AUTONOMOUS CLEANER

• US 20150245754A1
• Filed: 02/26/2015
• Published: 09/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Kim, Tae Soo, Jung, Hyun Soo, Kim, Shin, Jeong, Yeon Kyu, JANG, Hwi-Chan, Choi, Sang Hwa, Yoon, Sang Sik, Kim, Jin Hee
• Granted Patent: US 10,130,234 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/33 having means for storing dirt
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4013 Contaminants collecting devices, i.e. hoppers, tanks or the like
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4066 Propulsion of the whole machine
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2201/00 Robotic cleaning machines, i.e. with automatic control of the travelling movement or the cleaning operation

Abstract

An autonomous cleaner includes a body having a first housing formed at a front and a second housing formed at a rear of the first housing; a brush unit installed at the first housing and configured to sweep and collect dust from a floor; a dust collecting unit installed at the second housing and configured to store the dust inlet into the brush unit; a driving unit to drive the body and coupled to the second housing to be positioned at a lateral side of the dust collecting unit; and a power unit installed at the second housing and coupled to be positioned at a rear of the dust collecting unit. The miniaturization of the autonomous cleaner may be provided while at the same time the capacity of a dust collecting container and the capacity of a battery are increased.

Claims

1. An autonomous cleaner, comprising:

a body having a first housing formed at a front of the body and a second housing formed at a rear of the first housing;

a brush unit installed at the first housing and configured to sweep and collect dust from a floor;

a dust collecting unit installed at the second housing and configured to store the dust collected by the brush unit;

a driving unit, to drive the body, installed at the second housing at a lateral side of the dust collecting unit; and

a power unit installed at the second housing at a rear of the dust collecting unit.

2. The autonomous cleaner of claim 1, wherein:

a front part of the first housing is provided in the shape of a rectangle to inlet dust from front and side surfaces in a driving direction.

3. The autonomous cleaner of claim 1, further comprising:

a bumper installed at the front part of the first housing to surround at least a portion of the first housing.

4. The autonomous cleaner of claim 3, wherein:

a plurality of ribs protruding toward a front of the bumper to increase an inlet force is provided at the front of the bumper.

5. The autonomous cleaner of claim 1, wherein:

a guide flow path to guide the dust into the brush unit to increase an inlet force of the dust is formed at a lower surface of the first housing.

6. The autonomous cleaner of claim 1, wherein:

the height between a bottom surface of the first housing and a top surface of the first housing is less than the height between the bottom surface and a top surface of the second housing.

7. The autonomous cleaner of claim 1, wherein:

an obstacle detecting sensor to detect obstacles is mounted at the first housing.

8. The autonomous cleaner of claim 1, wherein:

a fall detecting sensor to detect the distance with respect to the floor during driving of the body is mounted at the first housing.

9. The autonomous cleaner of claim 1, wherein:

the dust collecting unit comprises an inlet motor to provide a driving force to collect the dust, and a dust collecting container to store the collected dust.

10. The autonomous cleaner of claim 9, wherein:

the inlet motor, the dust collecting container, and the driving unit are linearly disposed.

11. The autonomous cleaner of claim 9, wherein:

at least a portion of the dust collecting container is coupled to the second housing to be exposed as an exterior surface.

12. The autonomous cleaner of claim 1, wherein:

the driving unit comprises driving wheels coupled to both side surfaces to drive the body, and a roller provided at a rear of the body.

13. The autonomous cleaner of claim 12, wherein:

the driving wheels are provided to be positioned at both sides of the body, and the roller is coupled to a position to support the center of gravity of the body.

14. An autonomous cleaner, comprising:

a body having a housing forming at least a portion of an exterior appearance;

a brush unit installed at a lower surface of the housing to collect dust on a floor;

a dust collecting container to store the collected dust; and

a power unit to supply power to drive the body,

wherein the brush unit, the dust collecting container, and the power unit are provided to be disposed in a longitudinal direction of the body.

15. The autonomous cleaner of claim 14, wherein:

the dust collecting container is disposed at a rear of the brush unit, and the power unit is disposed at a rear of the dust collecting container.

16. The autonomous cleaner of claim 14, wherein:

the housing comprises a first housing disposed at a front of the body, and a second housing positioned at a rear of the first housing; and

the brush unit and the dust collecting container are disposed at the first housing while the power unit is disposed at the second housing.

17. The autonomous cleaner of claim 16, further comprising:

a bumper installed at a front of the first housing to surround at least a portion of the first housing.

18. The autonomous cleaner of claim 16, wherein:

a guide flow path to guide dust into the brush unit to increase an inlet force of the dust is formed at a lower surface of the first housing.

19. The autonomous cleaner of claim 16, further comprising:

a driving unit configured to drive the body and installed at the second housing; and

the power unit installed at the second housing to supply a power to drive the body.

20. The autonomous cleaner of claim 14, further comprising:

an inlet motor to provide a driving force to have the dust inlet into the dust collecting container and coupled to a side surface of the dust collecting container.

21. An autonomous cleaner comprising a body and a brush unit to sweep and collect dust on a floor, the autonomous cleaner comprising:

a dust collecting container to store the dust collected by the brush unit;

an inlet motor to provide a driving force to have dust inlet into the dust collecting container; and

at least one driving wheel coupled to a side surface of the body to drive the body,

wherein the dust collecting container, the inlet motor, and the driving wheel are disposed in a lateral direction of the body.

22. The autonomous cleaner of claim 21, wherein:

the driving wheel comprises a first driving wheel and a second driving wheel, and the first driving wheel is disposed at a side surface of the inlet motor and the second driving wheel is disposed at a side surface of the dust collecting container.

23. The autonomous cleaner of claim 21, wherein:

the body is structured by a first housing positioned at a front of the body and a second housing positioned at a rear of the first housing.

24. The autonomous cleaner of claim 23, wherein:

the dust collecting container, the driving wheel, and the inlet motor are positioned at the second housing.

25. The autonomous cleaner of claim 23, wherein:

the brush unit is disposed at the first housing, and the power unit to provide a power to drive the body is disposed at the second housing.

26. An autonomous cleaner, comprising:

a body having a housing forming at least a portion of an exterior surface;

a brush unit installed at a lower surface of the housing to collect dust on a floor;

a dust collecting unit disposed at a rear of the brush unit to store the dust collected by the brush unit;

a driving unit configured to drive the body and disposed at a side of the dust collecting unit; and

a power unit to provide power to drive the body and coupled to a rear of the dust collecting unit,

wherein the brush unit, the dust collecting unit, and the power unit are disposed in a first direction, and the dust collecting unit and the driving unit are disposed in a second direction different from the first direction.

27. The autonomous cleaner of claim 26, wherein:

the housing comprises a first housing disposed at a front of the body, and a second housing positioned at a rear of the first housing, and

the brush unit and the dust collecting unit are disposed at the first housing while the driving unit and the power unit are disposed at the second housing.

28. An apparatus comprising:

a first housing comprising a rotatable brush to collect dust; and

a second housing comprising a motor, a removable dust container, and a pair of driving wheels,

wherein the motor, the removable dust container, and the pair of driving wheels are provided in a linear arrangement in the second housing.