US20230057314A1

US20230057314A1 - Dust canister and robot vacuum including same

Info

Publication number: US20230057314A1
Application number: US17/982,904
Authority: US
Inventors: Byungchan KIM; Yunsoo JANG; Hyunsoo Jung; Shin Kim; Seokman HONG
Original assignee: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-05-12
Filing date: 2022-11-08
Publication date: 2023-02-23
Also published as: WO2021230490A1; KR20210138236A

Abstract

A robot vacuum comprises a main body including a suction part for suctioning dust, and a dust canister, attachable to and detachable from the main body, and which separates dust from the air suctioned through the suction part and stores same. The dust canister includes: a first chamber which separates dust from the air flowing in from the suction part and storing same, and which includes an inclined surface so that the lower area thereof becomes narrower than the upper area thereof; and a second chamber which includes a cyclone unit and which separates dust from the air flowing in from the first chamber and stores same, and the first chamber can further include ribs formed along the inclined surface to facilitate discharge of dust so as to prevent the dust stored in the first chamber from becoming stuck, due to bottlenecking, in the lower area of the first chamber.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application, under 35 U.S.C. § 111(a), of International Patent Application No. PCT/KR2021/003769, filed on Mar. 26, 2021, which claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2020-0056305, filed on May 12, 2020, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire disclosures of each of which are incorporated herein by reference as a part of this application.

BACKGROUND

Field

The present disclosure relates to a dust canister with an improved structure and a robot vacuum including the dust canister.

Description of Related Art

Robot vacuums are devices that, without user's manipulation, move around a cleaning space and suction foreign matter such as dust accumulated on the floor, thus automatically cleaning the cleaning space. Robot vacuums may clean the cleaning space while autonomously traveling around the cleaning space.
A robot vacuum may include a main body having a suction part, a motor, a wheel, and a battery mounted therein and a dust canister detachably coupled to the main body. Also, the robot vacuum may further include a docking station at which the main body is docked to charge the battery in the main body.
Some robot vacuums that have been disclosed in recent years have an automatic dust discharge mode in which, in response to the main body being docked at the docking station, the docking station automatically discharges dust from the dust canister of the robot vacuum.
However, during use of the automatic dust discharge mode, the dust in the dust canister may not be discharged due to various reasons. For example, the dust in the dust canister may not be discharged due to an occurrence of bottlenecking in the dust canister.
Also, during use of the automatic dust discharge mode, dust stored at a predetermined position in the dust canister may not be discharged due to the structure of the dust canister. For example, due to the structure of the dust canister, dust accumulated in a cyclone chamber may not be discharged from the cyclone chamber through the automatic dust discharge mode.

SUMMARY

In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, a robot vacuum includes a main body including a suction part configured to suction dust and a dust canister, attachable to and detachable from in the main body, to separate dust from air suctioned through the suction part and store the separated dust. The dust canister includes a first chamber which is configured to separate dust from air introduced from the suction part and store the separated dust, the first chamber including an inclined surface so that a lower area of the first chamber is narrower than an upper area of the first chamber and a second chamber which includes a cyclone unit, the second chamber is configured to separate dust from air introduced from the first chamber and store the separated dust, and the first chamber may further include a rib formed along the inclined surface to prevent dust stored in the first chamber from getting stuck in a lower portion of the first chamber due to bottlenecking.
The first chamber includes a side surface of the first chamber that faces the inclined surface that includes the rib, wherein a distance between the rib and the side surface may be substantially uniform between an upper side of the rib and a lower side of the rib.
The cyclone unit may include a cyclone separator configured to separate the dust from the air introduced from the first chamber using a centrifugal force of a vortex.
The cyclone separator may include a cyclone inlet formed by a side surface of the cyclone separator to allow air to enter, a cyclone dust outlet formed by a lower surface of the cyclone separator to allow discharge of dust separated from air introduced through the cyclone inlet, and a cyclone outlet formed by an upper surface of the cyclone separator to allow discharge of the air introduced through the cyclone inlet.
The cyclone unit may further include a cyclone upper cover provided on an upper side of the cyclone separator.
The cyclone upper cover may cover an upper portion of an outer side of the cyclone separator in the second chamber.
The dust canister may further include a cyclone holder coupled to the cyclone separator so that the cyclone separator is fixed inside the second chamber.
The cyclone holder may form a cyclone chamber in the second chamber, together with the cyclone separator and the cyclone upper cover.
The dust canister may further include a partition configured to partition the first chamber and the second chamber from each other and a protruding portion formed to protrude from the partition toward the first chamber.
The protruding portion may include a plurality of cyclone holes to allow dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber to be discharged from the cyclone chamber to the first chamber.
The cyclone holder may be positioned lower than the cyclone inlet and higher than the cyclone dust outlet.
The cyclone holder may be provided to be inclined downward toward the protruding portion to guide dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber to the protruding portion.
The second chamber may include a dust chamber provided below the cyclone chamber to store dust discharged through the cyclone dust outlet.
The dust chamber and the cyclone chamber may be partitioned to be separated from each other.
The first chamber may further include a first dust outlet in a lower surface of the first chamber to discharge dust stored in the first chamber.
The second chamber may further include a second dust outlet in a lower surface of the dust chamber to discharge dust stored in the dust chamber.
The dust canister may further include an outlet cover to allow the first dust outlet and the second dust outlet to simultaneously open or close.
The dust canister may further include a filter to filter dust from air discharged through the cyclone outlet via the cyclone separator.
The filter may be disposed to face the cyclone upper cover.
The dust canister may further include a grille portion disposed between the first chamber and the second chamber, the grille portion to filter dust from air introduced into the first chamber.
The grille portion may extend from one side surface of the first chamber to an upper surface of the first chamber.
The grille portion may include at least one bent portion to increase a surface area of the grille portion.
The main body may include a pair of wheels to move the main body and configured to rotate about an axis of rotation.
The dust canister may be disposed between the pair of wheels while mounted in the main body.
The first chamber and the second chamber may be side by side along a direction in which the axis of rotation extends.
In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, a dust canister attachable to and detachable from a main body of a robot vacuum includes a first chamber which is provided to separate dust from air introduced from the main body of the robot vacuum and store the separated dust and which has at least one side surface formed to protrude toward an inside of the first chamber and a second chamber which includes a cyclone unit and is configured to separate dust from air introduced from the first chamber and store the separated dust, wherein the first chamber may further include a rib provided on the at least one side surface to prevent the dust stored in the first chamber from getting stuck in a lower portion of the first chamber while moving downward.
The cyclone unit may include a cyclone separator configured to separate dust in air using a centrifugal force of a vortex, a cyclone upper cover configured to cover an outer upper portion of the cyclone separator in the second chamber, and a cyclone holder which is coupled to the cyclone separator so that the cyclone separator is fixed inside the second chamber and which is configured to form a cyclone chamber in the second chamber, together with the cyclone separator and the cyclone upper cover.
The dust canister may further include a partition configured to partition the first chamber and the second chamber from each other and a protruding portion formed to protrude from the partition toward the first chamber.
The protruding portion may include a plurality of cyclone holes provided therein to allow dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber to be discharged from the cyclone chamber toward the first chamber.
The cyclone holder may be provided to be inclined downward toward the protruding portion to guide dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber toward the protruding portion.
