 meters ahead. The preset shooting area may be changed by various factors such as installation positions of the first and second lasers 132a and 132b, irradiation angles of the first and second lasers 132a and 132b, and height of the robot cleaner 100. there is.

The first laser 132a, the second laser 132b, and the camera 132c may be arranged in a line along the vertical direction of the cleaner body 110. In this figure, it is shown that the camera 132c is disposed below the second laser 132b.

The first laser 132a is inclined downward with respect to the side of the cleaner body 110, and the second laser 132b is disposed inclined upward with respect to the side of the cleaner body 110.

FIG. 8 shows a concept of detecting an obstacle by the second sensing unit 132 shown in FIG. 4 .

First, referring to (a) of FIG. 8 , the first and second laser beams 132a and 132b each emit a laser beam extending in at least one direction. In this figure, it is exemplified that the first laser 132a irradiates a laser in the form of a straight line that crosses each other, and the second laser 132b emits a laser in the form of a single straight line. According to this, the lowest laser is used to detect obstacles in the bottom part, the top laser is used to detect obstacles in the upper part, and the middle laser between the lowest laser and the uppermost laser is used to detect obstacles in the middle part. is used for

For example, as shown in (b) of FIG. 8 , when an obstacle o is located in front, some of the lowermost laser and the middle laser are blocked or distorted by the obstacle o. The camera 132c transmits an obstacle detection signal to the controller when such blocking or distortion is detected.

When the obstacle detection signal is received, the control unit determines that an obstacle o is located in front and controls driving of the wheel unit 111 . For example, the controller may apply driving force in the opposite direction to the main wheel 111a so that the robot cleaner 100 moves backward. Alternatively, the control unit may apply driving force to only one main wheel 111a so that the robot cleaner 100 rotates, or may apply driving force to both main wheels 111a in different directions.

Hereinafter, a detailed configuration of the sensing unit 130 will be described.

Referring to FIG. 5 , the sensing unit 130 further includes a window unit 133 and a case 134 in addition to the first sensing unit 131 and the second sensing unit 132 .

The window unit 133 is disposed to cover the first and second sensing units 131 and 132 and has light transmission properties. Here, the light transmittance is a property in which at least a part of the incident light is transmitted, and is a concept including semi-translucency.

The window unit 133 may be formed of a synthetic resin material or a glass material. When the window portion 133 has translucency, the material itself may be formed to have translucency, or the material itself may have translucency and a film attached to the material may have translucency. .

The case 134 is mounted on the cleaner body 110 and is configured to fix the first and second sensing units 131 and 132 and the window unit 133 . As shown, the case 134 is made to accommodate at least a portion of the window portion 133 . The case 134 may be formed of a synthetic resin material or a metal material, and has opaque properties.

As shown, the case 134 may include a mounting frame 134a and a cover frame 134b.

The mounting frame 134a provides a space in which the first and second sensing units 131 and 132 are mounted and supported. To this end, the mounting frame 134a may include a first mounting portion 134a1 for mounting the first sensing unit 131 and a second mounting portion 134a2 for mounting the second sensing unit 132, respectively. there is. The substrate 132' on which the first and second lasers 132a and 132b and the camera 132c are mounted may be mounted on the second mounting portion 134a2. The second mounting portion 134a2 may be inclined with respect to the first mounting portion 134a1.

The mounting frame 134a is provided with first and second fastening hooks 134a' and 134a" for fastening with the cover frame 134b and the window unit 133, respectively. The first fastening hook 134a' is the cover It is fastened to the fastening hole 134b' of the frame 134b, and the second fastening hook 134a" is fastened to the fastening hole 133b" of the window part 133. The mounting frame 134a is the cleaner body 110 ) can be installed.

The cover frame 134b is coupled to the mounting frame 134a and is mounted on the cleaner body 110 while accommodating at least a portion of the window portion 133 . The cover frame 134b may be formed in an 'L' shape and disposed at a corner of the cleaner body 110 to cover the top and side surfaces.

An upper end 134b1 of the cover frame 134b is located above the first sensing unit 131 and may be inclined forward and backward to have a pointed shape. According to the shape, even if the robot cleaner 100 is caught in furniture or other gaps while driving, it can easily fall out, and the first and second sensing units 131 and 132 are positioned above the first and second sensing units 134b1. 2 sensing units 131 and 132 may be protected. In this drawing, it is exemplified that the upper end 134b1 is formed at an end of a hole 134″ to be described later.

At least a portion of the first sensing unit 131 and the second sensing unit 132 may be accommodated in the hole 134b″ formed inside the cover frame 134b. In this drawing, the first sensing unit 131 ), and the first and second lasers 132a and 132b of the second sensing unit 132 are accommodated in the hole 134b".

The window unit 133 may include a first window 133a and a second window 133b.

The first window 133a is formed of a light-transmitting material and is disposed to cover the first sensing unit 131 . The second window 133b has semi-transmissive properties and is disposed to cover the second sensing unit 132 . As shown, a through hole 133b' may be formed in a portion corresponding to the first sensing unit 131 in the second window 133b, and the first window 133a has the through hole 133b'. It can be arranged to cover.

As the first sensing unit 131 is formed of a light-transmitting material, images of the front and the upper direction can be captured clearly. In addition, as the second window 133b has a translucent property, the first laser 132a, the second laser 132b, and the camera 132c on the rear surface of the second window 133b are well visible when viewed with the naked eye from the outside. It is not visible, so a neat appearance can be implemented.

The second window 133b may be divided into a first part 133b1, a second part 133b2, an extension part 133b4, and a third part 133b3.

The first part 133b1 is a part having the through hole 133b', and is inclined with respect to the upper surface of the cleaner body 110. The first window 133a mounted in the through hole 133b' is disposed to cover the first sensing unit 131.

The second part 133b2 extends downward from the first part 133b1 in an inclined shape, and is disposed to cover the first and second lasers 132a and 132b. In this embodiment, it is shown that the second portion 133b2 extends downward in parallel with the side surface of the cleaner body 110 .

The extension portion 133b4 extends downward from the second portion 133b2 and is covered by the cover frame 134b. As shown, the extension portion 133b4 may extend downward from the second portion 133b2 toward the inside. In other words, the extension portion 133b4 may be inclined upward with respect to the third portion 133b3 so as not to interfere with the angle of view of the camera 132c in the vertical direction. Similarly, the portion of the cover frame 134b covering the extended portion 133b4 is inclined so as not to interfere with the vertical angle of view of the camera 132c.

The third portion 133b3 extends downward from the extension portion 133b4, protrudes from the outside of the cover frame 134b, and is disposed to cover the camera 132c. The third portion 133b3 may extend downward along the side surface of the cleaner body 110 parallel to the second portion 133b2 .

Hereinafter, the suction unit 120 will be described in more detail.

9 is a view showing the suction unit 120 separated from the robot cleaner 100 shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 10 is a side view of the suction unit 120 shown in FIG. 9, and FIG. 11 is shown in FIG. This is a front view of the suction unit 120, and FIG. 12 is a view showing the bottom of the suction unit 120 shown in FIG.

