Robotic vacuum cleaner
First Claim
1. A robotic vacuum cleaner comprising:
- a casing having a lower major wall which is adapted to confront a floor surface to be cleaned, and which includes a central area that defines a central axis normal to said central major wall, and a surrounding peripheral area that surrounds said central area about the central axis, said surrounding peripheral area including a leading region which is positioned ahead of said central area when said casing is driven to move along the floor surface, and left and right front regions which flank said leading region;
a suction unit which is disposed in said lower major wall, and which is adapted to draw dust from the floor surface to be cleaned;
a motor-driven wheel unit which is disposed on said lower major wall and behind said leading region, and which is steerable between a normal angle, at which said leading region is movable forward straight ahead, and an activating angle at which a corresponding one of said left and right front regions is movable towards an obstacle;
a drive motor unit disposed to drive said motor-driven wheel unit to move said casing along the floor surface, a tactile sensor unit disposed outwardly of one of said left and right front regions, and yieldable radially relative to said corresponding one of said left and right front regions so as to generate a switching signal in response to contact of said tactile sensor unit with the obstacle; and
an electrical control unit coupled to said tactile sensor unit and said drive motor unit, said electrical control unit being operable to control said motor-driven wheel unit to operate in a starting mode in which said casing is moved along a spiral path, with said leading region heading forwards, upon receipt of said switching signal from said tactile sensor unit, said electrical control unit controlling said motor-driven wheel unit to operate in an edge-cleaning mode in which said motor-driven wheel unit is initially turned to the normal angle, is then driven to move forward a predetermined distance along the floor surface, is subsequently returned to the activating angle, and is thereafter moved toward the obstacle to permit contact of said tactile sensor unit with the obstacle, thereby enabling said motor-driven wheel unit to continue to operate in the edge-cleaning mode.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A robotic vacuum cleaner includes a casing with a motor-driven wheel unit mounted on a lower major wall thereof, and a tactile sensor unit yieldable radially relative to the casing. An electrical control unit is operable to control the wheel unit to operate in a starting mode in which the casing is moved along a spiral path, and, upon receipt of a switching signal generated by the sensor unit in response to a contact of the sensor unit with an obstacle, controls the wheel unit to operate in an edge-cleaning mode in which the wheel unit is initially turned to a normal angle, is then driven to move forward a predetermined distance, is subsequently turned to an activating angle, and is moved towards the obstacle to permit contact of the sensor unit with the obstacle so as to result in generation of switch signal enabling the wheel unit to continue to operate in the edge-cleaning mode.
-
Citations
8 Claims
-
1. A robotic vacuum cleaner comprising:
-
a casing having a lower major wall which is adapted to confront a floor surface to be cleaned, and which includes a central area that defines a central axis normal to said central major wall, and a surrounding peripheral area that surrounds said central area about the central axis, said surrounding peripheral area including a leading region which is positioned ahead of said central area when said casing is driven to move along the floor surface, and left and right front regions which flank said leading region;
a suction unit which is disposed in said lower major wall, and which is adapted to draw dust from the floor surface to be cleaned;
a motor-driven wheel unit which is disposed on said lower major wall and behind said leading region, and which is steerable between a normal angle, at which said leading region is movable forward straight ahead, and an activating angle at which a corresponding one of said left and right front regions is movable towards an obstacle;
a drive motor unit disposed to drive said motor-driven wheel unit to move said casing along the floor surface, a tactile sensor unit disposed outwardly of one of said left and right front regions, and yieldable radially relative to said corresponding one of said left and right front regions so as to generate a switching signal in response to contact of said tactile sensor unit with the obstacle; and
an electrical control unit coupled to said tactile sensor unit and said drive motor unit, said electrical control unit being operable to control said motor-driven wheel unit to operate in a starting mode in which said casing is moved along a spiral path, with said leading region heading forwards, upon receipt of said switching signal from said tactile sensor unit, said electrical control unit controlling said motor-driven wheel unit to operate in an edge-cleaning mode in which said motor-driven wheel unit is initially turned to the normal angle, is then driven to move forward a predetermined distance along the floor surface, is subsequently returned to the activating angle, and is thereafter moved toward the obstacle to permit contact of said tactile sensor unit with the obstacle, thereby enabling said motor-driven wheel unit to continue to operate in the edge-cleaning mode. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
Specification