In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, a robot vacuum includes a main body which includes a suction part configured to suction dust and is configured to linearly move in a first direction and a dust canister attachable to and detachable from in the main body and provided to separate dust from air suctioned through the suction part and store the separated dust, wherein the dust canister includes a first chamber which is provided to separate dust from air introduced from the suction part and store the separated dust, a second chamber which is disposed side by side with the first chamber in a second direction intersecting the first direction and includes a cyclone unit configured to separate dust from air introduced from the first chamber, and a plurality of cyclone holes configured to discharge dust, which is separated from air not introduced into the cyclone unit, from the second chamber to the first chamber.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certain embodiments of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a robot vacuum according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a main body of the robot vacuum and a dust canister and a main body cover which are separated from the main body according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a lateral cross-sectional view of the robot vacuum according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the dust canister of the robot vacuum according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a view separately illustrating the dust canister of the robot vacuum according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional perspective view of the dust canister illustrated in FIG. 5 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a lateral cross-sectional view of the dust canister of the robot vacuum according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a view from another angle of the dust canister of the robot vacuum according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a bottom perspective view of the dust canister of the robot vacuum according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments described herein and configurations illustrated in the drawings are merely exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, and various modifications which may replace the embodiments and the drawings herein may be present at the time of filing this application.
Terms used herein are for describing the embodiments and are not intended to limit and/or restrict the disclosure. A singular expression includes a plural expression unless context clearly indicates otherwise. In the application, terms such as “include” or “have” should be understood as designating that features, number, steps, operations, elements, parts, or combinations thereof are present and not as precluding the possibility of the presence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, elements, parts, or combinations thereof in advance.
Terms including ordinals such as first and second may be used herein to describe various elements, but the elements are not limited by the terms. The terms are only used for the purpose of distinguishing one element from another element. For example, a first element may be referred to as a second element while not departing from the scope of the present disclosure, and likewise, a second element may also be referred to as a first element.
It is an aspect of the present disclosure to provide a dust canister preventing bottlenecking therein to facilitate dust discharge using an automatic dust discharge mode and a robot vacuum including the dust canister.
It is another aspect of the present disclosure to provide a dust canister allowing dust stored in a cyclone chamber to be discharged from the cyclone chamber through the automatic dust discharge mode and a robot vacuum including the dust canister.
It is still another aspect of the present disclosure to provide a dust canister preventing a decrease in suction force and a robot vacuum including the dust canister.
It is yet another aspect of the present disclosure to provide a dust canister allowing automatic dust discharge without a decrease in capacity and a robot vacuum including the dust canister.
A dust canister, according to aspect of the present disclosure, prevents bottlenecking inside the dust canister to enable smooth dust discharge, and according to aspect of the present disclosure, a robot vacuum includes the dust canister.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a dust canister preventing bottlenecking therein to facilitate dust discharge using an automatic dust discharge mode and a robot vacuum including the dust canister.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a dust canister including a hole provided to allow dust stored in a cyclone chamber to pass therethrough and a structure provided to guide the dust stored in the cyclone chamber to the hole, thus capable of discharging the dust stored in the cyclone chamber in an automatic dust discharge mode, and a robot vacuum including the dust canister.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a dust canister preventing a decrease in suction force and a robot vacuum including the dust canister.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a dust canister allowing automatic dust discharge without a decrease in capacity and a robot vacuum including the dust canister.
Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a robot vacuum according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a main body of the robot vacuum and a dust canister and a main body cover which are separated from the main body according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.
Referring to FIG. 1 , a robot vacuum may include a main body 10, a suction part 30 provided to suction dust into the main body 10, and a dust canister 100 detachably coupled to the main body 10. Also, the robot vacuum may further include a main body cover 20 provided to cover an upper surface of the main body 10.
The main body cover 20 may be provided to cover the upper surface of the main body 10 so that a parting line is not exposed on the upper surface of the main body 10. By hiding the parting line, which does not need to be exposed, on the upper surface of the main body 10, the main body cover 20 can improve aesthetics.