As in the present embodiment, when the suction unit 120 protrudes from the cleaner body 110, there is a possibility of colliding with an obstacle unless a separate sensing unit 130 is provided in the suction unit 120. this increases Of course, although the sensing unit 130 provided in the cleaner body 110 detects an obstacle in front of the suction unit 120, when there is an obstacle in a blind spot that the sensing unit 130 cannot sense, the robot cleaner ( 100) and a physical collision may occur. When such a physical collision occurs, the obstacle must be avoided by retreating or changing direction, and for this purpose, detection of the physical collision with the obstacle is first required.

The suction unit 120 includes a case 121 and a bumper switch 122 that senses the physical collision.

The case 121 forms the outer shape of the suction unit 120, and includes a suction port 120b' for sucking air containing dust and a communication part 120b" communicating with the suction flow path inside the cleaner body 110. At least a part of the case 121 may be formed to be transparent so that the inside can be seen.

A bumper switch 122 is disposed on at least one surface of the case 121 . The bumper switch 122 is pressurized upon contact with an obstacle and transmits a contact signal to the control unit.

The bumper switch 122 may be disposed to surround the case 121 . In this drawing, it is exemplified that the front bumper switch 122a is provided on the front side of the case 121, and the side bumper switches 122b and 122c are provided on both left and right sides of the case 121, respectively.

According to the above configuration, physical collision with an obstacle located on the side of the suction unit 120 as well as physical collision with an obstacle located in front of the suction unit 120 can be detected. Accordingly, a detection range of a physical collision with an obstacle can be expanded.

Referring to FIG. 2 , it can be seen that the side bumper switches 122b and 122c are disposed to protrude beyond a virtual extension line contacting both sides of the cleaner body 110 . That is, the side bumper switches 122b and 122c may be disposed to protrude laterally from both sides of the cleaner body 110 .

In this case, when an obstacle is located on the side of the robot cleaner 100, the side bumper switches 122b and 122c collide with the obstacle first rather than the cleaner body 110, so that the obstacle can be effectively detected.

The bumper switch 122 includes a bumper 122' and a switch 122".

The bumper 122' is a part mounted on the case 121 and exposed to the outside, and is configured to be movable inward by being pressed upon contact with an obstacle.

An elastic member (not shown) may be disposed inside the bumper 122' to press the bumper 122' outward so that the bumper 122' is restored to its original state when the bumper 122' is separated from an obstacle. . The elastic members may be respectively supported by the bumper 122' and the case 121.

The switch 122" is disposed inside the bumper 122', and is pressurized when the bumper 122' is moved to the inside to generate an electrical signal. A known microswitch can be used as the switch 122". there is.

When a contact signal with an obstacle is transmitted through the bumper switch 122, the control unit determines that the vehicle has collided with the obstacle and controls driving of the wheel unit 111. For example, the controller may apply driving force in the opposite direction to the main wheel 111a so that the robot cleaner 100 moves backward. Alternatively, the control unit may apply driving force to only one main wheel 111a so that the robot cleaner 100 rotates, or may apply driving force to both main wheels 111a in different directions.

In the above, it has been described that the bumper switch 122 is divided into a front bumper switch 122a and side bumper switches 122b and 122c, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The bumper switch 122 may be formed in a 'c' shape to cover the front and left and right sides of the case 121 .

In this case, the bumper switch 122 operates on the rear side (when the part disposed on the front side of the case 121 contacts an obstacle), on the right side (when the part disposed on the left side of the case 121 contacts the obstacle), and It is configured to be movable to the left side (when the part disposed on the right side of the case 121 contacts an obstacle).

In this way, when the mechanically operated bumper switch 122 is provided in the suction unit 120, collision with an obstacle is more directly prevented than when an electronic sensor (eg, an acceleration sensor, a PSD sensor, etc.) is provided. It has the advantage of being able to detect, reducing manufacturing cost, and simplifying the circuit configuration.

In addition, a more improved obstacle detection and direction changing function may be implemented by a combination of the bumper switch 122 and the sensing unit 130 provided in the cleaner body 110 described above.

On the other hand, when the robot cleaner 100 travels in the forward direction (F) and is positioned close to a steeply lowered step, cliff, etc., an appropriate avoidance maneuver is required. If this situation is not sensed and corresponding control is not performed, the robot cleaner 100 may be damaged while falling down a step, or may result in not being able to climb the step again.

To this end, a cliff sensor 124 for detecting the topography below is disposed at the front end of the bottom side of the suction unit 120 . The cliff sensor 124 includes a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit, and measures the time when light irradiated from the light emitting unit to the floor G is received by the light receiving unit to measure the distance between the cliff sensor 124 and the floor G. . Accordingly, when there is a steeply lowered step ahead, the received time increases rapidly. When there is a cliff ahead, the light is not received by the light receiving unit.

In this figure, an inclined portion 120a inclined upward with respect to the floor G is formed at the front end of the bottom side of the suction unit 120, and the cliff sensor 124 is attached to the inclined portion 120a to the floor G It is shown installed facing the . Due to the above structure, the cliff sensor 124 is inclined toward the bottom G of the lower front side. Accordingly, the topography of the lower side in front of the suction unit 120 may be sensed by the cliff sensor 124 .

Unlike the above arrangement, the cliff sensor 124 may be arranged perpendicularly to the floor G to detect the terrain directly below the cliff sensor 124 .

The control unit controls the driving of the wheel unit 111 when it is sensed that the lower terrain is lowered to a predetermined level or higher through the cliff sensor 124 . For example, the controller may apply driving force in the opposite direction to the main wheel 111a so that the robot cleaner 100 moves backward in the reverse direction R. Alternatively, the control unit may apply driving force to only one main wheel 111a so that the robot cleaner 100 rotates, or may apply driving force to both main wheels 111a in different directions.

The aforementioned cliff sensor 124 may also be disposed on the lower surface of the cleaner body 110 . Considering the function of the cliff sensor 124 , the cliff sensor provided in the cleaner body 110 is preferably disposed adjacent to the rear of the cleaner body 110 .

For reference, since the inclined portion 120a is formed at the front end of the bottom side of the suction unit 120, it is possible to easily climb a low threshold or obstacle. In addition, as shown, when the auxiliary wheel 123 is provided on the inclined portion 120a, the climbing can be performed more easily. For reference, in FIG. 10 , the auxiliary wheel 123 is omitted to describe the cliff sensor 124 .

Meanwhile, since the robot cleaner 100 is driven wirelessly, charging of the battery 180 provided in the cleaner body 110 is required during use. To charge the battery 180, a charging station (not shown) as a power supply is provided, and the suction unit 120 is provided with a charging terminal 125 configured to be connected to the charging station.

In this drawing, it is shown that the charging terminal 125 is disposed on the inclined portion 120a of the case 121 described above and exposed forward. The charging terminal 125 may be disposed between the cliff sensors 124 respectively disposed on both sides of the suction unit 120 .

Meanwhile, a brush roller 126 may be provided in the suction unit 120 for effective suction of dust. The brush roller 126 is rotatably configured in the intake port 120b' to sweep dust on the floor and introduce it into the suction unit 120.

Due to the function of the brush roller 126, the brush roller 126 becomes dusty over time. Although there is a need for cleaning the brush roller 126 , it is generally difficult to clean the brush roller 126 because the suction unit 120 is formed in a structure that is difficult to disassemble.

