Autonomous vehicular appliance, especially vacuum cleaner
First Claim
1. An autonomous vehicular appliance, comprising at least two types of threshold locators having differing transmitting signals and being capable of defining at least part of a boundary of an area within which the autonomous vehicular appliance is to be confined at least temporarily, a navigation system for navigating the appliance around the area and a detection system to allow the appliance to detect the presence of the threshold locators,the detection system comprising means for receiving a signal from at least one each of the two types of threshold locators, and wherein the appliance is configured to use a received signal to detect parts of the boundary defined by the threshold locators, and upon detecting a first type of threshold locator, to prevent itself from crossing the part of the boundary marked by the first type of threshold locator and, upon detecting a second type of threshold locator, to prevent itself from crossing the part of the boundary marked by the second type of threshold locator until a certain condition has been met.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Portable threshold locators (32B, 32C, 32D) are placed in a room (120) at locations to define at least part of a boundary within which an autonomous vehicular appliance is to be confined. Typically, the threshold locator is placed in a doorway (32B) or at the top of a staircase (32D). The vehicle has a detection system which allows the autonomous vehicular appliance to detect the presence of the portable threshold locator. The detection system receives a signal from the threshold locator and the autonomous vehicular appliance uses the received signal to avoid the threshold marked by the locator (32B, 32C, 32D). The autonomous vehicular appliance is preferably a robotic floor cleaning appliance, such as a robotic vacuum cleaner.
263 Citations
26 Claims
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1. An autonomous vehicular appliance, comprising at least two types of threshold locators having differing transmitting signals and being capable of defining at least part of a boundary of an area within which the autonomous vehicular appliance is to be confined at least temporarily, a navigation system for navigating the appliance around the area and a detection system to allow the appliance to detect the presence of the threshold locators,
the detection system comprising means for receiving a signal from at least one each of the two types of threshold locators, and wherein the appliance is configured to use a received signal to detect parts of the boundary defined by the threshold locators, and upon detecting a first type of threshold locator, to prevent itself from crossing the part of the boundary marked by the first type of threshold locator and, upon detecting a second type of threshold locator, to prevent itself from crossing the part of the boundary marked by the second type of threshold locator until a certain condition has been met.
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15. An autonomous vehicular appliance, comprising a navigation system for navigating the appliance around an area and a detection system to allow the appliance to detect the presence of at least two types of portable threshold locators having different transmitting signals and capable of defining at least part of a boundary of an area within which the autonomous vehicular appliance is to be confined at least temporarily,
the detection system comprising means for receiving signals from at least two types of threshold locator and wherein the appliance is configured to use the received signals to detect the parts of the boundary defined by the threshold locators, and upon detecting a first type of threshold locator, to prevent itself from crossing the part of the boundary marked by the first type of threshold locator and, upon detecting a second type of threshold locator, to prevent itself from crossing the part of the boundary marked by the second type of threshold locator until a certain condition has been met.
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25. A method of cleaning an area using an autonomous vehicular appliance, the method comprising placing at least one each of at least two types of portable threshold locator at locations to define at least part of a boundary of an area within which the autonomous vehicular appliance is to be confined at least temporarily and operating the appliance to clean the area,
wherein the appliance in operation uses a navigation system to navigate around the area and a detection system to allow the appliance to detect the presence of the portable threshold locators, the detection system receiving signals from the threshold locators and the appliance using the received locators to detect the parts of the boundary defined by the threshold locators, and upon detecting a first type of threshold locator, prevents itself from crossing the part of the boundary worked by the first type of threshold locator and, upon detecting a second type of threshold locator, prevents itself from crossing the part of the boundary marked by the second type of threshold location until a certain condition has been met.
Specification