The main body cover 20 may include a plurality of magnets (not illustrated) disposed to be spaced apart from each other along an edge of a lower surface of the main body cover 20. Also, the main body 10 may include a magnetic body provided to correspond to the magnets of the main body cover 20. In this way, the main body cover 20 may be detachably coupled to the upper surface of the main body 10 by a magnetic force without a separate fastening member. The positions of the magnets and the magnetic body may be switched.
The dust canister 100 may be detachably coupled to the main body 10. The dust canister 100 may be separated from the main body 10 after the main body cover 20 is separated from the main body 10. The main body cover 20 may be coupled to the main body 10 after the dust canister 100 is coupled to the main body 10.
The robot vacuum may include a wheel 32 provided in the main body 10. The wheel 32 may allow the main body 10 to travel along a floor surface. The wheel 32 may be provided as a pair of wheels 32 and may be provided to rotate about a rotating shaft (not illustrated).
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the dust canister 100 may be disposed between the pair of wheels. Also, when it is assumed that the suction part 30 is disposed at a front end of the main body 10, the dust canister 100 may be disposed at a rear end of the suction part 30. The dust canister 100 may be disposed between the suction part 30 and the pair of wheels 32.
Also, although not illustrated in the drawings, the robot vacuum according to one aspect of the present disclosure may further include a docking station (not illustrated) at which the main body 10 is docked to charge a battery 40 (see FIG. 3 ) in the main body 10 and which is provided to discharge dust stored in the dust canister 100.
The docking station may discharge the dust stored in the dust canister 100 through dust outlets 181 and 182 (see FIG. 9 ) formed in a lower surface of the dust canister 100.
FIG. 3 is a lateral cross-sectional view of the robot vacuum according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.
Referring to FIG. 3 , the robot vacuum according to one embodiment of the present disclosure may include the battery 40. The battery 40 may supply power to the main body 10 so that the main body 10 can clean the floor surface while traveling in a wireless manner.
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the battery 40 may be disposed adjacent to the dust canister 100. Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 3 , the battery 40 may be disposed at a lower side behind the dust canister 100. Although not illustrated in detail in the drawings, the battery 40 may extend in a direction in which the rotating shaft of the wheels 32 extends. That is, the battery 40 may longitudinally extend in a direction crossing the main body 10.
For stable power supply, the battery 40 may not be divided into two or more packs. The battery being provided as a single, relatively large battery pack in the main body may be more desirable than the battery being separated into two or more, small battery packs in the main body. This also relates to battery capacity and battery performance, and the battery being provided as a single battery pack is advantageous in terms of capacity and stable power supply.
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the battery 40 may be provided as a single battery pack and may longitudinally extend in a direction intersecting a direction in which the main body 10 travels. Also, the battery 40 may be disposed behind the dust canister 100 and disposed adjacent to a lower surface of the main body 10.
The battery 40 may be configured to have a substantially triangular cross-section. That is, the battery 40 may be configured so that a lower surface has a larger area than an upper surface. In this way, the center of mass of the main body 10 may become closer to the lower surface of the main body 10, and the main body 10 can stably move.
Since the battery 40 may be disposed adjacent to the dust canister 100 and provided to have a substantially triangular cross-section as mentioned above, one side surface of the dust canister 100 that is adjacent to the battery 40 may be provided to be inclined to correspond to the shape of the battery 40. That is, the dust canister 100 may have a form in which the one side surface is provided to be inclined, instead of having a rectangular parallelepiped shape. This is to make maximum use of the space inside the main body 10 and increase the capacity of the dust canister 100.
Due to such a shape of the dust canister 100, bottlenecking may occur in the dust canister 100. For dust to be discharged through the dust outlets formed in the lower surface of the dust canister 100, the dust stored in the dust canister 100 should move downward inside the dust canister 100. Due to the one side surface of the dust canister 100 that is inclined, a lower area of the dust canister 100 is narrower than an upper area of the dust canister 100. Bottlenecking may occur in the process in which dust moves from an upper side of the dust canister 100 having a wide area to a lower side of the dust canister 100 having a narrow area. Due to bottlenecking, the dust stored in the dust canister 100 may get stuck in the lower side of the dust canister 100 and may not be discharged through the dust outlets formed in the lower surface of the dust canister 100.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, bottlenecking that occurs in the dust canister 100 may be prevented to facilitate dust discharge through the dust outlets formed in the lower surface of the dust canister 100. This will be described in detail below.
FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the dust canister of the robot vacuum according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.
Hereinafter, the configuration of the dust canister 100 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 4 .
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the dust canister 100 may include a case 160 whose upper surface and lower surface are open, an upper cover 150 provided to cover the open upper surface of the case 160, a handle 151 and a lower cover 180 provided to cover the open lower surface of the case 160.
Also, the dust canister 100 may include a support 170 coupled to an inside of the case 160, a cyclone unit 130 provided to separate dust, and a grille portion 171 a and a filter 191 each coupled to the support 170.