In the present invention, a structure in which only the brush roller 126 can be separated and cleaned without disassembling the suction unit 120 as a whole is disclosed.

FIG. 13 is a view for explaining the concept of protruding the brush roller 126 by manipulation of the manipulation unit 127 in the suction unit 120 shown in FIG. 9 .

Referring to FIG. 13 , the case 121 includes a main case part 121a and a cover case part 121b.

The main case portion 121a has a brush roller 126 configured to be rotatable therein, and an opening 121a' is formed on one side. A front bumper switch 122a is mounted on the front side of the main case portion 121a, and side bumper switches 122b and 122c are mounted on the other side of the main case portion 121a.

The cover case portion 121b is detachably coupled to the main case portion 121a to open and close the opening 121a' provided at one side of the main case portion 121a. The other side bumper switches 122b and 122c are mounted on the cover case part 121b.

When the cover case part 121b is separated from the main case part 121a by the above structure, the opening 121a' provided on one side of the main case part 121a is exposed to the outside. Accordingly, the brush roller 126 disposed inside the main case portion 121a may be drawn out through the opening 121a'.

The suction unit 120 may include a manipulation unit 127 that unlocks the cover case portion 121b from the main case portion 121a during manipulation. The control unit 127 may be disposed on the main case unit 121a or the cover case unit 121b. The operation method of the control unit 127 may be implemented in various ways such as a slide method and a press method. In this figure, it is shown that the slide-type control part 127 is installed in the main case part 121a.

An elastic member 128 for elastically pressing the brush roller 126 may be provided inside the other side of the main case portion 121a. A plate spring, a coil spring, or the like may be used as the elastic member 128 .

The elastic member 128 is pressed by the brush roller 126 when the cover case part 121b is fastened to the main case part 121a, and when the fastening is released by manipulation of the control unit 127, It is made to press the brush roller 126. Accordingly, at least a portion of the brush roller 126 may be exposed to the outside through the opening 121a'. At this time, as shown, the cover case portion 121b may be in a state coupled to the brush roller 126 .

FIG. 14 is a conceptual diagram showing the flow of air inside the robot cleaner 100 shown in FIG. 1 .

Referring to FIG. 14 , air introduced into the suction unit 120 through the intake port 120b' of the suction unit 120 is introduced into the cleaner body 110 through the communication part 120b". For reference, , The air sucked through the suction unit 120 contains dust (including foreign substances).

The air introduced into the cleaner body 110 flows into the dust bin through the intake passage. The intake flow path corresponds to a flow path extending from the inlet 110' communicating with the communication part 120b" to the first opening 110a (see FIG. 15). The intake flow path is a duct, a peripheral device, or a combination of a duct and a peripheral device. can be formed as

In this figure, it is shown that the intake duct 117 connects the inlet 110' and the first opening 110a to form an intake passage.

The communication part 120b″ of the suction unit 120 may be disposed below the lower surface of the front side of the cleaner body 110, and in this case, the inlet 110' is formed on the lower surface of the front side of the cleaner body 110. In addition, as the dust bin 140 is disposed at the rear of the cleaner body 110, the fan motor unit 170 and the battery 180 are disposed at both left and right sides of the front of the dust bin 140, respectively.

According to the arrangement, the front end of the intake duct 117 communicating with the inlet 110' extends upward. In addition, the intake duct 117 may extend to one side of the cleaner body 110 avoiding the battery 180 and pass over the fan motor unit 170 disposed on the one side.

The first opening 110a is formed on an upper inner circumferential surface of the dust container accommodating portion 113 to communicate with an inlet 140a formed on an upper outer circumferential surface of the dust container 140 . Accordingly, the intake duct 117 extends upward from the inlet 110' toward the first opening 110a.

Air introduced into the dust bin 140 passes through at least one cyclone in the dust bin 140 . Dust contained in the air is separated by the at least one cyclone and collected in the dust bin 140, and dust-free air is discharged from the dust bin 140.

Specifically, air forms a rotational flow in the dust container 140, and dust and air are separated from each other by a difference in centrifugal force between the air and the dust. Air flows to the outlet 140b via at least one cyclone by the suction force of the fan motor unit 170, but the inertial force due to the weight of dust is greater than the suction force by the fan motor unit 170 and gradually falls to the dust bin ( 140) is collected at the bottom.

As shown, the inlet 110' may be formed at the center of the lower surface of the front side of the cleaner body 110. The inlet 140a of the dust bin 140 may be formed to open in a tangential direction to the inner circumferential surface of the dust bin 140 so that air is introduced in a lateral direction to naturally form a rotational flow. In a state where the dust container 140 is accommodated in the dust container accommodating part 113, the inlet 140a may be located in a lateral direction of the cleaner body 110.

The dust-separated air is discharged from the dust bin 140, passes through an exhaust passage inside the cleaner body 110, and is finally discharged to the outside through the exhaust port 112.

The exhaust passage corresponds to a passage from the second opening 110b (see FIG. 15 ) to the exhaust port 112 . The exhaust passage may be formed of a duct, a peripheral appliance, or a combination of a duct and a peripheral appliance.

In this drawing, the exhaust passage guides the flow of air from the exhaust duct 118 connecting the second opening 110b and the fan motor unit 170 and the fan motor unit 170 to the exhaust port 112. It is shown to be composed of a combination of

To reduce noise emitted to the outside, the fan motor unit 170 may be disposed adjacent to the central portion of the cleaner body 110 . Correspondingly, the second opening 110b may also be formed adjacent to the central portion of the cleaner body 110 .

As shown, the front end of the exhaust duct 118 communicating with the second opening 110b may be arranged parallel to the rear end of the intake duct 117 communicating with the first opening 110a.

Hereinafter, the dust container accommodating part 113, the dust container 140, and the dust container cover 150 will be described in detail.

FIG. 15 is a view showing a state before the dust bin 140 is mounted in the dust bin accommodating part 113 in the robot cleaner 100 shown in FIG. 1 .

Referring to FIG. 15 , a dust container accommodating portion 113 accommodating a dust container 140 is formed in the cleaner body 110 . The dust container accommodating portion 113 has a recessed shape from the rear side of the cleaner body 110 toward the front side, and is opened toward the rear and upper sides of the cleaner body 110 . The dust container accommodating portion 113 may be defined by a bottom surface supporting the dust container 140 and an inner wall surrounding a part of the outer circumference of the dust container 140 .

In the cleaner body 110, a recessed portion 116 recessed from the upper surface is formed along the outer circumference of the dust container accommodating portion 113. The dust bin cover 150 is accommodated in the dust bin accommodating portion 113 by rotation, and is disposed to cover the upper surface of the dust bin 140 and the recessed portion 116 together (see FIG. 2 ). A part of the dust box cover 150 is accommodated in the recess 116 while the dust box cover 150 is coupled to the dust box 140 .

A first opening 110a and a second opening 110b are formed on an inner wall of the dust container accommodating portion 113 . The first opening 110a and the second opening 110b may be disposed on the same height. In this figure, it is shown that the first opening 110a and the second opening 110b are formed adjacently to the left and right at the upper end of the inner wall of the dust container accommodating part 113 .

