WO2021230490A1

WO2021230490A1 - Dust canister and robot vacuum including same

Info

Publication number: WO2021230490A1
Application number: PCT/KR2021/003769
Authority: WO
Inventors: 김병찬; 장윤수; 정현수; 김신; 홍석만
Original assignee: 삼성전자주식회사
Priority date: 2020-05-12
Filing date: 2021-03-26
Publication date: 2021-11-18
Also published as: KR20210138236A; US20230057314A1

Abstract

Disclosed are: a dust canister, which prevents bottlenecking inside the dust canister to enable smooth dust discharge; and a robot vacuum including same. The robot vacuum comprises a main body including a suction part for suctioning dust, and a dust canister which is separably mounted in the main body and which separates dust from the air suctioned through the suction part and stores same, wherein 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 provided on the inclined surface so as to prevent the dust stored in the first chamber from becoming stuck, due to bottlenecking, in the lower portion of the first chamber.

Description

Dust bin and robot vacuum cleaner including same

The present invention relates to a dust container having an improved structure and a robot cleaner including the same.

A robot vacuum cleaner is a device that automatically cleans a cleaning space by sucking foreign substances such as dust accumulated on the floor while moving the cleaning space without user's manipulation. The robot vacuum cleaner autonomously drives the cleaning space and can clean the cleaning space.

The robot cleaner may include a main body to which a suction unit, a motor, a wheel, and a battery are mounted, and a dust container detachably coupled to the main body. In addition, the robot cleaner may further include a docking station docked with the main body to charge a battery inside the main body.

A recently disclosed robot cleaner may have an automatic dust discharge mode in which the docking station automatically discharges dust from a dust bin of the robot cleaner when the main body is docked to the docking station.

However, when using the automatic dust discharge mode, the dust inside the dust bin may not be discharged for various reasons. For example, a bottleneck may occur inside the dust bin so that the dust inside the dust bin may not be discharged.

Also, when the automatic dust discharging mode is used, the dust stored in a predetermined position of the dust bin may not be discharged due to the structure of the dust bin. For example, dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber may not be discharged from the cyclone chamber through the automatic dust discharge mode due to the structure of the dust container.

One aspect of the present invention provides a dust bin capable of smoothly discharging dust using an automatic dust discharging mode by preventing a bottleneck inside the dust bin, and a robot cleaner including the same.

Another aspect of the present invention provides a dust container capable of discharging dust stored in the cyclone chamber from the cyclone chamber through an automatic dust discharging mode, and a robot cleaner including the same.

Another aspect of the present invention provides a dust container capable of preventing a decrease in suction power and a robot cleaner including the same.

Another aspect of the present invention provides a dust bin capable of automatically discharging dust without reducing capacity and a robot cleaner including the same.

According to the spirit of the present invention, the robot cleaner includes a main body including a suction unit for sucking dust, and a dust container detachably mounted on the main body and provided to separate and store dust from the air sucked through the suction unit, The dust bin includes a first chamber that separates and stores dust from the air introduced from the suction unit and includes an inclined surface such that a lower area is narrower than an upper area, and a cyclone unit, and includes dust from the air introduced from the first chamber. and a second chamber for separating and storing the ) may be further included.

When a side surface of the first chamber facing the inclined surface is referred to as a first surface, a distance between the rib and the first surface may be substantially the same between an upper side of the rib and a lower side of the rib.

The cyclone unit may include a cyclone separator for separating dust in the air by using the centrifugal force of the vortex.

The cyclone separator includes a cyclone inlet formed by opening a side surface of the cyclone separator to allow air to flow in, and a cyclone dust outlet formed by opening a lower surface of the cyclone separator so that dust separated from the air introduced into the cyclone inlet is discharged. and a cyclone outlet formed by opening an upper surface of the cyclone separator so that the air introduced into the cyclone inlet is discharged.

The cyclone unit may further include a cyclone upper cover provided on the upper side of the cyclone separator.

The cyclone upper cover may cover an outer upper portion of the cyclone separator in the second chamber.