The case 160 may be provided so that the upper surface and lower surface are open. The case 160 may have one side surface provided to be inclined so that an area of the upper surface is wider than an area of the lower surface. The case 160 may include an inlet 161 through which air moving along a duct 12 is introduced due to a brush device 31 of the suction part 30 while the case 160 is mounted in the main body 10. The inlet 161 may be provided to correspond to a duct outlet 13 formed in an end portion of the duct 12.
The case 160 may include a partition 165 configured to partition a first chamber 110 and a second chamber 120 which will be described below. The partition 165 may be formed to extend upward from a lower end of the case 160. The partition 165 may extend in a direction parallel to a direction in which air is introduced through the inlet 161.
The case 160 may include a first shaft coupling portion 162 to which an upper shaft 152 of the upper cover 150 is detachably coupled and a second shaft coupling portion 163 to which a lower shaft 184 of the lower cover 180 is detachably coupled. The upper cover 150 may be rotatably coupled to the case 160 by the upper shaft 152 being coupled to the first shaft coupling portion 162. The lower cover 180 may be rotatably coupled to the case 160 by the lower shaft 184 being coupled to the second shaft coupling portion 163. Also, the case 160 may further include a catching groove 164 provided to maintain a state in which the upper cover 150 covers the open upper surface of the case 160.
The upper cover 150 may be detachably coupled to the case 160. Also, the upper cover 150 may be provided to be rotatable relative to the case 160. By rotating relative to the case 160, the upper cover 150 may open or close the upper surface of the case 160 without being separated from the case 160. The upper cover 150 may include an outlet 153 (see FIG. 9 ) configured to discharge air introduced into the dust canister 100 to an outside of the dust canister 100.
The lower cover 180 may be detachably coupled to the case 160 and provided to be rotatable relative to the case 160. By rotating relative to the case 160, the lower cover 180 may open or close the lower surface of the case 160 without being separated from the case 160.
The lower cover 180 may include a first dust outlet 181 configured to discharge dust stored in the first chamber 110, a second dust outlet 182 configured to discharge dust stored in the second chamber 120, and an outlet cover 183 configured to simultaneously open or close the first dust outlet 181 and the second dust outlet 182. Also, the lower cover 180 may further include a catching portion 185 coupled to the case 160 to maintain a state in which the lower cover 180 closes the lower surface of the case 160.
The support 170 may be provided to be coupled to the inside of the case 160. The support 170 may be provided to support the cyclone unit 130 which will be described below. The support 170 may include a grille support portion 171 provided to support the grille portion 171 a which is provided to filter relatively large dust from dust introduced into the first chamber 110. The support 170 may include a protruding portion 172 which is coupled to the case 160 and protrudes from the partition 165 toward the first chamber 110 and a plurality of cyclone holes 173 which are formed in the protruding portion 172. Also, a cyclone lower cover 174 may be coupled to the support 170. The cyclone lower cover 174 may partition a cyclone chamber 121 and a dust chamber 122 from each other in the second chamber 120. This will be described below.
The cyclone unit 130 may include a cyclone separator 131, a cyclone holder 140, and a cyclone upper cover 135.
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the cyclone unit 130 may include a plurality of cyclone separators 131. For example, the cyclone unit 130 may include eight cyclone separators 131 disposed in a 2×4 arrangement. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the number of cyclone separators may be various other numbers including one.
The cyclone separator 131 may be provided in a conical shape whose upper surface and lower surface are open. The cyclone separator 131 may include a cyclone inlet 132 through which air is introduced, a cyclone dust outlet 133 through which dust separated from air introduced into the cyclone separator 131 is discharged, and a cyclone outlet 134 through which air is discharged from inside the cyclone separator 131. The cyclone inlet 132 may be formed in an upper end of a side surface of the cyclone separator 131, the cyclone outlet 134 may indicate the open upper surface of the cyclone separator 131, and the cyclone dust outlet 133 may indicate the open lower surface of the cyclone separator 131.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, the dust canister 100 may include the cyclone holder 140. The cyclone holder 140 may be coupled to the cyclone separator 131 and provided to guide dust not introduced into the cyclone separator 131 to the cyclone holes 173.
The cyclone holder 140 may include a cyclone separator hole 141 provided so that the cyclone separator 131 is inserted thereinto. Also, the cyclone holder 140 may include a holder inclined surface 142, and an upper end 143 and a lower end 144 provided at each of both ends of the holder inclined surface 142. The holder inclined surface 142 may be provided to be inclined downward from the upper end 143 toward the lower end 144. The lower end 144 may be provided to be connected to the protruding portion 172 of the support 170.
The cyclone upper cover 135 may be coupled to an upper side of the cyclone separator 131 and provided to cover an upper portion of an outer side of the cyclone separator 131. The cyclone upper cover 135 may be provided to correspond to the cyclone outlet 134 of the cyclone separator 131 and may include a cover hole 136 which is smaller than the cyclone outlet 134.
By covering the upper portion of the outer side of the cyclone separator 131, the cyclone upper cover 135 may form the cyclone chamber 121 in the second chamber 120 together with the cyclone holder 140.
A filter housing 190 configured to accommodate the filter 191 may be coupled to the cyclone upper cover 135. The filter housing 190 may be provided to accommodate the filter 191 and may be detachably coupled to the cyclone upper cover 135.
The filter 191 may include a plurality of fine holes smaller than grille holes 171 b formed in the grille portion 171 a. Any of various types of filters may be provided as the filter 191. Examples of the filter 191 may include a micro filter or a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter.
FIG. 5 is a view separately illustrating the dust canister of the robot vacuum according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional perspective view of the dust canister illustrated in FIG. 5 .
Hereinafter, a flow of air in the dust canister 100 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 .
Air may be introduced into the dust canister 100 through the inlet 161 via the suction part 30 and the duct 12 of the main body 10. The air introduced through the inlet 161 may be introduced into the first chamber 110. The air introduced into the first chamber 110 may be introduced into the second chamber 120 via the grille portion 171 a. The grille portion 171 a may extend from one side surface of the first chamber 110 to an upper surface thereof. The grille portion 171 a may cover the one side surface and upper surface of the first chamber 110. Also, the grille portion 171 a may include at least one bent portion 171 c to increase a surface area. Due to an increase in the area of the grille portion 171 a, relatively large dust can be effectively filtered from the air introduced into the first chamber 110.
The air introduced into the first chamber 110 may pass through the grille portion 171 a and then be introduced into the second chamber 120. When it is assumed that the main body 10 travels in a first direction, the first chamber 110 and the second chamber 120 may be consecutively disposed in a second direction intersecting the first direction. Therefore, air introduced in the first direction through the inlet 161 may move in the second direction intersecting the first direction and be introduced into the second chamber 120.
The first chamber 110 may include an inclined surface 111 and a rib 112 provided on the inclined surface 111. The inclined surface 111 and the rib 112 will be described below.
The second chamber 120 may include the cyclone chamber 121 and the dust chamber 122. The air which has passed through the first chamber 110 and the grille portion 171 a may be introduced into the cyclone chamber 121 of the second chamber 120.
The cyclone chamber 121 may indicate a space formed in the second chamber 120 by the cyclone upper cover 135 and the cyclone holder 140. In the case of a general dust canister without a cyclone holder, a cyclone chamber may be formed by a cyclone upper cover and a cyclone lower cover. According to one aspect of the present disclosure, the dust canister 100 may include the cyclone holder 140, and the cyclone chamber 121 may be formed by the cyclone holder 140 and the cyclone upper cover 135.
The air introduced into the cyclone chamber 121 may be introduced into the cyclone separator 131 through the cyclone inlet 132. A vortex may be formed inside the cyclone separator 131, and dust in the air may be separated and discharged through the cyclone dust outlet 133 due to a centrifugal force of the vortex. The air introduced into the cyclone separator 131 may be discharged through the cyclone outlet 134. Specifically, the air may be discharged to the outside of the cyclone chamber 121 through the cover hole 136 formed in the cyclone upper cover 135. The air discharged through the cover hole 136 may be discharged through the outlet 153 of the dust canister 100 via the filter 191 disposed to face the cyclone upper cover 135.
The dust discharged to the lower surface of the cyclone separator 131 through the cyclone dust outlet 133 may be stored in the dust chamber 122 partitioned to be separated from the cyclone chamber 121 in the second chamber 120. According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the dust chamber 122 may be partitioned by the cyclone lower cover 174, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The cyclone lower cover 174 may be omitted, and an upper surface of the dust chamber 122 may be partitioned by the cyclone holder 140.
The dust stored in the dust chamber 122 and the dust stored in the first chamber 110 may be discharged to the outside of the dust canister 100 through the first dust outlet 181 and the second dust outlet 182 after the outlet cover 183 is opened. Since the outlet cover 183 is provided to simultaneously open or close the first dust outlet 181 and the second dust outlet 182, by opening the outlet cover 183, the first dust outlet 181 and the second dust outlet 182 may be simultaneously opened to simultaneously discharge the dust stored in the first chamber 110 and the dust stored in the dust chamber 122. Meanwhile, dust inside the dust canister 100 may be discharged to the docking station (not illustrated) through the first dust outlet 181 and the second dust outlet 182. In a case in which a user wants to directly discharge dust from inside the dust canister 100, the user may more easily discharge dust by opening the lower cover 180.
As mentioned above, dust separated from air introduced into the cyclone separator 131 may be stored in the dust chamber 122. Therefore, dust not introduced into the cyclone separator 131 cannot be stored in the dust chamber 122. Dust filtered by the grille portion 171 a may be stored in the first chamber 110. Dust which has passed through the grille portion 171 a but has not been introduced into the cyclone separator 131 may accumulate in the cyclone chamber 121.
The conventional dust canister is not able to discharge dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber. The dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber can neither move to the dust chamber nor to the first chamber, and thus a user has to disassemble and clean the dust canister to remove the dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, even the dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber 121 may be discharged to the lower surface of the dust canister 100 through the first dust outlet 181. That is, when the main body 10 is docked at the docking station, even the dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber 121 may be discharged to the outside of the dust canister 100 together with the dust stored in the dust chamber 122 and the dust stored in the first chamber 110.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, the cyclone holder 140 may include the holder inclined surface 142. The holder inclined surface 142 may be provided to be inclined downward toward the protruding portion 172. The dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber 121 may be guided to the protruding portion 172 by the holder inclined surface 142. The dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber 121 may be guided to the protruding portion 172 along the holder inclined surface 142 due to gravity.
