Automatic pool cleaning apparatus
First Claim
1. An apparatus for automatically cleaning an immersed surface, including:
- a housing, having an inlet for receiving liquid, and an outlet through which the liquid escapes after flowing through the housing;
a control box attached to the housing, said control box enclosing and sealing an interior region from the liquid, and including at least one sensor mounted in the interior region for generating operation status signals, and a processor mounted in the interior region for generating control signals in response to the operation status signals;
means for cleaning a portion of the immersed surface adjacent to the housing, including a means for pumping the liquid to cause said liquid to flow through the housing from the inlet and out of the housing through the outlet; and
traction means attached to the housing, said traction means including;
transmission means operable in response to the control signals for causing the traction means to operate in any of several operating modes in response to the control signals.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for automatically cleaning submerged surfaces, such as the bottom and side walls of a swimming pool. In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus includes onboard sensors, and an onboard processor (preferably, a microprocessor) which controls operation of the apparatus in response to status information supplied from the sensors. Preferably, the apparatus has an onboard watertight battery and an adjustable inlet nozzle size, and includes left and right track treads which are controllable to cause the apparatus to turn or rotate (clockwise or counterclockwise), or translate in a forward or reverse direction, on a horizontal or vertically inclined submerged surface. A transmission assembly is provided for each track tread, including a cam wheel and a cam follower connected thereto within a sealed control assembly, and a shift link extending through a seal in the control assembly. Each shift link has an end connected to one of the cam followers and another end connected to a gear assembly, for shifting the gear assembly into a forward or a reverse gear. The apparatus preferably includes Hall effect transducers (with associated permanent magnets) and a microprocessor mounted within a sealed control assembly. The microprocessor is programmed to execute a selected one of a number of cleaning programs (thereby entering a selected operating mode) in response to exposure of the Hall effect transducers to a magnetically permeable card punched with specially arranged holes, or a card with a magnetically permeable insert molded within it.
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Citations
48 Claims
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1. An apparatus for automatically cleaning an immersed surface, including:
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a housing, having an inlet for receiving liquid, and an outlet through which the liquid escapes after flowing through the housing; a control box attached to the housing, said control box enclosing and sealing an interior region from the liquid, and including at least one sensor mounted in the interior region for generating operation status signals, and a processor mounted in the interior region for generating control signals in response to the operation status signals; means for cleaning a portion of the immersed surface adjacent to the housing, including a means for pumping the liquid to cause said liquid to flow through the housing from the inlet and out of the housing through the outlet; and traction means attached to the housing, said traction means including; transmission means operable in response to the control signals for causing the traction means to operate in any of several operating modes in response to the control signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. An apparatus for automatically cleaning an immersed surface, including:
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a housing, having an inlet for receiving liquid, and an outlet through which the liquid escapes after flowing through the housing; means for cleaning a portion of the immersed surface adjacent to the housing, including a means for pumping the liquid to cause said liquid to flow through the housing from the inlet and out of the housing through the outlet; a control box attached to the housing, said control box enclosing and sealing an interior region from the liquid, and including a processor mounted in the interior region, wherein the processor is preprogrammed to execute at least two different programs, wherein during execution of each of the programs the processor asserts control signals; operation means for receiving the control signals from the processor, operating the apparatus in a first operating mode in response to the control signals asserted during a first one of the programs, and operating the apparatus in a second operating mode in response to the control signals asserted during a second one of the programs; and magnetic switch means mounted within the interior region and coupled with the processor, for asserting program selection signals to the processor in response to proximity of a program selection card at said magnetic switch means, wherein the processor executes at least one of the programs in response to said program selection signals. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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Specification