In order to form a flow of air from the intake passage - the dust bin 140 - the exhaust passage, the first and second openings 110a and 110b should be arranged to communicate with the inlet 140a and the outlet 140b, respectively. And, for the above communication, the dust container 140 should be mounted in the correct position of the dust container receiving part 113.

To this end, a mounting protrusion 113b protrudes from the bottom surface of the dust container accommodating part 113, and a mounting groove 149 (see FIG. 17) corresponding to the mounting protrusion 113b is formed on the bottom surface of the dust bin 140. . The dust bin 140 may be mounted in the proper position of the dust bin accommodating part 113 as the mounting protrusion 113b is accommodated in the mounting groove 149 .

The mounting protrusion 113b is preferably formed at a position away from the center of the dust bin 140 so that the cylindrical dust bin 140 is not rotated while being accommodated in the dust bin accommodating portion 113. In this figure, it is shown that mounting protrusions 113b are formed on both left and right sides of the center of the dust bin 140, respectively.

For reference, the positions of the mounting protrusion 113b and the mounting groove 149 may be reversed. That is, mounting protrusions may protrude from the bottom of the dust container 140 and mounting grooves may be formed from the bottom of the dust container receiving portion 113 .

A protruding portion 113a may protrude from the bottom surface of the dust container accommodating portion 113, and a groove portion 148 (see FIG. 17) corresponding to the protruding portion 113a may be formed on the bottom surface of the dust container 140. The groove 148 may be formed at the center of the dust container 140 .

When the dust bin 140 is installed in the dust bin accommodating part 113, the first opening 110a and the inlet 140a, and the second opening 110b and the outlet Gaskets 110a' and 110b' may be provided to maintain airtightness between 140b. The gaskets 110a' and 110b' may be formed to surround the first opening 110a and the second opening 110b, or may be formed to cover the inlet 140a and the outlet 140b.

FIG. 16 is a view showing the dust bin 140 shown in FIG. 1 , and FIG. 17 is a bottom view of the dust bin 140 shown in FIG. 16 .

The dust bin 140 is accommodated in the dust bin accommodating portion 113 formed on the other side of the cleaner body 110, and collects dust filtered from sucked air. As shown, the dust container 140 is formed in a cylindrical shape and may include a body case 141a, an upper case 141b, and a lower case 141c.

At least one cyclone may be disposed inside the body case 141a. For example, inside the body case 141a, there is a first cyclone 147a filtering dust from the air introduced through the inlet 140a and a filtering fine dust disposed inside the first cyclone 147a. A second cyclone 147b may be disposed. The second cyclone 147b may be accommodated in the accommodating portion 141a″ defined by a guide portion 141a′ to be described later. A plurality of second cyclones 147b may be provided.

The upper case 141b is disposed to cover the upper portion of the body case 141a, and the lower case 141c is disposed to cover the lower portion of the body case 141a.

The dust bin 140 is provided with an inlet 140a through which air containing dust is introduced into the inside and an outlet 140b through which dust-filtered air is discharged. In this figure, it is exemplified that the inlet 140a and the outlet 140b are respectively formed on the side of the body case 141a. The inlet 140a and the outlet 140b may be disposed on the same level. In this drawing, it is shown that the inlet 140a and the outlet 140b are formed adjacent to each other at the upper end of the body case 141a.

Since the dust bin 140 is configured to be detachable from the dust bin accommodating portion 113, a handle 143 may be provided on the dust bin 140 for easy attachment and detachment. Looking specifically at the structure disclosed in this embodiment, the handle 143 is hinged to the upper case 141b and configured to be rotatable. A handle accommodating portion 142 capable of accommodating the handle 143 is formed in the upper case 141b.

The handle 143 is pressurized by the dust bin cover 150 and accommodated in the handle accommodating portion 142 when the dust bin cover 150 is coupled to the dust bin 140 and disposed to cover the dust bin 140, and is accommodated in the handle receiving portion 142. When the cover 150 is separated from the dust bin 140, it may protrude from the handle receiving portion 142. To this end, an elastic part (not shown) for elastically pressing the handle 143 may be provided in the upper case 141b.

A hook 145 may protrude from the upper case 141b. The hook 145 is formed on the front of the upper case 141 . Here, the front of the upper case 141 means a direction toward the front of the cleaner body 110 when the dust bin 140 is mounted in the proper position of the dust bin accommodating part 113 .

The hook 145 is accommodated in the receiving groove 116a formed in the recessed portion 116 of the cleaner body 110 . The catching hook 145 may protrude from the outer circumferential surface of the upper case 141 and may have a downward bent shape. A step 116a' is formed in the receiving groove 116a, and the catching hook 145 can be configured to be caught on the step 116a'.

The lower case 141c may be rotatably coupled to the body case 141a by the hinge portion 141c'. The locking member 141c" provided in the lower case 141c is detachably coupled to the body case 141a, fixes the lower case 141c to the body case 141a when coupled, and releases the lower case ( When the lower case 141c is rotated with respect to the body case 141a, the dust collected in the dust bin 140 is discharged through the lower opening.

The hinge part 141c' and the locking member 141c" may be provided at positions facing each other with the center of the lower case 141c interposed therebetween. The dust bin 140 is in place of the dust bin accommodating part 113 When mounted, the hinge portion 141c' and the locking member 141c" may be configured not to be exposed to the outside by being covered with the inner wall of the dust container accommodating portion 113.

Mounting grooves 149 corresponding to the above-described mounting protrusions 113b are formed on the bottom surface of the lower case 141c. As shown, the mounting groove 149 may be formed at a position adjacent to the hinge portion 141c' and the locking member 141c".

In addition, a groove portion 148 corresponding to the above-described protruding portion 113a may be formed on a bottom surface of the lower case 141c. The groove 148 may be formed at the center of the dust bin 140. FIG. 18 is a view showing a state in which the dust bin 140 is mounted in the dust bin accommodating part 113 shown in FIG. 15 .

Referring to FIG. 18 , in a state in which the dust container 140 is not mounted in the dust container accommodating part 113, the dust container cover 150 may be inclined upward by the hinge part 150a providing an elastic pressing force upward. Accordingly, the dust container 140 may be moved downward from the rear upper side of the dust container accommodating portion 113 to be accommodated in the dust container accommodating portion 113 .

When the dust container 140 is accommodated in the correct position of the dust container receiving part 113, the hook 145 protruding from the outer circumference of the dust container 140 is an accommodation groove formed in the recessed part 116 of the cleaner body 110 ( 116a). The receiving groove 116a has a relatively more recessed shape than the recessed portion 116 .

Accordingly, a step 116a' may be formed in the receiving groove 116a. The step 116a' is inserted into the hook 145 so that the hook 145 is caught when moving in the lateral direction. In a state where the dust box cover 150 is coupled to the dust box 140, the dust box cover 150 is disposed to cover the catching hook 145.

In a state in which the dust container 140 is accommodated in the dust container accommodating portion 113, the upper surface of the upper case 141b may form the same plane as the recess portion 116.

An alignment mark 146 is formed on the upper part of the dust container 140 so that the hook 145 can be accommodated in the correct position of the receiving groove 116a, and the alignment mark 146 is formed in the recessed part 116. ) A guide mark 116' corresponding to may be formed. In this drawing, it is shown that the alignment mark 146 is formed in an intaglio on the upper case 141b, and the guide mark 116' is formed in an intaglio in the recess portion 116.

