KR20110061714A - Robot cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A robot cleaner is provided to selectively collect foreign materials and to eliminate them placed at a corner by including a brush part equipped with a rotating brush and a dust collection part with a guide plate and an intake port. CONSTITUTION: The robot cleaner includes a main body(12); a brush part(20); and a dust collection part(30). The main body runs along a work plane. The brush part is mounted in the main body. The brush part sweeps away dirt of the work plane rearwards against a progressive direction of the main body. The dust collection part collects dirt moved by the brush part. The brush part includes a rotating brush. The rotating brush sweeps away dirt of the work plane by rotations. The dust collection part is installed behind of the rotating brush. The dust collection part is arranged in order to slope upward to rearward. The dust collection part includes a guide plate, and a suction tube(32). The guide plate guides movements of dirt. The suction tube has an inlet inhaling dirt.

Description

Robot Cleaner {ROBOT CLEANER}

The present invention relates to a robot cleaner, and more particularly, to a robot cleaner including a rotary brush and a suction pipe.

A vacuum cleaner is a device for cleaning a room by removing foreign substances such as dirt, and a vacuum cleaner that sucks foreign substances by using suction force according to pressure difference is generally used.

Recently, robot cleaners have been developed and used to remove foreign substances from the floor while moving by themselves through the automatic driving function without user's labor.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a robot cleaner that can selectively collect foreign matter.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a robot cleaner that can remove foreign substances in the corner.

Still other objects of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the robot cleaner comprises a main body which proceeds along the working surface; A brush part mounted on the main body to sweep the dirt of the working surface backward with respect to the traveling direction of the main body; And a dust collecting part for collecting the dirt moved by the brush part, wherein the brush part is installed at the lower part of the main body and includes a rotating brush to sweep the dirt of the working surface by rotation, and the dust collecting part is rotated. It is installed on the rear of the brush and disposed to be inclined upward toward the rear, and includes a suction pipe having a guide surface for guiding the movement of the dirt and a suction port for sucking the dirt.

The brush portion support guide extending in the vertical direction; And a support shaft which is connected to the support guide and is movable up and down along the support guide, the rotation brush is rotatably connected, and a front guide surface which moves up and down along the curvature of the work surface is formed at the bottom thereof. It may further include.

The rotating brush is a rotating shaft; And a plurality of hairs connected to the rotation shaft and rotating together with the rotation shaft, the hairs being arranged to be conformal in the rotation direction, wherein the hairs are alternately arranged along the rotation direction. It can have short hairs.

The brush unit is a guide rail disposed parallel to the axis of rotation of the brush; A reciprocating member connected to the rotating brush and connected to the guide rail to reciprocate along the guide rail; Rotary pulley; And a crank shaft having one end connected to the rotary pulley and the other end connected to the rotary brush.

The dust collecting unit further includes a moving tube in which a moving passage communicating with the suction port is formed therein, and the suction tube has a rear guide surface moving along the curvature of the working surface, and the suction tube is rotatably connected to the moving tube. It can rotate along the curvature of the working surface.

The moving tube has a loading surface on which the dirt moved along the guide surface is loaded, and the front end of the loading surface may be located below the rear end of the guide surface.

The dust collecting part may further include an adhesive member disposed on the loading surface and to which the dirt loaded on the loading surface is bonded.

The dust collecting unit is installed at the rear end of the moving tube to filter the air sucked through the suction port; And it may further include a blowing fan installed in the rear end of the filter.

The main body is in communication with the moving passage discharge passage for moving the air sucked through the suction port; And it may have a discharge port which is formed toward the front outer side and in communication with the discharge passage, discharges the air moved along the discharge passage toward the front outer side.

The robot cleaner further includes an auxiliary brush part disposed outside the rotating brush to sweep the dirt out by rotation, and the auxiliary brush part extending vertically and rotating in a vertical direction; And it is connected to the vertical axis and rotate, it may include an auxiliary brush for sweeping the dirt toward the inside by the rotation.

