FLOOR TREATMENT MACHINE AND METHOD FOR TREATING FLOOR SURFACES
First Claim
1. A floor treatment machine for treating floor surfaces, comprising:
- a housing;
two drive wheels;
at least one support wheel;
a drive device;
a controller;
at least one obstacle-recognizing device; and
a floor treatment device, configured to ensure that the floor can be treated in a treatment area comprising a predetermined location relative to the wheels, and including a treatment width perpendicular to the driving direction, wherein the controller encompasses a treatment mode, the treatment mode being configured to ensure that a surface, which is to be treated, can be swept over by way of the treatment area of the treatment machine by groups of route sections, which run next to one another, wherein the position and orientation of the floor treatment machine in the floor coordinate system are provided by a position detection device,the treatment mode further being configured toensure that a treatment direction with a forwards and backwards orientation is determinable,determine driving lines, which are spaced apart perpendicular to the treatment direction, wherein the distances are chosen such that, when driving in opposite directions on driving lines, which are located next to one another, the area between the driving lines is completely treated by the treatment area,ensure that route segments on the driving lines are drivable from starting points to end points each in one driving direction, wherein the driving directions on adjacent driving lines are oriented in opposite direction,determine the end points in that driving cannot be continued on the respective driving line due to an obstacle, which is detected by the obstacle recognition device,store, in a route segment storage, the starting point and the end point of the route segment, which was followed, and for the end points, at least one of the states “
completely treated”
or “
incompletely treated” and
a direction information, at least in the case of “
incompletely treated”
, wherein it becomes clear from the direction information, in which orientation of the treatment direction incompletely treated areas are present, starting at the corresponding end point, andensure that a contour-following movement, in response to which the floor treatment machine follows the obstacle until it encounters a driving line, is triggerable at the end points for finding new starting points in each case, whereinthe contour-following movement starts with a component in the direction of the respective current orientation of the treatment direction,when encountering the driving line, which was followed prior to the contour-following movement, on a route segment, which, according to the route segment storage, has not yet been followed, a new starting point is determined at that location and the driving direction of this driving line is chosen,when encountering an adjacent driving line on a route segment, which, according to the route segment storage, has not yet been followed, a new starting point is determined at that location and the driving direction of this adjacent driving line is chosen,when encountering a driving line on a route segment, which, according to the route segment storage, has already been followed, the end of a group of route segments, which run next to one another, is determined, wherein the controller then looks for an end point comprising the state “
incompletely treated”
in the route segment storage and approaches it with a position search movement, so as to tackle a new group of route sections, which run next to one another, starting at this end point in the orientation of the treatment direction stored for this end point, until no end point comprising the state “
incompletely treated”
is present any longer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A floor treatment machine is disclosed for treating floor surfaces and includes a housing, two drive wheels, at least one support wheel, a drive device, a controller, at least one scan sensor configured to ensure that distance measurements can be carried out in a substantially horizontal plane via a predetermined angular area, and a floor treatment device configured to ensure that the floor can be treated. In at least one embodiment, the controller encompasses a treatment mode, which guarantees a simple and reliable selection of a successful route by way of few driving and storing steps. The boundary of the floor surface is treated as an obstacle. To record the treated surface, starting and end points of route segments, which have been followed, and one of the states “completely treated” or “incompletely treated” for the end points as well as direction information is stored.