The dust container may further include a cyclone holder coupled to the cyclone separator so that the cyclone separator is fixed in 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 container may further include a barrier rib dividing the first chamber and the second chamber, and a protrusion protruding from the barrier rib toward the first chamber.

The protrusion may include a plurality of cyclone holes provided in the protrusion so that dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber is 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 protrusion to guide the dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber to the protrusion.

The second chamber may include a dust chamber provided under the cyclone chamber to store the dust discharged to 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 provided on a lower surface of the first chamber to discharge the dust stored in the first chamber.

The second chamber may further include a second dust outlet provided on a lower surface of the dust chamber to discharge the dust stored in the dust chamber.

The dust container may further include an outlet cover provided to open and close the first dust outlet and the second dust outlet together.

The dust container may further include a filter provided to filter dust in the air discharged to the cyclone outlet through the cyclone separator.

The filter may be disposed to face the cyclone upper cover.

The dust container may further include a grill part disposed between the first chamber and the second chamber to filter dust in the air introduced into the first chamber.

The grill part may extend from one side surface of the first chamber to an upper surface of the first chamber.

The grill part may include at least one bent part to increase a surface area of the grill part.

The main body may include a pair of wheels that are provided to move the main body and rotate about a rotation axis.

The dust bin may be disposed between the pair of wheels when mounted on the main body.

The first chamber and the second chamber may be arranged side by side in a direction in which the rotation shaft extends.

According to an aspect of the present invention, in a dust bin detachably coupled to a robot cleaner body, the dust bin is a first chamber provided to separate and store dust from the air introduced from the robot cleaner body, and includes at least one side surface. a first chamber protruding toward the inside of the first chamber; and a second chamber including a cyclone unit and separating and storing dust from the air introduced from the first chamber, the first chamber comprising: It may further include a rib (rib) provided on the at least one side to prevent the dust stored in the first chamber from being caught in the lower portion of the first chamber as it moves downward.

The cyclone unit includes a cyclone separator that separates dust in the air using centrifugal force of a vortex, a cyclone upper cover that covers an outer upper portion of the cyclone separator in the second chamber, and the cyclone separator is fixed in the second chamber It may include a cyclone holder coupled to the cyclone separator and forming a cyclone chamber in the second chamber together with the cyclone separator and the cyclone upper cover.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the robot cleaner includes a main body that includes a suction unit for sucking dust, and is detachably mounted on the main body and is detachably mounted on the main body to separate and store dust from the air sucked through the suction unit. and a dust bin provided, wherein the dust bin includes a first chamber provided to separate and store dust from the air introduced from the suction unit, and the first chamber in a second direction intersecting the first direction. and a second chamber including a cyclone unit for separating dust from the air introduced from the first chamber and discharging the dust separated from the air not introduced into the cyclone unit from the second chamber to the first chamber It may include a plurality of cyclone holes.

According to the spirit of the present invention, it is possible to provide a dust bin capable of smoothly discharging dust using an automatic dust discharging mode by preventing a bottleneck inside the dust bin, and a robot cleaner including the same.

According to the spirit of the present invention, the dust stored in the cyclone chamber is converted into an automatic dust discharge mode, including a hole provided for the dust stored in the cyclone chamber to pass through, and a structure provided to guide the dust stored in the cyclone chamber to the hole. It is possible to provide a dust bin capable of discharging and a robot cleaner including the same.

According to the spirit of the present invention, it is possible to provide a dust container capable of preventing a decrease in suction power and a robot cleaner including the same.

According to the spirit of the present invention, it is possible to provide a dust bin capable of automatically discharging dust without reducing capacity and a robot cleaner including the same.

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

FIG. 2 is a view showing a body, a dust container separated from the body, and a body cover in the robot cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a side cross-sectional view of a robot cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is an exploded perspective view of a dust container in a robot cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a diagram separately illustrating a dust container in a robot cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a cross-sectional perspective view of the dust container shown in FIG. 5 .