The auxiliary brush part is a horizontal axis connected to the rotation axis of the rotating brush; A horizontal gear installed at one end of the horizontal shaft to rotate together with the horizontal shaft; And a vertical gear connected to the vertical axis and rotating in engagement with the horizontal gear.

According to the present invention, foreign matter can be selectively collected and removed. In particular, foreign matter in the corner can be removed.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 10. The embodiments of the present invention can be modified in various forms, and the scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments described below. The embodiments are provided to explain the present invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs. Accordingly, the shape of each element shown in the drawings may be exaggerated to emphasize a more clear description.

On the other hand, the "working surface" used below means a surface in which foreign matter exists, the robot cleaner removes the foreign matter present in the "working surface". In particular, "working surface" is used to include a flat floor surface such as flooring and a carpeted surface with a brush. In addition, "connection" as used below includes a case where two different configurations are directly connected as well as a case where two different configurations are indirectly connected by separate mediators.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing a robot cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the robot cleaner shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the robot cleaner 10 includes a main body 12 having a disk shape, and suctions and removes foreign substances present on the work surface while moving along the work surface described above. As shown in FIG. 2, the robot cleaner 10 includes a driving wheel W1 and a driven wheel W2 installed below the main body 12, and the driving wheel W1 has a separate driving motor (not shown). Rotate by). The main body 12 moves by the rotation of the drive wheel W1, and the driven wheel W2 naturally rotates as the main body 12 moves. On the other hand, the driven wheel (W2) can be rotated based on the axis of rotation (not shown) perpendicular to the working surface, the main body 12 can be switched due to the rotation of the driven wheel (W2).

An outlet 13 is formed at an upper portion of the main body 12, and the cover 14 is placed on a protrusion 11 installed on the outlet 13 to open and close the outlet 13. The user may process the foreign matters collected by the dust collecting unit 30 to be described later through the discharge port 13. In addition, the sensor 15 is installed in the front portion of the main body 12, the sensor 15 measures the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) present in the room. The concentration value measured by the sensor 15 is displayed through the display 18 installed on the upper surface of the main body 12, through which the user can determine the pollution degree of the indoor air. In addition, the display 18 can display the remaining battery level, the cleaning mode, the cleaning time, and the like.

The robot cleaner 10 includes a brush part 20, and the brush part 20 sweeps out foreign matters on the work surface or shakes off foreign matters caught between the brush and the brush on the carpet surface. The brush part 20 includes a housing 22, a support guide 23, a support shaft 24, and a driving pulley 25 and a driven pulley 26. The housing 22 is mounted inside the main body 12, and a rotating brush to be described later is mounted inside the housing 22.

3 and 4 are views showing the operation of the support shaft shown in FIG. The support guide 23 is disposed to be generally perpendicular to the working surface, and the upper end of the support guide 23 is fixedly installed on the ceiling surface of the housing 22. The support shaft 24 is fastened to the support guide 23, and the support shaft 24 moves up and down along the support guide 23.

The support shaft 24 has a guide surface 24a at the lower end, and the guide surface 24a may be a curved surface inclined downward toward the rear side (right direction with reference to FIG. 2). When the main body 12 moves along the working surface, the guide surface 24a moves along the working surface, and when the working surface is curved, the guide surface 24a moves along the bending, so that the support shaft 24 is supported. It moves up and down along the guide 23. Therefore, the height of the driven pulley 26 and the rotating brush connected to the support shaft 24 can be automatically adjusted.

The driving pulley 25 and the driven pulley 26 are connected to the support shaft 24 and move up and down together with the support shaft 24. The driving pulley 25 and the driven pulley 26 are connected via the belt B, and the rotational force of the driving pulley 25 is transmitted to the driven pulley 26 through the belt B. The drive pulley 25 and the driven pulley 26 rotate on the support shaft 24. The driven pulley 26 is connected to the rotating shaft 27 to be described later, the driven pulley 26 rotates together with the rotating shaft 27.