The accommodating groove 116a may be formed to elongate toward the front of the cleaner body 110 . In a state in which the dust box cover 150 is coupled to the dust box 140, the hinge portion 150a of the dust box cover 150 may be accommodated in the receiving groove 116a.

As described above, the catching hook 145 is caught on the step 116a' of the accommodating groove 116a, so that the dust bin 140 is restricted from moving laterally in the dust bin accommodating portion 113.

In addition, as described above, the mounting protrusion 113b of the dust container accommodating portion 113 is inserted into the mounting groove 149 formed in the dust container 140 . Even in this case, the movement of the dust bin 140 in the lateral direction in the dust bin accommodating portion 113 is restricted.

Therefore, the dust bin 140 cannot be removed from the dust bin accommodating part 113 without being moved upward. In a state where the dust bin cover 150 is fastened to the dust bin 140 and disposed to cover the dust bin 140, the upward movement of the dust bin 140 is limited, and the dust bin 140 may be separated from the dust bin accommodating part 113. can't

19 is a front view of the dust bin 140 shown in FIG. 16, and FIG. 20 is a conceptual view showing a state in which the upper case 141b and the upper cover 141d are separated from the dust bin 140 shown in FIG. 21 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A shown in FIG. 19, and FIG. 22 is a left side view of the dust bin 140 shown in FIG.

In some drawings, for convenience of description, the second cyclone 147b provided inside the first cyclone 147a is omitted.

Referring to FIGS. 19 to 22 together with FIG. 16 , the upper cover 141d opens and closes the upper opening 141b' of the dust bin 140 . In this embodiment, the upper opening 141b' is formed in the upper case 141b, and the upper cover 141d is detachably coupled to the upper case 141b to open and close the upper opening 141b'. there is. The upper opening 141b' is disposed to overlap the accommodating portion 141a" of the body case 141a where the multi-cyclone is disposed.

The upper cover 141d is provided with a control unit 141d' for fastening and releasing the upper case 141b. The control unit 141d' is formed on both left and right sides of the upper cover 141d, so that it can be pressed in the opposite direction, that is, inward, and restored by an elastic force.

The upper cover 141d is provided with a fixing protrusion 141d" that is pulled out or retracted from the outer circumference of the upper cover 141d in association with the manipulation of the control unit 141d'. The fixing protrusion 141d" is attached to the control unit 141d'. When the press operation of the upper cover (141d) is drawn into the receiving portion formed in the outer periphery is placed in a non-protruding state, and when restored by the elastic force is placed in a protruding state from the outer periphery of the upper cover (141d).

A fixing groove 141b" into which a fixing protrusion 141d" is inserted and fixed is formed on an inner surface of the upper case 141b forming the upper opening 141b'. The fixing grooves 141b" may be formed at positions corresponding to the fixing protrusions 141d" and disposed to face each other. Alternatively, the fixing groove 141b" may be formed to extend in a loop shape along the inner surface of the upper case 141b. In this case, there is an advantage in that the degree of freedom of installation of the fixing protrusion 141d" increases.

The main body case 141a is provided with a guide part 141a' that separates the flow of air introduced through the inlet 140a and the flow of air discharged toward the outlet 140a and guides the flow. The guide portion 141a' may be integrally formed during injection molding of the body case 141a.

The guide portion 141a' is formed to surround the accommodating portion 141a", and the inlet 140a and the outlet 140b are formed on opposite sides of the guide portion 141a'. As shown, the inlet 140a and the outlet 140b 140a is provided on the lower surface of the guide part 141a', and the air introduced through the inlet 140a flows in the lower part of the guide part 141a'. The outlet 140b is the guide part 141a' It is provided on the upper surface of and the air discharged toward the outlet 140b flows in the upper part of the guide part 141a'.

The guide portion 141a' is formed to block between the inlet 140a and the outlet 140b to separate air introduced through the inlet 140a and air discharged toward the outlet 140b.

The inlet 140a of the dust bin 140 is preferably opened toward the inner circumferential surface of the dust bin 140 so that the air introduced into the dust bin 140 forms a rotational flow. For example, the inlet 140a may be opened to contact the inner circumferential surface of the dust bin 140 .

The outlet 140b of the dust bin 140 is preferably formed to minimize flow loss and harmonize without interfering with surrounding structures.

The inlet 140a and the outlet 140b may be disposed side by side from side to side along the upper circumference of the dust bin 140 . That is, the inlet 140a and the outlet 140b may be formed at the same height of the dust bin 140 .

The inlet 140a is formed at the top of the dust bin 140 so that the air flowing into the dust bin 140 does not scatter the dust collected on the bottom of the dust bin 140 .

In the case of vacuum cleaners (for example, upright type, canister type, etc.) with less height restrictions of the multi-cyclone, the outlet is generally installed at a higher position than the inlet. However, when the capacity of the dust bin 140 needs to be increased while considering height restrictions as in the case of the robot cleaner 100 of the present invention, the outlet 140b may be formed at the same height as the inlet 140a and the dust bin 140. there is.

And in the structure of the present invention in which the air introduced into the inlet 140a is guided by the downwardly inclined guide portion 141a', the angle of the downward direction of the air introduced into the inlet 140a is that of the guide portion 141a'. related to slope In this respect, if the inclination of the guide portion 141a' is large, the air introduced into the inlet 140a may not receive sufficient centrifugal force and may scatter dust collected on the bottom of the dust bin 140.

In this regard, it is preferable that the inclination of the guide portion 141a' is as small as possible. Since the guide portion 141a' extends from the upper side of the inlet 140a to the lower side of the outlet 140b, when the inlet 140a and the outlet 140b are formed at the same height of the dust bin 140, the guide portion ( As the length of 141a') is longer, the downward slope of the guide portion 141a' appears gentler. According to this, the guide part (141a') is formed the longest when the outlet (140b) is located right next to the inlet (140a), and as a result has the most gentle slope.

In this drawing, the inlet 140a and the outlet 140b show a structure formed side by side on the upper end of the body case 141a. The guide portion 141a' may have a shape inclined downward in a spiral shape along the inner circumferential surface of the body case 141a from the upper end of the inlet 140a toward the lower end of the outlet 140b.

The multi-cyclone of the dust bin 140 is accommodated in the accommodating part 141a" and filters foreign matter or dust in the air introduced into the inside through the inlet 140a. The air filtered out of foreign matter or dust rises and moves to the guide part ( It flows from the upper part of 141a') toward the outlet 140b. The dust bin 140 of the present invention filters foreign substances or dust once again before the air flowing in this way is finally discharged to the outlet 140b. to provide

A filter 141f is provided on the rear surface of the upper cover 141d to filter foreign matter or dust in the air discharged toward the outlet 140b after passing through the multi-cyclone. The filter 141f is disposed to cover the second cyclone 147b accommodated in the accommodating portion 141a″, and can filter dust in the air passing through the second cyclone 147b.

With the upper cover 141d attached to the upper case 141b, the filter 141f is disposed to cover the accommodating portion 141a″. It may be in close contact with the upper surface or with the inner circumferential surface of the accommodating portion 141a".

The filter 141f may be mounted on a mounting rib 141e protruding from the rear surface of the upper cover 141d. In this drawing, the mounting rib 141e shows a structure including a plurality of protrusions 141e' and a mounting portion 141e". The mounting rib 141e may be integrally formed during injection molding of the upper cover 141d. can

The protrusions 141e' protrude from the rear surface of the upper cover 141d and are provided in a plurality of locations. The mounting portion 141e" is spaced apart from the rear surface of the upper cover 141d at a predetermined interval, and is supported at a plurality of locations by a plurality of protruding portions 141e'. The mounting portion 141e" is the accommodating portion 141a". It can be formed in the form of a larger loop.

The filter 141f includes a filter portion 141f' and a sealing portion 141f".

The filter unit 141f' is disposed to cover the accommodating unit 141a" and filters foreign substances or dust in the air discharged through the outlet 140b. The filter unit 141f' may have a mesh shape.

The sealing portion 141f" is disposed to surround the filter portion 141f' and is mounted on the mounting portion 141e" so that the filter 141f can be fixed to the mounting rib 141e. For the fixing, a groove into which the mounting portion 141e" is inserted may be formed in the sealing portion 141f". The sealing portion 141f" may be disposed to be in close contact with the upper surface of the guide portion 141a' and to surround the accommodating portion 141a". Alternatively, the sealing portion 141f" may be in close contact with the inner circumferential surface of the accommodating portion 141a".

With the above structure, air filtered from foreign matter or dust by the multi-cyclone can pass through the filter unit 141f' and be discharged to the outlet 141f through the empty space between the protrusions 141e'. Here, the empty space is formed on the outer circumference of the filter 141f and communicates with the upper part of the guide part 141a'. In addition, the sealing part 141f" is configured to seal a gap between the filter 141f and the upper surface of the guide part 141a' that is in close contact with the filter 141f or the inner circumferential surface of the accommodating part 141a". Dust can be prevented from being discharged to the outlet 141f.

Other detailed configurations of the dust box 140 have structural relevance to the dust box cover 150, and will be described together while describing the dust box cover 150.

FIG. 23 is a view showing the dust box cover 150 shown in FIG. 1 , and FIG. 24 is an exploded perspective view of the dust box cover 150 shown in FIG. 23 .

Referring to FIGS. 23 and 24 together with FIGS. 1 to 3 , the dust bin cover 150 is rotatably coupled to the cleaner body 110 by the hinge part 150a, and when coupled to the dust bin 140, the dust bin cover 150 It is arranged so as to completely cover the upper surface of (140). In the above arrangement, a part of the dust box cover 150 is accommodated in the dust box accommodating part 113, and the other part of the dust box cover 150 is in the rear direction of the cleaner body 110 (that is, in the reverse direction opposite to the forward direction F). (R)] may be formed to protrude toward. The hinge part 150a is configured to elastically press the dust bin cover 150 upward, so that when the dust bin cover 150 is not coupled to the dust bin 140, it can be tilted upward with respect to the upper surface of the dust bin 140. there is.

The dust bin cover 150 may be formed in an elongated oval shape in the front and rear directions of the cleaner body 110, and may be disposed to completely cover the circular dust bin 140 when coupled to the dust bin 140. In the cleaner body 110, a recessed portion 116 recessed from the upper surface of the cleaner body 110 is formed along the outer circumference of the dust container accommodating portion 113 (see FIGS. 15 and 18). The dust bin cover 150 is accommodated in the dust bin accommodating portion 113 by rotation, and is disposed to cover the upper surface of the dust bin 140 and the recessed portion 116 together. The front and rear lengths of the dust box cover 150 corresponding to the front and rear directions of the cleaner body 110 may be longer than the left and right lengths of the dust box cover 150 corresponding to the left and right directions of the cleaner body 110, and the left and right lengths Is equal to or longer than the radius of the dust box cover 150.

At least one of a touch key 150', a touch screen 150", and a display unit (not shown) may be provided in the dust bin cover 150. The touch screen 150" outputs visual information and displays the visual information. In that it is made to receive a touch input for , it can be distinguished from a display that outputs visual information but does not have a touch function.

The dust box cover 150 may include a top cover 151 , a bottom cover 152 , and a middle frame 153 between the top cover 151 and the bottom cover 152 . The components may be formed of a synthetic resin material.

The top cover 151 may be configured to have light transmission properties. For example, the top cover 151 itself may be formed to have translucency, or the top cover 151 itself may have translucency while the film attached to the rear surface of the top cover 151 may have translucency. there is. As the top cover 151 has light-transmitting properties, a pictogram of the touch key 150' or visual information output from the touch screen 150" or display can be transmitted to the user through the top cover 151.

A touch sensor for detecting a touch input to the top cover 151 may be attached to the rear surface of the top cover 151 . The touch sensor may constitute a touch key module 154a and/or a touch screen module 154b to be described later.

The bottom cover 152 is combined with the top cover 151 to form the appearance of the dust box cover 150 together with the top cover 151 . The bottom cover 152 may be formed of an opaque material and forms a mounting surface on which an electronic device or a sub-circuit board 157 can be seated inside the dust box cover 150 .

A hinge portion 150a rotatably coupled to the cleaner body 110 may be coupled to the top cover 151 or the bottom cover 152 . The hinge part 150a may be provided on the top cover 151 or the bottom cover 152 itself.

An electronic device or a sub circuit board 157 is mounted on the bottom cover 152 . For example, a sub circuit board 157 electrically connected to a main circuit board (not shown) of the cleaner body 110 may be mounted on the bottom cover 152 . Here, the main circuit board may be configured as an example of a control unit for operating various functions of the robot cleaner 100 .

Various electronic devices are mounted on the sub circuit board 157 . In this drawing, it is shown that the touch key module 154a, the touch screen module 154b, and the infrared receiving unit 156 (eg, IR sensor) are electrically connected on the sub circuit board 157. The electrical connection includes not only mounting the electronic device on the sub circuit board 157, but also connecting the electronic device to the sub circuit board 157 through a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB).

A pictogram is printed on the top cover 151 on the touch key module 154a, and the touch key module 154a detects a touch input to the pictogram portion of the top cover 151. The touch key module 154a includes a touch sensor, and the touch sensor may be attached to or disposed adjacent to the rear surface of the top cover 151 . The touch key module 154a may further include a backlight unit that illuminates the pictogram.

The touch screen module 154b provides an output interface between the robot cleaner 100 and the user through the output of visual information, and is configured to detect a touch input to the top cover 151, so that the robot cleaner 100 and the user Provides an input interface between The touch screen module 154b includes a display that outputs visual information through the top cover 151 and a touch sensor that detects a touch input to the top cover 151, which form a mutual layer structure or are integrally formed. Implement a touch screen.

The touch screen module 154b may be accommodated in the through hole 153b of the middle frame 153 and coupled to the middle frame 153 by bonding or hook coupling. In this case, the touch screen module 154b may be electrically connected to the sub circuit board 157 through a flexible printed circuit board. The touch screen module 154b may be attached to or disposed adjacent to the rear surface of the top cover 151 .

An acceleration sensor 155 may be provided on the dust bin cover 150 . The acceleration sensor 155 may be mounted on the sub circuit board 157 or electrically connected to the sub circuit board 157 through a flexible printed circuit board. The acceleration sensor 155 detects the gravitational acceleration acting on the acceleration sensor 155 by dividing it into mutually perpendicular X, Y, and Z vectors.

The controller may detect whether the dust box cover 150 is opened or closed using the X, Y, and Z vector values sensed by the acceleration sensor 155. Specifically, when the dust box cover 150 is in a closed state, at least two vector values are changed in an open state (tilted state) of the dust box cover 150 . That is, vector values sensed through the acceleration sensor 155 vary according to the degree of inclination of the dust bin cover 150 .

When the difference between vector values in the above two states is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference value, the control unit may determine that the dust box cover 150 is not fastened to the dust box 140 and generate a corresponding control signal. For example, if the dustbin cover 150 is opened and tilted, the controller may detect this through the acceleration sensor 155 to stop driving the wheel unit 111 and generate an alarm.

In addition, when vibration is applied to the dust bin cover 150, vector values sensed through the acceleration sensor 155 change. The controller may be configured to switch the touch screen module 154b from an inactive (OFF) state to an active (ON) state when a change in vector values equal to or greater than a predetermined reference value is detected within a predetermined time. For example, when the user taps the dustbin cover 150 multiple times while the touch screen module 154b is inactive, the controller detects this through the acceleration sensor 155 and activates the touch screen module 154b. can be converted

Instead of the aforementioned acceleration sensor 155, a gyro sensor may be used. Alternatively, the acceleration sensor 155 and the gyro sensor may be used together to realize improved sensing performance through mutual complement.

The infrared receiving unit 156 may be disposed at each corner of the sub circuit board 157 to receive infrared signals transmitted from different directions. Here, the infrared signal may be a signal output from the remote control when a remote control (not shown) for controlling the robot cleaner 100 is operated.

The middle frame 153 is disposed to cover the sub-circuit board 157, and through-holes 153a respectively correspond to the touch key module 154a and the touch screen module 154b mounted on the sub-circuit board 157. , 153b). An inner surface defining the through holes 153a and 153b is formed to surround each of the touch key module 154a and the touch screen module 154b.

Each corner of the middle frame 153 may be provided with an accommodating portion 153c having an open front so as to cover an upper portion of each infrared receiving unit 156 and receive infrared rays. According to the above arrangement, the infrared receiving unit 156 is disposed to face the side surface of the dust box cover 150 (specifically, the side surface of the light-transmitting top cover 151). Since the upper portion of the infrared receiving unit 156 is covered by the accommodating portion 153c, malfunction of the infrared receiving unit 156 due to sunlight or a three-wavelength lamp disposed on the ceiling can be prevented.

At least a portion of the dust bin cover 150 may be disposed to protrude beyond the upper surface of the cleaner body 110 . As shown, the top cover 151 may include a tapered portion 151a that extends obliquely downward from the upper surface to the outside. The tapered portion 151a extends along the outer circumference of the top cover 151 and, as shown in FIG. 3 above, is higher than the upper surface of the cleaner body 110 in a state where the dust box cover 150 is coupled to the dust box 140. It can be positioned protrudingly.

If the side surface extending vertically downward from the upper surface of the top cover 151 is continuously formed, the infrared signal flowing into the top cover 151 at the corner of the top cover 151 is refracted or reflected, and the infrared receiving unit 156 ) may degrade reception performance. Furthermore, if the side surface of the top cover 151 is completely covered by the upper surface of the cleaner body 110, the reception performance of the infrared reception unit 156 is further deteriorated.

However, according to the above structure, the infrared signal flowing into the top cover 151 is hardly refracted or reflected by the tapered portion 151a, and flows into the infrared receiving unit 156 disposed adjacent to the inside of the tapered portion 151a. It can be. In addition, as the tapered portion 151a protrudes from the upper surface of the cleaner body 110 and a plurality of infrared receiving units 156 are provided and spaced apart from each other at regular intervals inside the tapered portion 151a, Infrared signals can be received. Accordingly, the reception performance of the infrared reception unit 156 can be improved.

Hereinafter, a fixing structure of the dust bin 140 will be described.

25 is a view showing the rear surface of the dust bin cover 150 shown in FIG. 23, and FIG. 26 is a cross-sectional view showing a structure in which the hook part 158 shown in FIG. 25 is fastened to the dust bin 140.

Referring to FIGS. 25 and 26 together with FIG. 16 , the dust bin cover 150 includes a hook part 158 configured to be fastened to the locking part 144 of the dust bin 140 . In this figure, it is exemplified that the hook part 158 is protruded from one side of the bottom surface of the bottom cover 152 . The hook part 158 may be provided on the opposite side of the hinge part 150a.

When the hook part 158 is fastened to the locking part 144, the handle 143 provided on the top of the dust bin 140 is pressed by the dust box cover 150 and accommodated in the handle accommodating part 142. When the fastening between the hook part 158 and the locking part 144 is released, the handle 143 is pressed by the elastic part and protrudes from the handle receiving part 142 . As shown above, the handle 143 may be inclined with respect to the upper case 141b.

The locking part 144 provided in the dust bin 140 includes a button part 144a and a hooking part 144b. The locking part 144 is exposed to the rear of the cleaner body 110 .

The button part 144a is configured to be able to be pressed on the side of the dust bin 140, and the hook part 144b is configured to be able to hook the hook part 158 of the dust box cover 150, and the button part 144a It is made so that the engagement with the hook part 158 is released during a pressing operation. The hanging part 144b may be formed on the upper part of the dust container 140 .

In the above, it has been described that the hook part 158 is formed in the dust box cover 150 and the locking part 144 is provided in the dust box 140 as an example, but the hook part 158 and the locking part 144 are formed. Locations can be interchanged. In other words, the dust bin cover 150 may be provided with a locking part, and the dust bin 140 may be provided with a hook part.

As such, the dust bin cover 150 is detachably coupled to the dust bin 140 by the fastening structure of the hook part 158 and the locking part 144 . That is, there is no direct fastening relationship between the dust box cover 150 and the cleaner body 110, and the dust box cover 150 is fastened to the dust box 140 accommodated in the dust box accommodating part 113.

As described above, the dust container 140 accommodated in the dust container accommodating part 113 is moved in the lateral direction by the above-described mounting protrusion 113b-mounting groove 149 and hook 145-step 116a'. this is limited When the dust bin 140 is accommodated in the dust bin accommodating part 113 and the dust bin cover 150 is fastened to the dust bin 140 while covering the dust bin 140, even the upward movement of the dust bin 140 is restricted. , The separation of the dust container 140 from the dust container receiving part 113 can be prevented.

When the dust bin 140 is not mounted, the dust bin cover 150 is placed in a freely rotatable state around the hinge part 150a, that is, in an unfixed state. As described above, in such an unfixed state, the dust box cover 150 may be tilted upward.

The dust bin cover 150 must be fastened to the dust bin 140 to be placed in a horizontal state. If the dust box cover 150 is not fastened to the dust box 140, the dust box cover 150 is placed in an upwardly tilted state. Of course, in a state in which the dust container 140 is not accommodated in the dust container accommodating portion 113, the dust container cover 150 is tilted upward.

