AUTONOMOUS FLOOR-CLEANING ROBOT
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A floor cleaning robot comprises a housing, wheels, and a motor driving the wheels to move the robot across a floor, a control module disposed within the housing and directing movement of the robot across the floor, a sensor for detecting and communicating obstacle information to the control module so that the control module can cause the robot to react to the obstacle, a removable bin disposed at least partially within the housing and receiving particulates, a first rotating member directing particulates toward the bin, and a second rotating member cooperating with the first rotating member to direct particulates toward the bin. The removable bin receives particulates directed thereto by the first and second rotating members and the particulates pass from the first rotating member to the removable bin without passing through a filter.
-
Citations
111 Claims
-
1-77. -77. (canceled)
-
78. A self-propelled floor-cleaning robot comprising
a housing defining a housing perimeter; -
a powered primary brush assembly disposed within the housing perimeter and positioned to engage a floor surface, the primary brush assembly being configured to rotate about an axis generally parallel to the floor surface; a powered side brush extending beyond the housing perimeter and positioned to brush floor surface debris from beyond the housing perimeter, the side brush being configured to rotate about an axis generally perpendicular to the floor surface and to rotate in a direction to direct debris toward the robot along the projected path of the powered primary brush assembly; a particulate receptacle positioned to receive and collect particulates brushed from the floor surface by the primary brush assembly and the side brush; an obstacle detector responsive to obstacles encountered by the robot; and a control circuit in electrical communication with the motor drive and configured to control the motor drive to maneuver the robot about detected obstacles across the floor surface during a floor-cleaning operation. - View Dependent Claims (79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90)
-
-
91. A self-propelled floor-cleaning robot comprising:
-
wheels operably connected to a motor drive to propel the robot across the floor surface; a controller in electrical communication with the motor drive and configured to control the motor drive to autonomously maneuver the robot about detected obstacles encountered on the floor surface during a floor-cleaning operation; a housing defining a housing perimeter; a cleaning head disposed within the housing perimeter and positioned to engage a floor surface; and a powered rotating side brush extending beyond the housing perimeter and positioned to brush floor surface debris from beyond the housing perimeter toward a projected path of the cleaning head, the powered rotating side brush rotating in a direction that brushes debris toward the robot ahead of a rotating axis of the brush along the projected path of the cleaning head, the controller being configured to move the robot in a wall-following mode to maneuver the robot along a wall in a direction that places the powered rotating side brush adjacent the wall. - View Dependent Claims (92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98)
-
-
99. A floor-cleaning robot, comprising:
-
a housing including a chassis, wherein part of the chassis is configured as a deck; a powered differential wheel drive operative to propel the floor-cleaning robot for cleaning operations; a control module operative to control the floor-cleaning robot to effect the cleaning operations; a cleaning head including a dual-stage brush assembly comprising first and second brushes mounted in combination with the deck and powered by a cleaning motor to sweep up particulates during cleaning operations, the second brush positioned to contact a floor surface and to direct debris forward towards the first brush, and a dust collection bin for collecting particulates swept up by the brush assembly; wherein the first brush is positioned to redirect debris from the second brush into the dust collection bin; and wherein the first and second brushes are counter-rotating. - View Dependent Claims (100, 101, 102, 103, 104)
-
-
105. A floor-cleaning robot comprising:
-
a housing; a powered differential wheel drive operative to propel the housing for cleaning operations on a floor; a control module operative to control the floor-cleaning robot; a cleaning head including; a deck mounted to pivot with respect to the floor; a brush assembly mounted in the deck and powered to sweep; a vacuum assembly mounted in the deck adjacent to the brush assembly and powered to ingest particulates; a dust collection bin coupled to the vacuum assembly for collecting particulates swept up by the brush assembly and ingested by the vacuum assembly; a deck adjusting assembly mounted in combination with the deck and the housing that pivots the deck with respect to the floor. - View Dependent Claims (106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111)
-
Specification