FIG. 5 is a side view illustrating the rotating brush shown in FIG. 2. The brush unit 20 further includes a rotating brush, the rotating brush protrudes through the open lower portion of the housing 22. The rotating brush rotates together with the driven pulley 26 described above to sweep away the foreign matter on the working surface or to shake off the foreign matter stuck between the brush and the brush on the carpet surface. As shown in FIG. 3, the rotating brush has a rotating shaft 27 and hairs connected to the rotating shaft 27. The hairs connected to the rotation shaft 27 are arranged to form an angle (for example, 90 °) about the rotation shaft, and include long hairs 27a and short hairs 27b (L2 < L1). . The long hair 27a may be useful for brushing off foreign matter that is deeply embedded between the brush and the short hair 27b, and the short hair 27b may be useful for brushing off foreign matter on the surface. That is, using the long hair 27a and the short hair 27b can effectively shake off foreign substances in various locations.

6 and 7 are cross-sectional views showing the dust collector shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the robot cleaner 10 further includes a dust collecting unit 30, and the dust collecting unit 30 collects the removed foreign substances. The dust collecting unit 30 includes a suction pipe 32, a moving pipe 34, a filter 36, a blowing fan 37, and a motor 38. The suction pipe 32 is disposed to be inclined upward toward the rear and is rotatably connected to the main body 12 through the hinge H. The suction pipe 32 has a suction port 33a at the front end, and the suction passage 33 is formed in communication with the suction port 33a. The suction pipe 32 has a guide surface 32b corresponding to the upper surface and a guide surface 32a positioned at the lower end of the suction pipe 32.

The above-described rotating brush sweeps back the foreign substances on the working surface by the rotation, and the foreign substances are moved rearward by the rotating brush. At this time, the foreign matters of relatively large size can not be easily moved by the suction force of the suction pipe 32 to be described later, but can be easily moved due to the force applied by the rotating brush, the inside of the body 12 along the guide surface (32b) You can go to In addition, foreign matters having a relatively small size may be sucked through the suction port 33a after being scattered by the rotating brush. That is, foreign matters moved backward by the rotary brush are automatically classified according to the size between the rotary brush and the suction pipe 32, and then the foreign matters having a relatively large size move to the inside of the main body 12, and the relatively small size. Foreign substances are sucked through the suction pipe (32).

On the other hand, the guide surface 32a may be a curved surface inclined downward toward the rear (right direction with reference to FIG. 6). When the main body 12 moves along the working surface, the guide surface 32a moves along the working surface, and when the working surface is curved, the guide surface 32a moves along the bending, so that the suction pipe 32 is hinged ( Rotate clockwise or counterclockwise around H). Therefore, the height of the lower end of the suction pipe 32 can be adjusted automatically.

The moving pipe 34 is connected to the middle of the suction pipe 32 and is disposed to be inclined upward toward the rear, and has a loading surface 34a corresponding to the upper surface and a moving passage 35 formed therein. As shown in FIG. 6, the suction pipe 32 has a connecting hole 32b open toward the rear side, and the front end of the moving tube 34 is inserted into the connecting hole 32b. The moving tube 34 has a rear suction opening 35a formed at the front end, and the rear suction opening 35a is connected to the connection hole 32b. The movement passage 35 communicates with the suction passage 33 through the rear suction opening 35a.

The foreign matter moved to the inside of the main body 12 along the guide surface 32b moves on the loading surface 34a located behind the suction pipe 32. Since the moving pipe 34 is connected to the middle of the suction pipe 32, the front end of the loading surface 34a is positioned lower than the rear end of the guide surface 32b, and foreign matters are loaded on the loading surface 34a. At this time, an adhesive member (for example, an adhesive tape) 34b may be provided on the mounting surface 34a, and the adhesive member 34b may fix foreign substances and prevent the foreign substances loaded thereon from being discharged.

In addition, the robot cleaner 10 further includes a filter 36, a blowing fan 37, and a motor 38. The foreign substances sucked together with the air through the suction port 33a are directed toward the connection hole 32b through the suction path 33 and move to the moving path 35 through the rear suction port 35a. The filter 36 is disposed at the rear of the moving passage 35 to filter foreign matter mixed with air, and the blower fan 37 and the motor 38 form a vacuum in the main body 12 to form a vacuum outside the main body 12. Not only does it suck air from the air, but it is disposed behind the filter 36 and moves the filtered air to the discharge passage 17 which will be described later.