The dust guided to the protruding portion 172 by the cyclone holder 140 may be discharged to the first chamber 110 through the cyclone holes 173. The dust which has moved to the first chamber 110 may be discharged to the outside of the dust canister 100 through the first dust outlet 181 together with the dust stored in the first chamber 110.
The cyclone holes 173 may filter dust from air introduced into the first chamber 110 while cleaning is performed. While the main body 10 is docked at the docking station (not illustrated) to discharge dust from inside the dust canister 100, the cyclone holes 173 may discharge the dust stored in the cyclone chamber 121 to the first chamber 110. Therefore, the cyclone holes 173 may perform both a dust filtering function and a dust discharging function.
FIG. 7 is a lateral cross-sectional view of the dust canister of the robot vacuum according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, the dust canister 100 may prevent bottlenecking in the dust canister 100 to prevent dust inside the dust canister 100 from getting stuck in the lower portion of the dust canister 100.
As mentioned above, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the dust canister 100 may include the inclined surface 111 to make maximum use of the space inside the main body 10. By including the inclined surface 111, the dust canister 100 may maximize the capacity inside the dust canister 100. However, due to the inclined surface 111, the lower area of the dust canister 100 becomes narrower than the upper area thereof, and bottlenecking may occur in the process in which the dust inside the dust canister 100 moves downward. The dust may agglomerate due to bottlenecking, and the agglomerated dust may not be discharged through the open lower surface of the dust canister 100.
In order to address such a problem, the dust canister 100 according to one aspect of the present disclosure may include the rib 112.
The rib 112 may be provided on the inclined surface 111. Also, the rib 112 may be provided as a plurality of ribs 112. The rib 112 may be formed to have a small thickness. Due to the small thickness of the rib 112, the capacity inside the dust canister 100 may not be significantly reduced even when the rib 112 is provided inside the dust canister 100.
Referring to FIG. 8 , the rib 112 may allow a distance between two side surfaces of the dust canister 100 that face each other to be substantially uniform between the upper portion and lower portion of the dust canister 100. Specifically, the rib 112 may maintain a constant distance between the inclined surface 111 and a first surface 113, which is one side surface that faces the inclined surface 111.
In a case in which the rib 112 is not provided, the distance between the inclined surface 111 and the first surface 113 may vary at the upper portion and lower portion of the dust canister 100. At an upper end of the inclined surface 111, the distance between the inclined surface 111 and the first surface 113 is d3. At a lower end of the inclined surface 111, the distance between the inclined surface 111 and the first surface 113 is d1 which is less than d3. The distance between the inclined surface 111 and the first surface 113 gradually decreases from d3 to d1 from the upper end to lower end of the inclined surface 111. Thus, bottlenecking may occur in the dust canister 100.
On the other hand, when the rib 112 is provided, a distance between the rib 112 and the first surface 113 is d1 at the upper end of the inclined surface 111. Also, the distance between the rib 112 and the first surface 113 is d2, which is substantially equal to d1, at the lower end of the inclined surface 111. When the rib 112 is provided, the distance between the rib 112 and the first surface 113 may remain substantially the same between the upper end and lower end of the inclined surface 111. Therefore, bottlenecking may not occur while dust moves from the upper portion to the lower portion inside the dust canister 100.
The rib 112 may include a plurality of ribs disposed to be spaced apart from each other. Even when the plurality of ribs are provided, the area may still gradually decrease from the upper portion to the lower portion in a space between one rib 112 and another rib 112. However, such a decrease does not cause bottlenecking. Bottlenecking inside the dust canister 100 may occur as agglomerated dust moves downward in the dust canister 100. On the other hand, when the ribs 112 are provided, dust inside the dust canister 100 agglomerates between the ribs 112 and the first surface 113. Thus, a maximum width of the dust agglomerated inside the dust canister 100 is d1. Since d1 and d2 are substantially equal as mentioned above, bottlenecking does not occur even when the agglomerated dust moves downward.
Therefore, according to one aspect of the present disclosure, by including the ribs 112 provided on the inclined surface 111, the dust canister 100 can prevent bottlenecking and facilitate dust discharge through the dust outlets formed in the lower surface of the dust canister 100.
FIG. 8 is a view from another angle of the dust canister of the robot vacuum according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 9 is a bottom perspective view of the dust canister of the robot vacuum according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.
Referring to FIG. 8 , as mentioned above, the upper cover 150 and the lower cover 180 may each be provided to be rotatable relative to the case 160. Specifically, the upper cover 150 may rotate relative to the case 160 about the upper shaft 152 as the center of rotation. The lower cover 180 may rotate relative to the case 160 about the lower shaft 184 as the center of rotation.
Referring to FIG. 9 , as mentioned above, the lower cover 180 may include the first dust outlet 181 configured to discharge dust from the first chamber 110, the second dust outlet 182 configured to discharge dust from the dust chamber 122, and the outlet cover 183 provided to simultaneously open or close the first dust outlet 181 and the second dust outlet 182.
Specific embodiments illustrated in the drawings have been described above. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above, and those of ordinary skill in the art to which the disclosure pertains may make various changes thereto without departing from the gist of the technical spirit of the disclosure defined in the claims below.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A robot vacuum comprising:

a main body including a suction part configured to suction dust; and

a dust canister, attachable to and detachable from the main body, to separate dust from air suctioned through the suction part and store the separated dust, wherein the dust canister includes:

a first chamber which is configured to separate dust from air introduced from the suction part and store the separated dust, the first chamber including an inclined surface so that a lower area of the first chamber is narrower than an upper area of the first chamber, and

a second chamber which includes a cyclone unit, the second chamber being configured to separate dust from air introduced from the first chamber and store the separated dust, and

wherein the first chamber further includes a rib formed along the inclined surface to facilitate discharge of dust along the lower area of the first chamber.

2. The robot vacuum of claim 1, wherein the first chamber includes a side surface that faces the inclined surface that includes the rib, and a distance between the rib and the side surface is substantially uniform between an upper side of the rib and a lower side of the rib.

3. The robot vacuum of claim 1, wherein the cyclone unit includes a cyclone separator configured to separate the dust from the air introduced from the first chamber using a centrifugal force of a vortex; and

the cyclone separator includes:

a cyclone inlet formed by a side surface of the cyclone separator to allow air to enter;

a cyclone dust outlet formed by a lower surface of the cyclone separator to allow discharge of dust separated from air introduced through the cyclone inlet; and

a cyclone outlet formed by an upper surface of the cyclone separator to allow discharge of the air introduced through the cyclone inlet.

4. The robot vacuum of claim 3, wherein:

the cyclone unit further includes a cyclone upper cover on an upper side of the cyclone separator; and

the cyclone upper cover covers an upper portion of an outer side of the cyclone separator in the second chamber.

5. The robot vacuum of claim 4, wherein:

the dust canister further includes a cyclone holder coupleable to the cyclone separator so that the cyclone separator is fixed inside the second chamber; and

while the cyclone holder is coupled to the cyclone separator, the cyclone holder forms a cyclone chamber in the second chamber, together with the cyclone separator and the cyclone upper cover.

6. The robot vacuum of claim 5, wherein:

the dust canister further includes a partition configured to partition the first chamber and the second chamber from each other and a protruding portion formed to protrude from the partition toward the first chamber; and

the protruding portion includes a plurality of cyclone holes to allow dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber to be discharged from the cyclone chamber to the first chamber.

7. The robot vacuum of claim 5, wherein the cyclone holder is positioned lower than the cyclone inlet and higher than the cyclone dust outlet.

8. The robot vacuum of claim 6, wherein the cyclone holder is inclined downward toward the protruding portion to guide dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber to the protruding portion.

9. The robot vacuum of claim 5, wherein:

the second chamber includes a dust chamber below the cyclone chamber to store dust discharged through the cyclone dust outlet; and

the dust chamber and the cyclone chamber are partitioned to be separated from each other.

10. The robot vacuum of claim 9, wherein:

the first chamber further includes a first dust outlet in a lower surface of the first chamber to discharge dust stored in the first chamber;

the second chamber further includes a second dust outlet in a lower surface of the dust chamber to discharge dust stored in the dust chamber; and

the dust canister further includes an outlet cover to allow the first dust outlet and the second dust outlet to simultaneously open or close.

11. The robot vacuum of claim 4, wherein:

the dust canister further includes a filter to filter dust from air discharged through the cyclone outlet via the cyclone separator; and

the filter is disposed to face the cyclone upper cover.

12. The robot vacuum of claim 1, wherein:

the dust canister further includes a grille portion between the first chamber and the second chamber, the grille portion to filter dust from air introduced into the first chamber; and

the grille portion extends from one side surface of the first chamber to an upper surface of the first chamber.

13. The robot vacuum of claim 12, wherein the grille portion includes at least one bent portion to increase a surface area of the grille portion.

14. The robot vacuum of claim 1, wherein:

the main body includes a pair of wheels to move the main body and configured to rotate about an axis of rotation; and

the dust canister is between the pair of wheels while mounted on the main body.

15. The robot vacuum of claim 14, wherein the first chamber and the second chamber are side by side along a direction in which the axis of rotation extends.