7 is a side cross-sectional view of a dust container in a robot cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a view illustrating a dust container from a different angle in a robot cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

9 is a bottom perspective view of a dust container in a robot cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The configuration shown in the embodiments and drawings described in this specification is only a preferred example of the disclosed invention, and there may be various modifications that can replace the embodiments and drawings of the present specification at the time of filing of the present application.

In addition, the terms used herein are used to describe the embodiments, and are not intended to limit and/or limit the disclosed invention. The singular expression includes the plural expression unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In the present specification, terms such as “comprise” or “have” are intended to designate that a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification exists, but one or more other features It does not preclude the possibility of the presence or addition of figures, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

In addition, terms including ordinal numbers such as “first” and “second” used in this specification may be used to describe various components, but the components are not limited by the terms, and the terms are It is used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, a first component may be referred to as a second component, and similarly, a second component may also be referred to as a first component.

Hereinafter, an embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a perspective view of a robot cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a main body, a dust container separated from the main body, and a main body cover are shown in the robot cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the robot cleaner includes a main body 10 , a suction unit 30 provided to suck dust into the main body 10 , and a dust container 100 detachably coupled to the main body 10 . can do. In addition, the robot cleaner may further include a body cover 20 provided to cover the upper surface of the 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 . The body cover 20 may improve aesthetics by not exposing unnecessary parting lines on the upper surface of the body 10 .

The body cover 20 may include a plurality of magnets (not shown) spaced apart along the lower surface of the body cover 20 . In addition, the main body 10 may include a magnetic material provided to correspond to the magnet of the main body cover 20 . Through this, the body cover 20 can be detachably coupled to the upper surface of the body 10 by magnetic force without a separate fastening member. The positions of the magnet and the magnetic body may be interchanged.

The dust container 100 may be detachably coupled to the body 10 . The dust container 100 may be separated from the main body 10 after the main body cover 20 is separated from the main body 10 . The body cover 20 may be coupled to the body 10 after the dust container 100 is coupled to the body 10 .

The robot cleaner may include a wheel 32 provided on the body 10 . The wheel 32 may allow the body 10 to travel along the floor surface. The wheel 32 may be provided as a pair, and may be provided to rotate about a rotation axis (not shown).

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the dust container 100 may be disposed between a pair of wheels. Also, assuming that the suction unit 30 is disposed at the front end of the main body 10 , the dust container 100 may be disposed at the rear end of the suction unit 30 . The dust container 100 may be disposed between the suction unit 30 and the pair of wheels 32 .

In addition, although not shown in the drawings, the robot cleaner according to the spirit of the present invention is docked with the main body 10 to charge the battery 40 (refer to FIG. 3 ) inside the main body 10 , and dust stored in the dust container 100 . It may further include a docking station (not shown) provided to discharge the.

The docking station may discharge the dust stored in the dustbin 100 through the dust outlets 181 and 182 (refer to FIG. 9 ) formed on the lower surface of the dustbin 100 .

Referring to FIG. 3 , the robot cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a battery 40 . The battery 40 may supply power to the main body 10 so that the main body 10 can run wirelessly and clean the floor.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the battery 40 may be disposed adjacent to the dust container 100 . Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3 , the battery 40 may be disposed on the lower rear side of the dust container 100 . Although not specifically illustrated in the drawings, the battery 40 may extend in a direction in which the rotational axis of the wheel 32 extends. That is, the battery 40 may extend long in a direction transverse to the body 10 .

The battery 40 is preferably not divided into two or more for stable power supply. The battery is preferably disposed inside the body as one battery pack having a relatively large size, rather than being separated into two or more battery packs having a smaller size and disposed inside the body. This is also related to the capacity of the battery and the performance of the battery, and it is advantageous in terms of capacity and stable power supply to be provided with one battery pack.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the battery 40 may be provided as one battery pack, and may extend long in a direction crossing the driving direction of the main body 10 . In addition, the battery 40 may be disposed at the rear of the dust container 100 , and may be disposed adjacent to the lower surface of the main body 10 .

