Blade assembly for a grass cutting mobile robot

• US 10,021,830 B2
• Filed: 02/02/2016
• Issued: 07/17/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: iRobot Corporation
• Original Assignee: iRobot Corporation
• Inventors: Doughty, Brian
• Primary Examiner(s): TORRES, ALICIA M
• Application Number:
  US15/013,253
• Publication Number:
  US 20170215337A1
• Time in Patent Office: 896 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A01D 2101/00 Lawn-mowers
• CPC Class Codes: A01D 34/008 for automated or remotely controlled operation
• CPC Class Codes: A01D 34/661 Mounting means
• CPC Class Codes: A01D 34/664 Disc cutter bars
• CPC Class Codes: A01D 34/733 Cutting-blade mounting means
• CPC Class Codes: A01D 34/736 Flail type
• CPC Class Codes: A01D 34/78 electric
• CPC Class Codes: A01D 34/81 Casings; Housings A01D34/71 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A01D 34/828 Safety devices

Abstract

A grass cutting mobile robot includes a body and a blade assembly connected to the body and rotatable about a drive axis. The blade assembly includes blades, a housing to hold the blades, and a spring that connects the blade to the housing. The housing includes a slot in which to mount a blade so that a portion of the blade is movable through the slot towards another blade in response to an impact. The slot slopes upwards in the housing towards the body, thereby enabling the blade to move upwards relative to a ground surface toward the body in response to the impact. The spring is for constraining movement of the blade relative to the housing.

Claims

1. A grass cutting mobile robot comprising:

a body; and

a blade assembly connected to the body and rotatable about a drive axis, the blade assembly comprising;

two or more blades, wherein, for each of the two or more blades, the blade is rotatably mounted on a mounting axis and includes a cutting portion extending inwardly toward the drive axis from a blade tip; and

a housing to hold the two or more blades, wherein, for each of the two or more blades, at least a portion of the blade extends upward from the mounting axis, through the housing, and relative to a horizontal ground surface so that, in response to an impact, the portion of the blade is configured to move within the housing towards the drive axis by rotating about the mounting axis of the blade to cause the cutting portion of the blade to move upward relative to the horizontal ground surface toward the body and to reduce a tip radius defined by the blade tip and the drive axis as the blade tip rotates about the drive axis.

2. The grass cutting mobile robot of claim 1, wherein, for each of the two or more blades, the cutting portion of the blade comprises a length between 10% and 30% of a distance between the mounting axis and the blade tip.

3. The grass cutting mobile robot of claim 1, wherein:

the housing comprises two or more slots in which to mount the two or more blades, and,

for each of the two more slots, a slot extends, from proximate the mounting axis, away from the mounting axis and upward at an incline along a portion of an outer surface of the housing relative to the horizontal ground surface.

4. The grass cutting mobile robot of claim 1, wherein, for each of the two or more blades, the mounting axis of the blade and the drive axis are non-parallel.

25. The grass cutting mobile robot of claim 1, wherein the blade assembly further comprises two or more springs comprising first ends coupled to the housing and second ends coupled to the two or more blades.

26. The grass cutting mobile robot of claim 1, wherein, for each of the blades, the portion of the blade extends upward from the mounting axis, through the housing, and relative to the horizontal ground surface when the blade is in a fully extended position and when the blade is in a fully retracted position.

27. The grass cutting mobile robot of claim 1, wherein the housing comprises two or more slots through which the two or more blades move, each of the two or more slots inclined along an outer surface of the housing relative to the horizontal ground surface.

28. The grass cutting mobile robot of claim 3, wherein, for each of the two or more slots, an angle of the incline relative to the horizontal ground surface is between 5 and 10 degrees.

5. A grass cutting mobile robot comprising:

a body; and

a blade assembly connected to the body and rotatable about a drive axis, the blade assembly comprising;

blades;

a housing to hold the blades, the housing comprising a slot in which to mount a blade of the blades so that a portion of the blade is movable through the slot towards another blade of the blades in response to an impact, and the slot sloping upwards along an outer surface of the housing towards the body, thereby enabling the blade to move upwards relative to a ground surface toward the body in response to the impact; and

a spring that connects the blade to the housing, the spring for constraining movement of the blade relative to the housing.

