Automatic cleaning device

• US 7,610,651 B2
• Filed: 11/23/2005
• Issued: 11/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Baek, Oh-hyun
• Primary Examiner(s): Thomas; David B
• Application Number:
  US11/285,303
• Publication Number:
  US 20060236491A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,441 Days
• Field of Search: 153/45, 153/46, 153/001, 153/19, 153/403, 15/42, 153/55, 153/59, 153/72, 153/85, 154/18
• US Class Current: 15/345
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2201/00 Robotic cleaning machines, i.e. with automatic control of the travelling movement or the cleaning operation
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 5/14 cleaning by blowing-off, also combined with suction cleaning
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 5/30 with driven dust-loosening tools, e.g. rotating brushes
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/0433 Toothed gearings
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/0444 for conveying motion by endless flexible members, e.g. belts
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/0455 Bearing means therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/0466 Rotating tools
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/0488 Combinations or arrangements of several tools, e.g. edge cleaning tools

Abstract

Disclosed herein is an automatic cleaning device. The automatic cleaning device comprises an air injector, and at least one side brush. If air is suctioned into a body in accordance with operation of a suction motor, the air injector operates to inject the air to the outside of the body, to sweep out dust on the wall and corner of a room. The side brush serves to push the dust to a suction head.

Claims

1. An automatic cleaning device comprising:

a body;

a suction head located at a location of the body and having at least one main brush and a brush motor to rotate the main brush;

a suction motor located on the inside of the suction head to suction air;

an exhaust located behind the suction motor to discharge the air to the outside of the body after dust, suctioned along with the air, is filtered by a filter cartridge;

an air injector to inject part of the air, moving to the exhaust, to the outside of the body; and

an auxiliary cleaner to direct dust to the suction head, wherein the auxiliary cleaner includes;

at least one side brush having a rotating shaft mounted in a location of the body and a plurality of rotating blades attached to the rotating shaft; and

a brush rotator to rotate the side brush in accordance with driving of the brush motor,

wherein the side brush has a vertically movable lifting mechanism, and

wherein the lifting mechanism includes;

a rotating disk fitted around the rotating shaft to simultaneously rotate with the rotating shaft, the rotating disk having a plurality of slits; and

a plurality of lifters extending upward from upper ends of the rotating blades, respectively, to be inserted through the slits in a vertically slidable manner, a stopper being formed at an upper end of each of the lifters.

2. The device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the air injector includes:

at least one air injection pipe connected to a side of the exhaust; and

an air injection port formed at a distal end of the air injection pipe to inject air.

3. The device as set forth in claim 2, wherein the air injector further includes a flow-rate control valve inserted in the air injection pipe.

4. The device as set forth in claim 3, wherein the flow-rate control valve is used to adjust the discharge amount of air based on signals transmitted from a controller.

5. The device as set forth in claim 4, wherein the controller operates to control the flow-rate control valve based on the signals transmitted from a plurality of sensors, which are attached to a location of the body to sense the presence of the walls of a room.

6. The device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the at least one side brush comprises a side brush arranged at one side of the body or a pair of side brushes symmetrically arranged at opposite sides of the body.

7. The device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the lifting mechanism further includes an elastic spring interposed between the rotating disk and the rotating blades.

8. The device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the brush rotator includes a pair of bevel gears, one of the bevel gears being a driving gear fixed to a rotating shaft of the main brush, and the other one being a driven gear rotatably coupled to the rotating shaft of the side brush.