The battery 40 may be configured to have a substantially triangular cross-section. That is, the lower surface of the battery 40 may be configured to have a larger area than the upper surface. Through this, the center of gravity of the main body 10 may be closer to the lower surface of the main body 10 , and the main body 10 may move stably.

As described above, since the battery 40 is disposed adjacent to the dust container 100 and the cross-section of the battery 40 may be provided to have a substantially triangular shape, one portion of the dust container 100 adjacent to the battery 40 is disposed. The side surface may be inclined to correspond to the shape of the battery 40 . That is, the dust container 100 may be provided in a form in which one side is inclined, not a rectangular parallelepiped shape. This is a method for maximally utilizing the space inside the main body 10 , and is intended to increase the capacity of the dust container 100 .

Due to the shape of the dust bin 100 , a bottleneck may occur inside the dust bin 100 . In order to discharge dust through the dust outlet formed on the lower surface of the dustbin 100 , the dust stored in the dustbin 100 must move downward from the inside of the dustbin 100 . Due to the inclined side surface of the dust container 100 , the lower area of the dust container 100 is smaller than the upper area of the dust container 100 . A bottleneck may occur in the process of moving from the upper side of the dust bin 100 having a large area to the lower side of the dust bin 100 having a narrow area. Due to the bottleneck phenomenon, the dust stored in the dustbin 100 may be caught on the lower side of the dustbin 100 and may not be discharged through the dust outlet formed on the lower surface of the dustbin 100 .

According to the spirit of the present invention, a bottleneck phenomenon occurring inside the dust container 100 can be prevented, and dust can be smoothly discharged through the dust outlet formed on the lower surface of the dust container 100 . A detailed description thereof will be given later.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the dust container 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 4 .

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the dust container 100 includes a case 160 having an open upper surface and a lower surface, respectively, an upper cover 150 provided to cover the open upper surface of the case 160 , and the case 160 . ) may include a lower cover 180 provided to cover the open lower surface.

In addition, the dust container 100 includes a support 170 coupled to the inside of the case 160 , a cyclone unit 130 provided to separate dust, a grill unit 171a coupled to the support 170 , respectively, and A filter 191 may be included.

The case 160 may be provided such that the upper and lower surfaces are opened, respectively. The case 160 may have one side inclined so that the area of the upper surface is wider than the area of the lower surface. The case 160 may include an inlet 161 through which air moved along the duct 12 by the brush device 31 of the suction unit 30 is introduced when the case 160 is mounted on the body 10 . The inlet 161 may be provided to correspond to the duct outlet 13 formed at the end of the duct 12 .

The case 160 may include a partition wall 165 that partitions the first chamber 110 and the second chamber 120 to be described later. The partition wall 165 may be formed to extend upwardly from the lower end of the case 160 . The partition wall 165 may extend in a direction parallel to a direction in which air is introduced through the inlet 161 .

The case 160 includes a first shaft coupling part 162 to which the upper shaft 152 of the upper cover 150 is detachably coupled, and a first shaft coupling part 162 to which the lower shaft 184 of the lower cover 180 is detachably coupled. It may include a two-shaft coupling part 163 . The upper cover 150 may be rotatably coupled to the case 160 by coupling the upper shaft 152 to the first shaft coupling part 162 . The lower cover 180 may be rotatably coupled to the case 160 by coupling the lower shaft 184 to the second shaft coupling part 163 . In addition, the case 160 may further include a locking groove 164 provided to maintain the state in which the upper cover 180 covers the open upper surface of the case 160 .

The upper cover 150 may be detachably coupled to the case 160 . In addition, the upper cover 150 may be rotatably provided on the case 160 . By rotating the upper cover 150 with respect to the case 160 , the upper surface of the case 160 may be opened or closed without being separated from the case 160 . The upper cover 150 may include an outlet 153 (refer to FIG. 9 ) for discharging the air introduced into the dust container 100 to the outside of the dust container 100 .