8 is a view illustrating driving of the rotary brush shown in FIG. 2. The robot cleaner 10 may further include a guide rail 42, a reciprocating member 44, a crankshaft 46, and a rotation pulley 48. The guide rail 42 is disposed substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the rotation shaft 27, and the reciprocating member 44 connects the housing 22 and the guide rail 42. The reciprocating member 44 reciprocates left and right along the guide rail 42 as described below. One end of the crankshaft 46 is connected to the housing 22 through the hinge H, and the other end is connected to the rotary pulley 48 through the hinge H. When the rotary pulley 48 rotates by the drive motor M, the crankshaft 46 converts the rotational movement of the rotary pulley 48 into a linear reciprocating motion. Thus, the reciprocating member 44 reciprocates along the guide rail 42, and the housing 22 moves with the reciprocating member 44. Therefore, the rotating brush can shake off foreign matters by rotating and reciprocating.

FIG. 9 is a view illustrating driving of an auxiliary brush connected to the rotary brush illustrated in FIG. 2. The robot cleaner 10 further includes an auxiliary brush 59. As shown in FIG. 9, a horizontal housing 28 is provided at one end of the rotating shaft 27, and one end of the horizontal shaft 52 is connected to the rotating shaft 27 through the horizontal housing 28. The horizontal shaft 52 rotates together with the rotation shaft 27. Similarly, a vertical housing 12a is provided on the ceiling surface of the main body 12, and an upper end of the upper vertical shaft 57 is inserted into the vertical housing 12a. The upper vertical shaft 57 may rotate without being constrained to the vertical housing 12a.

The horizontal gear 54 connected to the horizontal shaft 52 and the vertical gear 58 connected to the upper vertical shaft 57 mesh with each other. When the rotation shaft 27 rotates, the horizontal gear 54 rotates together so that the vertical gear 58 It rotates in engagement with the horizontal gear 54. The auxiliary brush 59 is connected to the lower portion of the vertical gear 58 by the lower vertical shaft 56, and the lower vertical shaft 56 and the auxiliary brush 59 rotate together when the vertical gear 58 is rotated. The auxiliary brush 59 has brushes, and the brushes sweep foreign matters by the rotation of the auxiliary brush 59. The auxiliary brush 59 is disposed outside the rotating brush, and is used to remove foreign substances in the corners of the rotary brush that cannot be removed. The auxiliary brush 59 is disposed outside the main body 12 to sweep foreign matters in the corners toward the inside of the main body 12. Sweep foreign matter is collected by the dust collecting unit 30 installed inside the main body 12. On the other hand, the elastic body (S) installed in the horizontal housing 28 provides an elastic force in the right direction with respect to the horizontal axis 52, the elastic body (S) installed in the vertical housing 12a is in the upward direction with respect to the upper vertical axis (57). Provide elastic force. The horizontal gear 54 and the vertical gear 58 may be always engaged by the elastic body S.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a rear surface of the robot cleaner shown in FIG. 1. The robot cleaner 10 has an ultraviolet lamp 60 installed on both sides of the suction pipe 32, and the ultraviolet lamp 60 is located at the rear of the rotating brush (downward with reference to FIG. 10) to remove foreign substances. Sterilize using ultraviolet light.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a method of removing foreign substances in a corner by using the robot cleaner shown in FIG. 1. The discharge passage 17 communicates with the movement passage 35 described above, and the filtered air flows along the discharge passage 17 and is discharged through the discharge port 16. At this time, since the discharge port 16 is formed toward the outside of the travel direction (upward direction with reference to FIG. 10) of the main body 12, air is discharged toward the outside of the travel direction of the main body 12. Therefore, some of the foreign matters in the corner C may be removed by using the air discharged through the discharge port 16.

Although the present invention has been described in detail by way of preferred embodiments thereof, other forms of embodiment are possible. Therefore, the technical idea and scope of the claims set forth below are not limited to the preferred embodiments.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing a robot cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the robot cleaner shown in FIG. 1.