6. The grass cutting mobile robot of claim 5, wherein:

the spring is a torsion spring having a first end coupled to the housing and a second end coupled to the blade, the torsion spring having a twist axis, and

the blade is configured to rotate relative to the housing about a mounting axis coincident with the twist axis and non-parallel to the drive axis.

7. The grass cutting mobile robot of claim 5, wherein the spring biases the blade away from the other blade.

8. The grass cutting mobile robot of claim 5, wherein, absent the impact, a tip radius of the blade is positioned to rotate throughout a first radius relative to the drive axis and, in response to the impact and movement of the blade, the tip radius is reduced toward a second radius relative to the drive axis, the second radius being less than the first radius.

9. The grass cutting mobile robot of claim 5, wherein the blade comprises a first edge and a second edge connected by a surface, the blade being tilted upward relative to the ground surface at a tilt angle such that the second edge is higher than the first edge relative to the ground surface.

10. The grass cutting mobile robot of claim 9, wherein the tilt angle is between 5 degrees and 10 degrees.

11. The grass cutting mobile robot of claim 5, wherein the blade comprises a first portion and a second portion, the first portion extending through the slot in the housing, and the second portion extending downward away from the first portion.

12. The grass cutting mobile robot of claim 11, wherein the blade comprises a third portion extending along a radial axis of the blade assembly.

13. The grass cutting mobile robot of claim 5, wherein a surface of the blade facing the body comprises an embossment extending longitudinally along the surface.

14. The grass cutting mobile robot of claim 5, further comprising a bumper mounted to the body, the bumper having a first height relative to the ground surface, the blade having a second height relative to the ground surface, and the first height being less than the second height.

15. The grass cutting mobile robot of claim 5, wherein, when the blade assembly is configured to rotate relative to the body in a first direction, the blade being configured to rotate relative to the body in a second direction opposite the first direction in response to the impact.

16. The grass cutting mobile robot of claim 15, further comprising:

an actuator mounted in the body to rotate the blade assembly, and

one or more processors configured to

detect an increase in an electrical current delivered to the actuator, the increase being responsive to the impact, and

reduce the electrical current delivered to the actuator in response to detecting the increase.

17. A blade assembly for a grass cutting mobile robot, comprising:

blades; and

a housing to hold the blades and configured for coupling to an actuator of the grass cutting mobile robot so that the housing is rotatable about a drive axis, wherein, for each of the blades, at least a portion of a blade extends upward and outward from a mounting axis at which the blade is mounted to the housing such that the blade is movable upward and towards another blade in response to an impact.

18. The blade assembly of claim 17, wherein:

the housing is configured to receive a shaft that connects the housing to the actuator, and

the blade assembly further comprises a retention device within the housing,

wherein a portion of the retention device is configured to engage the shaft to lock the housing to the shaft, the portion of the retention device being movable relative to the shaft to disengage from the shaft to release the housing from the shaft.

19. The blade assembly of claim 18, wherein the retention device comprises a tab portion operable by a user to disengage the retention device from the shaft, thereby releasing the housing from the shaft.

20. The blade assembly of claim 18, wherein the portion of the retention device comprises an arm portion configured to slide along the housing relative to the drive axis to disengage the arm portion from the shaft.

21. The blade assembly of claim 18, wherein the housing comprises a splined cavity configured to mate with a corresponding splined portion of the shaft of the actuator.

22. The blade assembly of claim 18, wherein the housing is configured to receive the shaft to couple the housing to a body of the grass cutting mobile robot, the shaft defining a groove therein, and the blade assembly further comprising a retention device configured to engage the groove to lock the housing to the shaft.

23. The blade assembly of claim 17, wherein:

the housing comprises slots in which to mount the blades, and,

for each of the slots, a slot slopes upward along an outer surface of the housing toward a body of the grass cutting mobile robot, thereby enabling the blade to move upwards in response to the impact.

24. The blade assembly of claim 17, further comprising a retention device comprising a plurality of arm portions configured to engage a groove in the shaft to lock the housing to the shaft.

29. The blade assembly of claim 17, further comprising springs that connect the blades to the housing, the springs for constraining movement of the blades relative to the housing.