The lower cover 180 may be detachably coupled to the case 160 , and may be rotatably provided to the case 160 . By rotating the lower cover 180 with respect to the case 160 , the lower surface of the case 160 may be opened or closed without being separated from the case 160 .

The lower cover 180 includes a first dust outlet 181 for discharging the dust stored in the first chamber 110 , a second dust outlet 182 for discharging the dust stored in the second chamber 120 , and the first dust It may include an outlet cover 183 for opening or closing the outlet 181 and the second dust outlet 182 together. In addition, the lower cover 180 may further include a locking part 185 coupled to the case 160 so that the lower cover 180 maintains the closed state of 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 to be described later. The support 170 may include a grill support portion 171 provided to support the grill portion 171a provided to filter relatively large dust from the dust introduced into the first chamber 110 . The support 170 is coupled to the case 160 and may include a protrusion 172 from the partition wall 165 toward the first chamber 110 , and a plurality of cyclone holes 173 formed in the protrusion 172 . In addition, the cyclone lower cover 174 may be coupled to the support 170 . The cyclone lower cover 174 may partition the cyclone chamber 121 and the dust chamber 122 in the second chamber 120 . This will be described later.

The cyclone unit 130 may include a cyclone separator 131 , a cyclone holder 140 , and a cyclone upper cover 135 .

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the cyclone unit 130 may include a plurality of cyclone separators 131 . For example, the cyclone unit 130 may include eight cyclone separators 131 arranged in a 2×4 form. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the cyclone separator may be provided in various numbers including one.

The cyclone separator 131 may be provided in a cone shape with an open top and bottom surfaces. The cyclone separator 131 includes a cyclone inlet 132 through which air is introduced, a cyclone dust outlet 133 through which dust separated from the air introduced into the cyclone separator 131 is discharged, and a cyclone separator 131 from the inside. It may include a cyclone outlet 134 through which air is discharged. The cyclone inlet 132 may be formed at the upper end of the side of the cyclone separator 131, the cyclone outlet 134 may point to the open upper surface of the cyclone separator 131, and the cyclone dust outlet 133 may be the cyclone separator ( 131) may point to the open lower surface.

According to the spirit of the present invention, the dust container 100 may include a cyclone holder 140 . The cyclone holder 140 is coupled to the cyclone separator 131 and may be provided to guide dust that has not flowed into the cyclone separator 131 to the cyclone hole 173 .

The cyclone holder 140 may include a cyclone separator hole 141 into which the cyclone separator 131 is inserted. In addition, the cyclone holder 140 may include a holder inclined surface 142 and an upper end 143 and a lower end 144 provided at both ends of the holder inclined surface 142 , respectively. The holder inclined surface 142 may be provided to be inclined downwardly from the upper end 143 to the lower end 144 . The lower end 144 may be provided to be connected to the protrusion 172 of the support 170 .

The cyclone upper cover 135 may be coupled to the upper side of the cyclone separator 131 to cover an outer upper portion of the cyclone separator 131 . The cyclone upper cover 135 is provided to correspond to the cyclone outlet 134 of the cyclone separator 131 , and may include a cover hole 136 having a smaller size than the cyclone outlet 134 .

The cyclone upper cover 135 may form a cyclone chamber 121 in the second chamber 120 together with the cyclone holder 140 by covering the outer upper portion of the cyclone separator 131 .

A filter housing 190 accommodating the filter 191 may be coupled to the cyclone upper cover 135 . The filter housing 190 is 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 the grill hole 171b formed in the grill part 171a. The filter 191 may be provided in various types. For example, the filter 191 may include a micro filter or a HEPA filter (High Efficiency Particulate Air filter).

5 is a diagram separately illustrating a dust container in a robot cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a cross-sectional perspective view of the dust container shown in FIG. 5 .

Hereinafter, the flow of air in the dust container 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 .

Air may be introduced into the dust container 100 through the inlet 161 through 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 through the grill portion 171a. The grill portion 171a may extend upward from one side surface of the first chamber 110 . The grill part 171a may cover one side and an upper surface of the first chamber 110 . In addition, the grill portion 171a may include at least one bent portion 171c to increase the surface area. As the area of the grill part 171a is increased, it is possible to effectively filter relatively large dust from the air introduced into the first chamber 110 .

The air introduced into the first chamber 110 may be introduced into the second chamber 120 after passing through the grill portion 171a. Assuming that the main body 10 travels in the first direction, the first chamber 110 and the second chamber 120 may be sequentially disposed in a second direction intersecting the first direction. Accordingly, the air introduced in the first direction through the inlet 161 may move in the second direction intersecting the first direction to 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 . This will be described later.

The second chamber 120 may include a cyclone chamber 121 and a dust chamber 122 . The air passing through the first chamber 110 and the grill part 171a may be introduced into the cyclone chamber 121 of the second chamber 120 .

The cyclone chamber 121 may refer to 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 container in which a cyclone holder is not provided, a cyclone chamber may be formed by the cyclone upper cover and the cyclone lower cover. According to the inventive concept, the dust container 100 may include a 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 is formed inside the cyclone separator 131 , and dust in the air is separated by the centrifugal force of the vortex to be discharged to the cyclone outlet 133 . The air introduced into the cyclone separator 131 may be discharged through the cyclone outlet 134 . Specifically, it 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 135 may be discharged to the outlet 153 of the dust container 100 through the filter 191 disposed to face the cyclone upper cover 135 .

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 an embodiment of the present invention, the dust chamber 122 may be partitioned by the cyclone lower cover 174, but is not limited thereto. The cyclone lower cover 174 may be omitted, and the 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 are removed from the dust container 100 through the first dust outlet 181 and the second dust outlet 182 after the outlet cover 183 is opened. ) can be discharged to the outside. Since the outlet cover 183 is provided to open and close the first dust outlet 181 and the second dust outlet 182 together, the first dust outlet 181 and the second dust outlet 182 are opened by opening the outlet cover 183 . ) together to discharge the dust stored in the first chamber 110 and the dust chamber 122 at the same time. Meanwhile, dust inside the dust container 100 may be discharged to a docking station (not shown) through the first dust outlet 181 and the second dust outlet 182 . When the user directly intends to discharge the dust inside the dust container 100 , the dust can be more easily discharged by opening the lower cover 180 .

As described above, dust separated from the air introduced into the cyclone separator 131 may be stored in the dust chamber 122 . Accordingly, dust that has not flowed into the cyclone separator 131 may not be stored in the dust chamber 122 . Dust filtered by the grill unit 171a may be stored in the first chamber 110 . Dust passing through the grill part 171a but not flowing into the cyclone separator 131 may be accumulated in the cyclone chamber 121 .

The conventional dust bin could not discharge the dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber. Since the dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber cannot move to the dust chamber and also cannot move to the first chamber, the dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber can be removed only by disassembling and cleaning the dust container by the user.

According to the spirit of the present invention, dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber 121 may also be discharged to the lower surface of the dust container 100 through the first dust outlet 181 . That is, when the docking station is docked, the dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber 121 may be discharged to the outside of the dust container 100 together with the dust stored in the dust chamber 122 and the first chamber 110 .

According to the spirit of the present invention, the cyclone holder 140 may include a holder inclined surface 142 . The holder inclined surface 142 may be provided to be inclined downward toward the protrusion 172 . Dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber 121 by the holder inclined surface 142 may be guided by the protrusion 172 . Dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber 121 may be guided to the protrusion 172 along the holder inclined surface 142 by gravity.

Dust guided to the protrusion 172 by the cyclone holder 140 may be discharged to the first chamber 110 through the cyclone hole 173 . The dust that has moved to the first chamber 110 may be discharged to the outside of the dust container 100 through the first dust outlet 181 together with the dust stored in the first chamber 110 .

