Robotic Vacuum Cleaning System
First Claim
1. A roller for rotatable engagement with an autonomous coverage robot, the roller comprising:
- a resilient flexible tube having inner and outer surfaces and defining a longitudinal axis;
a hub disposed within the tube along the longitudinal axis;
spokes extending between the inner surface of the tube and the hub, the spokes suspending the tube to float about the hub and transferring torque from the hub to the tube, a trace length of each spoke being longer than a radial distance between the hub and the inner surface of the tube, wherein the spokes are elastically deformable, collapsing from an undeformed shape toward the longitudinal axis to a deformed shaped and elastically rebounding back to the undeformed shape.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An autonomous coverage robot includes a cleaning assembly having forward roller and rearward rollers counter-rotating with respect to each other. The rollers are arranged to substantially maintain a cross sectional area between the two rollers yet permitting collapsing therebetween as large debris is passed. Each roller includes a resilient elastomer outer tube and a partially air-occupied inner resilient core configured to bias the outer tube to rebound. The core includes a hub and resilient spokes extending between the inner surface of the outer tube and the hub. The spokes suspend the outer tube to float about the hub and transfer torque from the hub to the outer tube while allowing the outer tube to momentarily deform or move offset from the hub during impact with debris larger than the cross sectional area between the two rollers.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A roller for rotatable engagement with an autonomous coverage robot, the roller comprising:
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a resilient flexible tube having inner and outer surfaces and defining a longitudinal axis; a hub disposed within the tube along the longitudinal axis; spokes extending between the inner surface of the tube and the hub, the spokes suspending the tube to float about the hub and transferring torque from the hub to the tube, a trace length of each spoke being longer than a radial distance between the hub and the inner surface of the tube, wherein the spokes are elastically deformable, collapsing from an undeformed shape toward the longitudinal axis to a deformed shaped and elastically rebounding back to the undeformed shape. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A cleaning assembly for a coverage robot, the cleaning assembly comprising:
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a cleaning head frame and a roller housing, the cleaning head frame defining a portion to which the roller housing is movably linked or immovably attached to the robot; at least one roller rotating in the roller housing to retrieve debris from a cleaning surface engaged by the at least one roller, the at least one roller comprising; a resilient flexible tube having inner and outer surfaces and defining a longitudinal axis; a hub disposed within the tube along the longitudinal axis; spokes extending between the inner surface of the tube and the hub, the spokes suspending the tube to float about the hub and transferring torque from the hub to the tube, a trace length of each spoke being longer than a radial distance between the hub and the inner surface of the tube, allowing the outer tube to momentarily deform or move offset from the hub during impact with debris. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification