×

Robotic vacuum cleaner

  • US 20050235451A1
  • Filed: 11/02/2004
  • Published: 10/27/2005
  • Est. Priority Date: 04/21/2004
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
Patent Images

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 all claims
  • 1 Assignment
Timeline View
Assignment View
    ×
    ×