The cyclone hole 173 may filter dust in the air introduced into the first chamber 110 when cleaning is performed. The cyclone hole 173 discharges the dust stored in the cyclone chamber 121 to the first chamber 110 when the main body 10 is docked in a docking station (not shown) to discharge the dust inside the dust container 100 . can do it Accordingly, the cyclone hole 173 may perform both a function of filtering dust and a function of discharging dust.

According to the spirit of the present invention, the dustbin 100 can prevent the dust inside the dustbin 100 from being caught in the lower part of the dustbin 100 by preventing the bottleneck phenomenon inside the dustbin 100 in advance.

As described above, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the dust container 100 may include an inclined surface 111 in order to maximize the space utilization inside the body 10 . Since the dust container 100 includes the inclined surface 111 , the internal capacity of the dust container 100 can be maximized. However, due to the inclined surface 111 , the lower area of the dust container 100 becomes narrower than the upper area, and a bottleneck may occur in the process of moving the dust inside the dust container 100 downward. The dust may be aggregated due to the bottleneck phenomenon, and the aggregated dust may not be discharged through the open lower surface of the dust container 100 .

To solve this problem, the dust container 100 according to the spirit of the present invention may include a rib 112 .

The rib 112 may be provided on the inclined surface 111 . Also, a plurality of ribs 112 may be provided. The rib 112 may be formed to have a thin thickness. Due to the thin thickness of the ribs 112 , even if the ribs 112 are provided inside the dust container 100 , the internal capacity of the dust container 110 may not be significantly reduced.

Referring to FIG. 8 , the ribs 112 may allow a distance between two sides of the dust container 100 facing each other to be substantially equal between the upper part and the lower part of the dust container 100 . Specifically, the rib 112 may maintain a constant distance between the inclined surface 111 and the first surface 113 , which is one side facing the inclined surface 111 .

When the rib 112 is not provided, the distance between the inclined surface 111 and the first surface 113 may be different from the upper part and the lower part of the dust container 100 . At the upper end of the inclined surface 111 , the distance between the inclined surface 111 and the first surface 113 is d3 . At the lower end of the inclined surface 111 , the distance between the inclined surface 111 and the first surface 113 is d1 less than d3 . From the upper end to the lower end of the inclined surface 111, the distance between the inclined surface 111 and the first surface 113 decreases from d3 to d1. As a result, a bottleneck may occur inside the dust container 100 .

On the other hand, when the rib 112 is provided, the distance between the rib 112 and the first surface 113 is d1 at the upper end of the inclined surface 111 . In addition, the distance between the rib 112 and the first surface 113 is d2 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 between the upper end and the lower end of the inclined surface 111 may be substantially maintained. Accordingly, a bottleneck may not occur in moving from the top to the bottom inside the dust container 100 .

The ribs 112 may include a plurality of ribs spaced apart from each other. Even if a plurality of ribs are provided, the area between the ribs 112 and the ribs 112 may be reduced as the space moves from the top to the bottom. However, this does not create a bottleneck. The bottleneck inside the dust bin 100 may occur as dust collected in the dust bin 100 moves downward. On the other hand, when the rib 112 is provided, the dust inside the dust container 100 is aggregated between the rib 112 and the first surface 113 . For this reason, the maximum width of the dust collected inside the dust container 100 is d1. Since d1 and d2 are substantially the same as described above, no bottleneck occurs even if the aggregated dust moves downward.

Therefore, according to the spirit of the present invention, the dust container 100 can prevent a bottleneck phenomenon by including the ribs 112 provided on the inclined surface 111 , and smoothly passes through the dust outlet formed on the lower surface of the dust container 100 . dust can be expelled.

8 is a view illustrating a dust container from a different angle in the robot cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention. 9 is a bottom perspective view of a dust container in a robot cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8 , as described above, the upper cover 150 and the lower cover 180 may be rotatably provided with respect to the case 160 , respectively. Specifically, the upper cover 150 may rotate with respect to the case 160 with the upper shaft 152 as a rotation center. The lower cover 180 may rotate with respect to the case 160 with the lower shaft 184 as a rotation center.

