Cleaning robot having expanded cleaning territory

• US 9,675,222 B2
• Filed: 03/28/2014
• Issued: 06/13/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yujin Robot Co., Ltd. (The Miele Group)
• Original Assignee: Yujin Robot Co., Ltd. (The Miele Group)
• Inventors: Park, Seong Ju, Chang, Min, Lee, No Soo, Shin, Kyung Chul, Lee, Jae Young, Moon, Byung Kwon
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, DUNG V
• Application Number:
  US14/780,952
• Publication Number:
  US 20160051104A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,173 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4072 Arrangement of castors or wheels
• 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 2201/04 Automatic control of the travelling movement; Automatic obstacle detection
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/009 Carrying-vehicles; Arrangements of trollies or wheels; Means for avoiding mechanical obstacles
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2821 Pressure, vacuum level or airflow
• 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: B62D 6/002 computing target steering angles for front or rear wheels B62D7/159 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 61/00 Motor vehicles or trailers, characterised by the arrangement or number of wheels, not otherwise provided for, e.g. four wheels in diamond pattern
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 901/01 Mobile robot

Abstract

Disclosed is a cleaning robot having an expanded cleaning territory. The cleaning robot of the present invention comprises: a platform in which at least one corner of the exterior thereof has an angle of less than 90°; a first driving wheel of which the central axis is attached to the bottom portion of the platform at a predetermined first angle (θ) and a predetermined second angle (−θ) with respect to the forward direction of the platform; and a second driving wheel of which the central axis is attached to the bottom portion of the platform at the predetermined second angle (−θ) with respect to the forward direction of the platform.

Claims

1. A cleaning robot comprising:

a platform of which at least one corner of an exterior has an angle of less than 90°

;

a first driving wheel of which a central shaft is attached to a bottom portion of the platform at a predetermined fixed first angle θ

with respect to a forward direction of the platform; and

a second driving wheel of which a central shaft is attached to the bottom portion of the platform at a predetermined fixed second angle −

θ

with respect to the forward direction of the platform,

wherein θ

is greater than zero, such that the first and second driving wheels provide toe in or toe out for the cleaning robot, and

wherein a driving direction of the cleaning robot is a straight vector that is a sum of vector directions of the respective first and second driving wheels.

2. The cleaning robot of claim 1, wherein the first and second driving wheels are offset from a horizontal central line of the platform perpendicular to the forward direction of the moving robot.

3. The cleaning robot of claim 1, wherein in the platform, the corner having an angle of less than 90°

is a curved line, and an angle formed by straight edges extending from opposing ends of the curved line is less than 90°

.

4. The cleaning robot of claim 1, wherein the exterior of the platform has two or more corners having the angle of less than 90°

and a main cleaning module is disposed at a portion having the largest horizontal length of the platform of the cleaning robot.

5. The cleaning robot of claim 1, wherein the platform has three corners having the angle of less than 90°

to form a triangular shape and the corners of the triangular shape are curved lines.

6. The cleaning robot of claim 1, further comprising:

a sub cleaning module disposed on at least one corner of the exterior.

7. The cleaning robot of claim 1, wherein 0≦

θ

≦

20°

.

8. The cleaning robot of claim 1, further comprising:

an upper cover disposed on an upper end of the platform and attached to the cleaning robot by moving to the bottom when force is applied from the outside;

a sensor detecting movement of the upper cover when the upper cover moves to the bottom; and

a determination unit determining whether preventing the cleaning robot from being stuck is required based on a sensing value detected in the sensor.

9. The cleaning robot of claim 8, wherein the determination unit generates a determination signal by comparing the sensing value with at least a predetermined reference value.

10. The cleaning robot of claim 9, further comprising:

a controller controlling the first and second driving wheels so as to avoid the cleaning robot from being stuck in response to the determination signal.

11. The cleaning robot of claim 8, further comprising:

a bumper at the front portion, wherein the upper cover is not physically coupled with the bumper.

12. The cleaning robot of claim 8, wherein the sensor is a sensor measuring pressure applied to the sensor by movement of the upper cover.

13. The cleaning robot of claim 8, wherein the upper cover returns to a state before the upper cover moves to the bottom when external force applied to the upper cover disappears.

14. The cleaning robot of claim 8, wherein the sensor is positioned at the front portion of the upper end of the cleaning robot.

15. The cleaning robot of claim 8, wherein the sensor is positioned at a place where a distance from the upper end of the cleaning robot is shortest when the upper cover moves to the bottom.

16. The cleaning robot of claim 1, wherein θ

is from 8°

to 15°

.