Cleaner

• US 5,613,261 A
• Filed: 04/12/1995
• Issued: 03/25/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Moneual Incorporated (Hong-Seok Park, MBA)
• Original Assignee: Minolta Co., Ltd. (Konica Minolta Inc.)
• Inventors: Kawakami, Yuichi, Hamaguchi, Takayuki, Kawagoe, Nobukazu, Nakanishi, Hideaki, Waki, Natsuko
• Primary Examiner(s): Scherbel, David
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chin, Randall E.
• Application Number:
  US08/420,652
• Time in Patent Office: 713 Days
• Field of Search: 15/319, 15/49.1, 15/50.1, 15/50.2, 15/50.3, 15/52.1, 15/52.2, 15/98, 15/339, 15/320
• US Class Current: 15/98
• 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 9/2815 using optical detectors
• 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: G05D 1/0223 involving speed control of the vehicle vehicle fittings for automatically controlling, i.e. preventing speed from exceeding an arbitrarily established velocity or maintaining speed at a particular velocity, as selected by the vehicle operator B60K31/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0242 using non-visible light signals, e.g. IR or UV signals
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0272 comprising means for registering the travel distance, e.g. revolutions of wheels measuring distance traversed on the ground by vehicles, e.g. using odometers G01C22/00

Abstract

A cleaner comprises a driving unit which moves the cleaner, a cleaner unit which cleans an object to be cleaned, a sensor by which a degree of dirt on the object is detected, and a driving controller which controls the driving unit on the basis of the detected degree of dirt. The cleaner unit further comprises a controller which compares the degrees of dirt detected by the sensor before and after a cleaning operation.

Claims

1. A cleaner comprising:

a driving unit;

a cleaner unit which cleans an object to be cleaned;

a sensor which detects the reflectivity of the object to be cleaned; and

a driving controller which controls the driving unit on the basis of the detected reflectivity.

2. A cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the driving controller controls the driving unit so that the cleaner moves at high speed when the sensor detects that the reflectivity is higher than a predetermined value.

3. A cleaner as claimed in claim 2, further comprising a cleaning controller which controls the cleaner unit on the basis of the reflectivity detected by the sensor.

4. A cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises a light emitter emitting light toward the object and a light receiver receiving light reflected on the object so as to measure the reflectivity of the object.

5. A cleaner as claimed in claim 4, wherein the cleaner further comprises a memory memorizing a standard reflectivity of the object, and the sensor calculates the degree of dirt by means of comparing the measured reflectivity with the standard reflectivity.

6. A cleaner as claimed in claim 5, wherein the memory comprises a plurality of standard reflectivity each of which corresponds to a position of the object.

7. A cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the object is a floor and the cleaner runs on the floor.

8. A cleaner comprising:

a driving unit;

a cleaner unit which cleans an object to be cleaned, said cleaner unit comprising a material rotated in order to scrub the object;

a sensor which detects the reflectivity of the object to be cleaned;

a driving controller which controls the driving unit on the basis of the reflectivity so that the cleaner moves at a higher speed when the sensor detects that the reflectivity is higher than a predetermined value; and

a cleaning controller which controls the cleaner unit on the basis of the reflectivity detected by the sensor.

9. A cleaner as claimed in claim 8, wherein cleaning fluid drips from the material.

10. A cleaner as claimed in claim 9, wherein the cleaning controller reduces the amount of the cleaning fluid dripped from the material when the sensor detects that the reflectivity is higher than the predetermined value.

11. A cleaner as claimed in claim 8, wherein the cleaning controller reduces the rotating speed of the material when the sensor detects that the reflectivity is higher than the predetermined value.

12. A cleaner comprising:

a cleaner unit which cleans an object to be cleaned;

a sensor which detects the reflectivity of the object to be cleaned; and

a controller which judges cleaning effect of the cleaner unit by means of comparing the reflectivity before and after a cleaning operation.

13. A cleaner as claimed in claim 12, wherein the cleaner unit repeats the cleaning operation until the reflectivity detected by the sensor is higher than a predetermined value if the controller judges the cleaning effect is high.

14. A cleaner as claimed in claim 12, wherein the cleaner unit stops the cleaning operation on an area where the controller judges the cleaning effect is low.

15. A cleaner as claimed in claim 12, wherein the sensor comprises a light emitter emitting light toward the object and a light receiver receiving light reflected on the object so as to measure the reflectivity of the object.

16. A cleaner comprising:

a driving unit;

a cleaner unit which cleans an object to be cleaned; and

a sensor by which a degree of dirt on the object is detected by means of measuring reflectivity of the object, said sensor being located before the cleaner unit relative to the direction of advance of the driving unit.

17. A cleaner as claimed in claim 16, wherein the sensor comprises a light emitter emitting light toward the object and a light receiver receiving light reflected on the object so as to measure the reflectivity of the object.

18. A moving cleaner which cleans an object while moving comprising:

a sensor by which a reflectivity of the object is detected;

a memory in which a plurality of standard reflectivity, each of which corresponds to a position of the object, are memorized;

a comparator which compares the detected reflectivity with the standard reflectivity corresponding to the position of the object; and

a controller which controls a cleaning operation on the basis of an output of the comparator.

19. A moving cleaner as claimed in claim 18, wherein the controller controls the cleaning operation on the basis of the detected reflectivity and the standard reflectivity corresponding to a position where the sensor detects the reflectivity.

20. A moving cleaner as claimed in claim 19, wherein the memory memorizes the detected reflectivity as a new standard reflectivity when a cleaning effect at a position is low.

21. A moving cleaner as claimed in claim 18, further comprising:

a driving unit which moves the cleaner;

and wherein the controller controls the driving unit so as to control the cleaning operation.

22. A moving cleaner as claimed in claim 18, further comprising:

a cleaner unit which cleans the object to be cleaned;

and wherein the controller controls the cleaner unit so as to control the cleaning operation.

23. A cleaner comprising:

a driving unit which moves the cleaner;

a sensor which is located behind the driving unit relative to the direction of advance of the driving unit, said sensor detecting the reflectivity of the object to be cleaned; and

a cleaner unit which is located behind the sensor relative to the direction of advance of the driving unit, said cleaner cleaning an object to be cleaned.

24. A cleaner as claimed in claim 23, further comprising:

a controller which controls a cleaning operation on the basis of detected reflectivity.

25. A cleaner as claimed in claim 24, wherein the controller controls the driving unit so as to control the cleaning operation.

26. A cleaner as claimed in claim 24, wherein the controller controls the cleaner unit so as to control the cleaning operation.