Traveling cleaning appliance and method for operating such an appliance

• US 20140166047A1
• Filed: 12/04/2013
• Published: 06/19/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vorwerk & Company Interholding Gesellschaft Mit Beschrã¤Nkter Haftung (Vorwerk & Company KG)
• Original Assignee: Vorwerk & Company Interholding Gesellschaft Mit Beschrã¤Nkter Haftung (Vorwerk & Company KG)
• Inventors: HILLEN, Lorenz, MEGGLE, Martin, STRANG, Benjamin
• Granted Patent: US 9,629,514 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 134/6
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4011 Regulation of the cleaning machine by electric means; Control systems and remote control systems therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4061 Steering means; Means for avoiding obstacles; Details related to the place where the driver is accommodated
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2201/06 Control of the cleaning action for autonomous devices; Automatic detection of the surface condition before, during or after cleaning
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2826 the condition of the floor
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2852 Elements for displacement of the vacuum cleaner or the accessories therefor, e.g. wheels, casters or nozzles
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/30 Arrangement of illuminating devices
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0274 using mapping information stored in a memory device navigation using map-matching G01C21/30
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 2201/0203 Cleaning or polishing vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to a traveling cleaning appliance (1) or floor care appliance or floor treatment appliance such as, for example, an automatically traveling floor cleaning appliance or user-guided cleaning appliance (1), that is provided with a device (7) for creating photographic pictures of a surface to be traveled on. In order to further improve a floor cleaning appliance in particular with regard to an effective cleaning strategy, it is proposed that a picture (FA) can be evaluated with regard to the type of a floor covering, in any case for differentiating between a hard floor covering and a carpeted floor, and that an identified floor covering can be used with regard to a traveling strategy and/or with regard to a setting of cleaning parameters such as floor clearance and/or size of secondary air openings and/or brush speed. The invention further relates to a method for operating an automatically traveling floor cleaning appliance (1) which has a device (7) for creating photographic pictures (FA) of a floor surface to be traveled on. In order to further improve a method with regard to an effective cleaning strategy, it is proposed that pictures (FA) that have been taken be evaluated with regard to the type of floor covering and, in dependence on an evaluation, a traveling strategy and/or setting of cleaning parameters such as floor clearance and/or size of secondary air openings and/or brush speed is carried out.

Claims

1. A traveling cleaning appliance (1) or floor care appliance or floor treatment appliance such as, for example, an automatically traveling floor cleaning appliance or user-guided cleaning appliance (1), that is provided with a device (7) for creating photographic pictures of a surface to be traveled on, wherein a picture (FA) can be evaluated with regard to the type of a surface formation, for example, of a floor covering, and wherein an identified surface formation can be used with regard to a traveling strategy and/or with regard to a setting of cleaning parameters such as floor clearance and/or size of secondary air openings and/or brush speed.

2. The cleaning appliance or floor care appliance or floor treatment appliance according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation can be carried out in the cleaning appliance (1) itself.

3. The cleaning appliance or floor care appliance or floor treatment appliance according to claim 1, wherein the photographically captured surface (R) can be illuminated by a lighting element (9) that is provided in the cleaning appliance (1).

4. The cleaning appliance or floor care appliance or floor treatment appliance according to claim 3, wherein the lighting element (9) emits a defined white light.

5. The cleaning appliance or floor care appliance or floor treatment appliance according to claim 1, wherein the picture (FA) is a color picture and can be evaluated with regard to the color.

6. The cleaning appliance or floor care appliance or floor treatment appliance according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation can be performed with regard to overexposed areas (white areas) in an image.

7. The cleaning appliance or floor care appliance or floor treatment appliance according to claim 1, wherein a picture (FA) of a floor covering can be defined by the user as whether to be traveled on or not to be traveled on.

8. A method for operating a traveling cleaning appliance (1), for example an automatically traveling floor cleaning appliance or user-guided floor cleaning appliance, or a floor care appliance or floor treatment appliance, that has a device (7) for creating photographic pictures (FA) of a surface to be traveled on, wherein pictures (FA) that have been taken are evaluated with regard to the type of surface formation and, in dependence on an evaluation, a traveling strategy and/or setting of cleaning parameters such as floor clearance and/or size of secondary air openings and/or brush speed is carried out.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein prior to carrying out a traveling strategy or the like and in dependence on an evaluation of the pictures (FA), traveling over a surface to be cleaned is carried out while creating the pictures (FA), with no immediate reaction taking place to surface formations detected as being different.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein said traveling is carried out automatically or under the guidance of the user.

11. The method according to claim 8, wherein the created pictures FA are analyzed by means of an evaluation software, optionally at a time following traveling over the surface.

12. The method according to claim 8, wherein a result of the evaluation is visualized for the user on a display or is communicated using a voice output.

13. The method according to claim 8, wherein pursuing a traveling strategy in dependence on a performed evaluation is undertaken only after the user confirms the result of the evaluation communicated to the user.

14. The method according to claim 8, wherein, when carrying out a cleaning run on a surface which has already been traveled over for analyzing and which has been analyzed, additional pictures (FA) are created and evaluated.

15. (canceled)