Autonomous floor-cleaning robot
DC CAFCFirst Claim
Patent Images
1. A floor-cleaning robot comprising:
- a wheeled housing defining a housing perimeter;
a motor drive operably connected to wheels of the housing to propel the robot across a floor surface;
an obstacle detector responsive to obstacles encountered by the robot;
a control circuit in electrical communication with both the obstacle detector and the motor drive and configured to control the motor drive to maneuver the robot to avoid detected obstacles across the floor surface during a floor-cleaning operation;
a powered primary brush assembly configured to rotate about an axis generally parallel to the floor surface disposed across a central region of an underside of the housing and positioned to brush the floor surface as the robot is propelled across the floor surface; and
a powered side brush extending beyond the housing perimeter and positioned to brush floor surface debris from beyond the housing perimeter toward a projected path of the primary brush assembly.
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Abstract
An autonomous floor-cleaning robot comprises a self-adjusting cleaning head subsystem that includes a dual-stage brush assembly having counter-rotating, asymmetric brushes and an adjacent, but independent, vacuum assembly such that the cleaning capability and efficiency of the self-adjustable cleaning head subsystem is optimized while concomitantly minimizing the power requirements thereof. The autonomous floor-cleaning robot further includes a side brush assembly for directing particulates outside the envelope of the robot into the self-adjusting cleaning head subsystem.
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Citations
62 Claims
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1. A floor-cleaning robot comprising:
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a wheeled housing defining a housing perimeter; a motor drive operably connected to wheels of the housing to propel the robot across a floor surface; an obstacle detector responsive to obstacles encountered by the robot; a control circuit in electrical communication with both the obstacle detector and the motor drive and configured to control the motor drive to maneuver the robot to avoid detected obstacles across the floor surface during a floor-cleaning operation; a powered primary brush assembly configured to rotate about an axis generally parallel to the floor surface disposed across a central region of an underside of the housing and positioned to brush the floor surface as the robot is propelled across the floor surface; and a powered side brush extending beyond the housing perimeter and positioned to brush floor surface debris from beyond the housing perimeter toward a projected path of the primary brush assembly. - 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)
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24. A self-propelled floor-cleaning robot comprising
a housing defining a round housing perimeter; -
a powered primary brush assembly disposed within the round housing perimeter and positioned to engage a floor surface; a powered side brush extending beyond the round housing perimeter and positioned to brush floor surface debris from beyond the round housing perimeter; an obstacle detector responsive to obstacles encountered by the robot; and a control circuit in electrical communication with the motor drive and configured to control the motor drive to maneuver the robot about detected obstacles across the floor surface during a floor-cleaning operation. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A floor-cleaning robot comprising
a wheeled housing defining a housing perimeter; -
a motor drive operably connected to wheels of the housing to propel the robot across a floor surface; an obstacle detector responsive to obstacles encountered by the robot; a cliff detector disposed adjacent a forward edge of the housing and responsive to floor surface falling edges; a controller in electrical communication with the obstacle detector, the cliff sensor, and the motor drive, and configured to control the motor drive to redirect motion of the robot in response to detected obstacles and in response to detected floor surface falling edges encountered during a floor-cleaning operation; a cleaning head, having mounted therein; a powered primary brush assembly disposed across a central region of an underside of the housing and positioned to brush the floor surface as the robot is propelled across the floor surface, and a vacuum with a vacuum inlet disposed in the underside of the housing rearward of the primary brush assembly; and a powered side brush extending beyond the housing perimeter and positioned to brush floor surface debris from beyond the housing perimeter toward a projected path of the cleaning head. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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55. A self-propelled floor-cleaning robot comprising:
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wheels operably connected to a motor drive to propel the robot across the floor surface; a controller in electrical communication with the motor drive and configured to control the motor drive to autonomously maneuver the robot about detected obstacles encountered on the floor surface during a floor-cleaning operation; a housing defining a round housing perimeter shaped to allow the robot to freely turn when proximate to the obstacles encountered on the floor surface during a floor-cleaning operation; a cleaning head disposed within the round housing perimeter and positioned to engage a floor surface; and a powered rotating side brush extending beyond the round housing perimeter and positioned to brush floor surface debris from beyond the round housing perimeter toward a projected path of the cleaning head, the powered rotating side brush rotating in a direction that brushes debris toward the robot ahead of a rotating axis of the brush along the projected path of the cleaning head, the controller being configured to move the robot in a wall-following mode to maneuver the robot along a wall in a direction that places the powered rotating side brush against the wall. - View Dependent Claims (56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
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Specification