Therefore, the user can intuitively check whether the dust box cover 150 and the dust box 140 are fastened by visually checking whether the dust box cover 150 is in a tilted state.

Meanwhile, the air filtered in the dust bin 140 is discharged from the dust bin 140 and is finally discharged to the outside through the exhaust port 112 . Here, a filter unit 160 for filtering fine dust included in the filtered air is disposed in front of the exhaust port 112, and the filter unit 160 will be described below.

27 is a view showing the inside of the dust container accommodating part 113 shown in FIG. 15, FIG. 28 is a conceptual view showing a state in which the filter unit 160 shown in FIG. 27 is rotated, and FIG. 29 is shown in FIG. 28 It is an exploded perspective view of the filter unit 160.

Referring to FIGS. 27 to 29 , the filter unit 160 is accommodated inside the cleaner body 110 and is disposed in front of the exhaust port 112 . The filter unit 160 is exposed to the outside when the dust bin 140 is separated from the dust bin accommodating part 113 . Here, the exhaust port 112 may be formed on an inner wall of the cleaner body 110 defining the dust container accommodating portion 113 . The exhaust port 112 may be formed at one (left or right) end of the cleaner body 110 surrounding the dust container accommodating part 113 . In the present embodiment, it is shown that the exhaust port 112 is formed long along the height direction of the cleaner body 110 at the left end of the dust container accommodating part 113 in the drawing.

As described above, the air discharged from the second opening 110b is guided to the exhaust port 112 through the exhaust passage. Due to the structure in which the exhaust port 112 is formed at one end of the cleaner body 110, the exhaust passage extends to one end of the cleaner body 110. A filter unit 160 is disposed on the exhaust passage.

The filter unit 160 includes a filter case 161 and a filter 162 .

The filter case 161 includes a hinge portion 161c that is hinged to the inner wall of the cleaner body 110 defining the dust container accommodating portion 113 . Accordingly, the filter case 161 is configured to be rotatable with respect to the cleaner body 110 .

The filter case 161 includes a filter accommodating portion 161a and a vent 161b communicating with the filter accommodating portion 161a and facing the exhaust port 112 . The air introduced into the filter case 161 passes through the filter 162 mounted in the filter accommodating part 161a and is discharged through the ventilation hole 161b.

The filter 162 is mounted in the filter accommodating portion 161a. A HEPA filter for filtering fine dust may be used as the filter 162 . The filter 162 may include a handle 162a.

In this figure, it is exemplified that the filter accommodating part 161a is formed on the front surface of the filter case 161, and the ventilation hole 161b is formed on the side surface of the filter case 161. More specifically, a through hole 161e is formed on the side of the filter case 161, and the filter 162 is formed on the bottom surface of the filter case 161 to guide insertion of the filter 162 through the through hole 161e. ) The guide rail 161f protrudes along the insertion direction.

The mounting structure of the filter 162 to the filter case 161 is not limited thereto. As another example, unlike the structure shown in this figure, the filter 162 may be mounted on the front of the filter case 161 and accommodated in the filter accommodating portion 161a. In this case, the filter 162 may be fixed to the filter accommodating portion 161a through hook coupling.

The filter case 161 is configured to be accommodated inside the cleaner body 110 through an opening 115 formed on an inner wall, and the outer surface is exposed to the outside while being accommodated inside the cleaner body 110, so that the filter case 161 can be stored in the cleaner body 110 ( 110) to define the dust container receiving portion 113 together with the inner wall. To this end, the outer surface of the filter case 161 may have a rounded shape, and preferably may be formed as a curved surface having substantially the same curvature as the inner wall of the dust container accommodating part 113 .

A knob 161d may be formed on one surface of the filter case 161 defining the dust container accommodating portion 113 together with the inner wall of the cleaner body 110 . Referring to FIG. 15 , when the dust bin 140 is accommodated in the dust bin accommodating part 113, the dust bin 140 is configured to cover the filter case 161, and the knob 161d is covered by the dust bin 140 to the outside. not exposed to

The filter case 161 may be disposed in the dust container accommodating portion 113 in a rotated state to open the opening 115 . According to the above structure, the filter accommodating portion 161a is exposed to the outside, so that the filter 162 can be easily replaced.

Claims (20)

A vacuum cleaner body including a dust container receiving portion recessed inwardly;
a dust bin placed in the dust bin accommodating part;
a dust bin cover rotatably provided on the cleaner body so as to be positioned above the dust bin;
a display provided on the dust bin cover;
a sensor provided on the dust bin cover to detect vibration applied to the dust bin cover; and
and a controller configured to determine a state of the dust box cover and control an on/off operation of the display based on the vibration information sensed by the sensor.
According to claim 1,
The robot cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the control unit determines whether the dust box cover is touched based on the vibration information detected by the sensor, and switches the display on or off according to whether the dust box cover is touched.
According to claim 2,
The display is a robot cleaner provided with a touch screen that senses a user's touch and provides an input interface.
According to claim 1,
The controller determines whether the dust box cover is opened or closed by rotation based on the vibration information detected by the sensor.
According to claim 4,
The controller controls the robot cleaner to stop driving when the dust bin cover is opened.
According to claim 2,
The sensor includes at least one of an acceleration sensor and a gyro sensor.
delete According to claim 6,
The sensor detects the number of touches caused by the vibration of the dust box cover,
The controller switches the display to an OFF or ON state based on the number of touches.
According to claim 1,
The dust box cover includes a top cover and a bottom cover forming the appearance of the dust box cover.
According to claim 9,
At least a portion of the top cover is formed to have light-transmitting or semi-light-transmitting properties,
The display is a robot cleaner visible through the top cover.
According to claim 9,
The sensor further includes a touch sensor for detecting a touch input,
The touch sensor is mounted on the rear surface of the top cover.
According to claim 9,
The dust bin cover includes a hinge rotatably coupled to the cleaner body and coupled to at least one of the top cover and the bottom cover.
According to claim 1,
The robot cleaner further comprising an input device provided on the dust bin cover.
According to claim 1,
At least a part of the dust box cover is provided to protrude from the upper surface of the cleaner body.

15. The method of claim 14,
When the dust bin cover is closed to cover an upper portion of the dust bin mounted in the dust bin accommodating part, at least a part of the dust bin cover protrudes from a rear end of the cleaner body.
a cleaner body including a dust container receiving part recessed inwardly;
a dust bin placed in the dust bin accommodating part;
a dust bin cover rotatably provided on the cleaner body to cover the dust bin;
a sensor provided on the dust bin cover to detect vibration applied to the dust bin cover; and
A control unit for determining a state of the dust box cover and controlling an operation of the cleaner body;
The controller performs control based on vibration information detected by the sensor.
17. The method of claim 16,
When the dust bin cover is open, the controller controls the movement of the robot cleaner to be stopped.
17. The method of claim 16,
The sensor includes at least one of an acceleration sensor and a gyro sensor.
17. The method of claim 16,
The dust box cover includes a hinge part rotatably coupled to the cleaner body.
17. The method of claim 16,
When the dust box cover is in a closed state, the dust box cover protrudes from the rear end of the cleaner body.