3 and 4 are views showing the operation of the support shaft shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a side view illustrating the rotating brush shown in FIG. 2.

6 and 7 are cross-sectional views showing the dust collector shown in FIG.

8 is a view illustrating driving of the rotary brush shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 9 is a view illustrating driving of an auxiliary brush connected to the rotary brush illustrated in FIG. 2.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a rear surface of the robot cleaner shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a method of removing foreign substances in a corner by using the robot cleaner shown in FIG. 1.

<Description of Symbols for Main Parts of Drawings>

10: robot cleaner 12: main body

14 cover 16 discharge port

20: brush portion 22: housing

23: support guide 24: support shaft

25: driven pulley 26: driven pulley

27: axis of rotation 28: horizontal housing

30: dust collector 32: suction pipe

33: suction passage 34: moving tube

35: movement passage 36: filter

37: blower fan 38: motor

42: guide rail 44: reciprocating member

46: crankshaft 48: rotating pulley

52: horizontal axis 54: horizontal gear

57: upper vertical axis 58: vertical gear

59: auxiliary brush 60: UV lamp

Claims (11)

A body traveling along the working surface; A brush part mounted on the main body to sweep the dirt of the working surface backward with respect to the traveling direction of the main body; And Including a dust collector for collecting the dirt moved by the brush portion, The brush unit is installed in the lower portion of the main body includes a rotary brush to sweep the dirt of the working surface by rotation, The dust collecting part is installed on the rear of the rotary brush is disposed to be inclined upward toward the rear, the robot cleaner comprising a suction pipe having a guide surface for guiding the movement of the dirt and a suction port for sucking the dirt. The method of claim 1, The brush unit, A support guide extending in the vertical direction; And The support shaft is connected to the support guide is movable in the vertical direction along the support guide, the rotation brush is connected to be rotatable, the support shaft which is formed at the lower end of the front guide surface to move up and down along the curvature of the working surface Robot cleaner comprising a. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The rotating brush, Rotation axis; And A plurality of hairs connected to the rotating shaft and rotating together with the rotating shaft, the hairs being arranged to be conformal along the rotating direction; And said hairs have long hairs and short hairs arranged alternately along said rotational direction. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The brush unit, A guide rail disposed in parallel with the rotating shaft of the rotating brush; A reciprocating member connected to the rotating brush and connected to the guide rail to reciprocate along the guide rail; Rotary pulley; And And a crank shaft having one end connected to the rotary pulley and the other end connected to the rotary brush. The method of claim 1, The dust collecting unit further includes a moving tube in which a moving passage communicating with the suction port is formed therein, The suction pipe has a rear guide surface that moves along the curvature of the working surface, the suction pipe is rotatably connected to the moving tube is a robot cleaner, characterized in that to rotate along the curvature of the working surface. The method of claim 5, The moving tube has a loading surface on which the dirt moved along the guide surface is loaded, The front end of the loading surface is a robot cleaner, characterized in that located below the rear end of the guide surface. The method of claim 6, The dust collecting part further comprises an adhesive member disposed on the loading surface to which the dirt loaded on the loading surface is bonded. The method of claim 5, The dust collecting unit, A filter installed at a rear end of the moving tube to purify the air sucked through the suction port; And And a blowing fan installed at a rear end of the filter. The method according to claim 5 or 8, The main body, A discharge passage in communication with the movement passage and through which the air sucked through the suction port moves; And And a discharge port which is formed toward the front outside and communicates with the discharge passage and discharges the air moved along the discharge passage toward the front outside. The method of claim 1, The robot cleaner further includes an auxiliary brush disposed on the outside of the rotary brush to sweep the dirt out by rotation. The auxiliary brush unit, A vertical axis extending in a vertical direction and rotating; And And a secondary brush connected to the vertical axis to rotate and sweep the dirt toward the inside by the rotation. The method of claim 10, The auxiliary brush unit, A horizontal axis connected to the rotating shaft of the rotating brush; A horizontal gear installed at one end of the horizontal shaft to rotate together with the horizontal shaft; And And a vertical gear connected to the vertical axis and rotating in engagement with the horizontal gear.

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