Referring to FIG. 9 , as described above, the lower cover 180 has a first dust outlet 181 for discharging dust from the first chamber 110 and a second dust outlet 181 for discharging dust from the dust chamber 122 . It may include an outlet 182 and an outlet cover 183 provided to open and close the first dust outlet 181 and the second dust outlet 182 together.

In the above, specific embodiments have been shown and described. However, it is not limited only to the above-described embodiments, and those of ordinary skill in the art to which the invention pertains can make various changes without departing from the spirit of the invention described in the claims below. .

Claims

a body including a suction unit for sucking dust; and

a dust container detachably mounted on the main body and provided to separate and store dust from the air sucked through the suction unit; including,

The dust bin is

a first chamber that separates and stores dust from the air introduced from the suction unit and includes an inclined surface such that a lower area is narrower than an upper area;

A cyclone unit and a second chamber for separating and storing dust from the air introduced from the first chamber,

The first chamber may further include a rib provided on the inclined surface to prevent dust stored in the first chamber from being caught in the lower portion of the first chamber due to a bottleneck.
According to claim 1,

When a side surface of the first chamber facing the inclined surface is referred to as a first surface,

A robot cleaner provided such that a distance between the rib and the first surface is substantially the same between an upper side of the rib and a lower side of the rib.
According to claim 1,

The cyclone unit includes a cyclone separator for separating dust in the air by using the centrifugal force of the vortex,

The cyclone separator is

a cyclone inlet formed by opening the side of the cyclone separator so that air is introduced;

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

and a cyclone outlet formed by opening an upper surface of the cyclone separator so that the air introduced into the cyclone inlet is discharged.
4. The method of claim 3,

The cyclone unit further includes a cyclone upper cover provided on the upper side of the cyclone separator,

The cyclone upper cover covers an outer upper portion of the cyclone separator in the second chamber.
5. The method of claim 4,

The dust bin is

Further comprising a cyclone holder coupled to the cyclone separator so that the cyclone separator is fixed in the second chamber,

The cyclone holder forms a cyclone chamber in the second chamber together with the cyclone separator and the cyclone upper cover.
6. The method of claim 5,

The dust bin is

a partition wall dividing the first chamber and the second chamber; and a protrusion protruding from the partition wall toward the first chamber;

The protrusion includes a plurality of cyclone holes provided in the protrusion so that the dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber is discharged from the cyclone chamber to the first chamber.
6. The method of claim 5,

The cyclone holder is lower than the cyclone inlet and is positioned higher than the cyclone dust outlet.
7. The method of claim 6,

The cyclone holder is a robot cleaner provided to be inclined downward toward the protrusion to guide the dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber to the protrusion.
6. The method of claim 5,

The second chamber includes a dust chamber provided under the cyclone chamber to store the dust discharged to the cyclone dust outlet,

The dust chamber and the cyclone chamber are partitioned to be separated from each other.
10. The method of claim 9,

The first chamber further includes a first dust outlet provided on a lower surface of the first chamber to discharge the dust stored in the first chamber,

The second chamber further includes a second dust outlet provided on a lower surface of the dust chamber to discharge the dust stored in the dust chamber,

The dust container further includes an outlet cover provided to open and close the first dust outlet and the second dust outlet together.
5. The method of claim 4,

The dust bin is

Further comprising a filter provided to filter the dust in the air discharged to the cyclone outlet through the cyclone separator,

The filter is a robot cleaner disposed to face each other with the upper cover of the cyclone.
According to claim 1,

The dust container further includes a grill part disposed between the first chamber and the second chamber to filter dust in the air introduced into the first chamber;

The grill part extends from one side of the first chamber to an upper surface of the first chamber.
According to claim 1,

The grill part robot cleaner including at least one bent part to increase the surface area of the grill part.
According to claim 1,

The main body includes a pair of wheels that are provided to move the main body and rotate about a rotation axis,

The dust bin is disposed between the pair of wheels when mounted on the main body.
15. The method of claim 14,

The first chamber and the second chamber are disposed side by side in a direction in which the rotation shaft extends.