23 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A floor treatment machine for treating floor surfaces, comprising:
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a housing; two drive wheels; at least one support wheel; a drive device; a controller; at least one obstacle-recognizing device; and a floor treatment device, configured to ensure that the floor can be treated in a treatment area comprising a predetermined location relative to the wheels, and including a treatment width perpendicular to the driving direction, wherein the controller encompasses a treatment mode, the treatment mode being configured to ensure that a surface, which is to be treated, can be swept over by way of the treatment area of the treatment machine by groups of route sections, which run next to one another, wherein the position and orientation of the floor treatment machine in the floor coordinate system are provided by a position detection device, the treatment mode further being configured to ensure that a treatment direction with a forwards and backwards orientation is determinable, determine driving lines, which are spaced apart perpendicular to the treatment direction, wherein the distances are chosen such that, when driving in opposite directions on driving lines, which are located next to one another, the area between the driving lines is completely treated by the treatment area, ensure that route segments on the driving lines are drivable from starting points to end points each in one driving direction, wherein the driving directions on adjacent driving lines are oriented in opposite direction, determine the end points in that driving cannot be continued on the respective driving line due to an obstacle, which is detected by the obstacle recognition device, store, in a route segment storage, the starting point and the end point of the route segment, which was followed, and for the end points, at least one of the states “
completely treated”
or “
incompletely treated” and
a direction information, at least in the case of “
incompletely treated”
, wherein it becomes clear from the direction information, in which orientation of the treatment direction incompletely treated areas are present, starting at the corresponding end point, andensure that a contour-following movement, in response to which the floor treatment machine follows the obstacle until it encounters a driving line, is triggerable at the end points for finding new starting points in each case, wherein the contour-following movement starts with a component in the direction of the respective current orientation of the treatment direction, when encountering the driving line, which was followed prior to the contour-following movement, on a route segment, which, according to the route segment storage, has not yet been followed, a new starting point is determined at that location and the driving direction of this driving line is chosen, when encountering an adjacent driving line on a route segment, which, according to the route segment storage, has not yet been followed, a new starting point is determined at that location and the driving direction of this adjacent driving line is chosen, when encountering a driving line on a route segment, which, according to the route segment storage, has already been followed, the end of a group of route segments, which run next to one another, is determined, wherein the controller then looks for an end point comprising the state “
incompletely treated”
in the route segment storage and approaches it with a position search movement, so as to tackle a new group of route sections, which run next to one another, starting at this end point in the orientation of the treatment direction stored for this end point, until no end point comprising the state “
incompletely treated”
is present any longer.- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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11. A method for treating floor surfaces via a floor treatment machine including a housing, two drive wheels, at least one support wheel, a drive device, a controller, at least one obstacle-recognizing device and a floor treatment device, configured to ensure that the floor is treatable in a treatment area including a predetermined location relative to the wheels, and including a treatment width perpendicular to the driving direction, the method, in a treatment mode, comprising:
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sweeping over a surface using the floor treatment machine by groups of route sections, which run next to one another, wherein position and orientation of the floor treatment machine in the floor coordinate system are provided by a position detection device, the method, in the treatment mode, further comprising determining a treatment direction with a forwards and backwards orientation, determining driving lines, spaced apart perpendicular to the treatment direction, wherein the distances are chosen such that, when driving in opposite directions on driving lines, which are located next to one another, the area between the driving lines is completely treated by the treatment area, driving route segments on the driving lines from starting points to end points each in one driving direction, wherein the driving directions on adjacent driving lines are oriented in opposite direction, determining the end points in that driving cannot be continued on the respective driving line due to an obstacle, detected by an obstacle recognition device, storing the starting point and the end point of the route segment, which was followed, in a route segment storage and for the end point, at least one of the states “
completely treated”
or “
incompletely treated” and
at least in the case of “
incompletely treated”
also a direction information is stored, wherein it becomes clear from the direction information, in which orientation of the treatment direction incompletely treated areas are present, starting at the corresponding end point,triggering a contour-following movement, in response to which the floor treatment machine follows the obstacle until it encounters a driving line, at the end points for finding new starting points in each case, wherein the contour-following movement starts with a component in the direction of the respective current orientation of the treatment direction, when encountering the driving line, which was followed prior to the contour-following movement, on a route segment, which, according to the route segment storage, has not yet been followed, a new starting point is determined at that location and the driving direction of this driving line is chosen, when encountering an adjacent driving line on a route segment, which, according to the route segment storage, has not yet been followed, a new starting point is determined at that location and the driving direction of this adjacent driving line is chosen, and when encountering a driving line on a route segment, which, according to the route segment storage, has already been followed, the end of a group of route segments, which run next to one another, is determined, wherein the controller then looks for an end point comprising the state “
incompletely treated”
in the route segment storage and approaches with a position search movement, so as to tackle a new group of route sections, which run next to one another, starting at this end point in the orientation of the treatment direction stored for the end point, until no end point comprising the state “
incompletely treated”
is present any longer. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification