Debris evacuation for cleaning robots

• US 10,405,718 B2
• Filed: 08/25/2017
• Issued: 09/10/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: iRobot Corporation
• Original Assignee: iRobot Corporation
• Inventors: Morin, Russell Walter, Boeschenstein, Harold, Bursal, Faruk, Grace, Chris
• Primary Examiner(s): Muller, Bryan R
• Application Number:
  US15/687,119
• Publication Number:
  US 20180008111A1
• Time in Patent Office: 746 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2201/02 Docking stations; Docking operations
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2201/024 Emptying dust or waste liquid containers
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 7/0004 Suction cleaners adapted to take up liquids, e.g. wet or dry vacuum cleaners floor-scrubbing machines taking-up dirty liquid by suction A47L11/30
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/0477 Rolls
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/106 Dust removal
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2805 Parameters or conditions being sensed
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/281 the amount or condition of incoming dirt or dust
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2857 User input or output elements for control, e.g. buttons, switches or displays

Abstract

A robot floor cleaning system features a mobile floor cleaning robot and an evacuation station. The robot includes: a chassis with at least one drive wheel operable to propel the robot across a floor surface; a cleaning bin disposed within the robot and arranged to receive debris ingested by the robot during cleaning; and a robot vacuum configured to pull debris into the cleaning bin from an opening on an underside of the robot. The evacuation station is configured to evacuate debris from the cleaning bin of the robot, and includes: a housing defining a platform arranged to receive the cleaning robot in a position in which the opening on the underside of the robot aligns with a suction opening defined in the platform; and an evacuation vacuum in fluid communication with the suction opening and operable to draw air into the evacuation station housing through the suction opening.

Claims

1. A robotic floor cleaning system, comprising:

an evacuation station configured to evacuate debris from a cleaning bin of a mobile floor cleaning robot, the evacuation station comprising

a debris canister,

a platform defining a suction opening, the platform arranged to receive the cleaning robot in a position in which an opening of the cleaning robot is aligned with the suction opening,

an evacuation vacuum configured to draw debris from the cleaning bin, through the suction opening, and into the debris canister,

a debris sensor configured to detect an amount of debris present in the debris canister, and

a wireless communications system configured to communicate, to a mobile computing device, information indicative of a number of evacuation operations initiated to evacuate debris from the cleaning bin of the cleaning robot to cause the mobile computing device to present an indication of the number of evacuation operations initiated to evacuate debris from the cleaning bin of the cleaning robot.

2. The robotic floor cleaning system of claim 1, further comprising:

the cleaning robot, wherein the cleaning robot comprises

the cleaning bin, wherein the cleaning bin is arranged to receive debris ingested by the cleaning robot during cleaning, and

a robot vacuum configured to generate an airflow to ingest debris from a floor surface into the cleaning bin,

wherein the evacuation vacuum is configured to generate a reverse airflow to pass through the cleaning bin, through the suction opening, and into the debris canister of the evacuation station, the reverse airflow carrying debris from the cleaning bin.

3. The robotic floor cleaning system of claim 2, wherein the robot vacuum is configured to generate the airflow to ingest debris from the floor surface through the opening of the cleaning robot.

4. The robotic floor cleaning system of claim 1, wherein the evacuation station further comprises a robot-compatibility sensor responsive to a metallic plate located proximate a base of the cleaning bin.

5. The robotic floor cleaning system of claim 4, wherein the robot-compatibility sensor comprises an inductive sensing component.

6. The robotic floor cleaning system of claim 1, further comprising a controller configured to determine a fullness state of the debris canister as a percentage of a volume of the debris canister that is filled with debris based on the detected amount of debris present in the debris canister, wherein the wireless communications system is further configured to cause the mobile computing device to present an indication indicative of the percentage.

7. The robotic floor cleaning system of claim 1, wherein the debris sensor comprises at least one of:

an ultrasonic sensor to detect the amount of debris in the debris canister,

an optical sensor to detect the amount of debris in the debris canister,

an air flow impedance sensor to detect a change in pressure of the air drawn by the evacuation vacuum,

a mechanical switch responsive to the debris canister receiving a predefined volume of debris, or

a motor current sensor configured to detect a change in motor current of the evacuation vacuum.

8. The robotic floor cleaning system of claim 1, further comprising:

a motor current sensor configured to detect a change in motor current of the evacuation vacuum, and

a controller configured to determine an operational state of an evacuation station filter based on the detected change in motor current,

wherein the wireless communications system is further configured to cause the mobile computing device to present a status indicative of the operational state of the evacuation station filter.

9. The robotic floor cleaning system of claim 1, further comprising a controller configured to calculate a number of potential evacuation operations that can be initiated until the debris canister is full, wherein the wireless communications system is further configured to cause the mobile computing device to present a status indicative of the number of potential evacuation operations.

10. The robotic floor cleaning system of claim 1, wherein the wireless communications system is further configured to cause the mobile computing device to present an alert indicating required maintenance of the evacuation station.

11. The robotic floor cleaning system of claim 1, wherein the wireless communications system is further configured to cause the mobile computing device to present an alert indicating a completed evacuation status of the cleaning robot.

12. The robotic floor cleaning system of claim 1, wherein:

the debris canister comprises a disposable debris collection bag, and

the wireless communications system is further configured to cause the mobile computing device to present one or more user selectable options for ordering a new debris collection bag.

13. The robotic floor cleaning system of claim 1, wherein:

the opening of the cleaning robot is on an underside of the cleaning robot,

the debris canister is disposed above the evacuation vacuum, and

the debris sensor is arranged outside of the debris canister.

14. A method of operating an evacuation station for a mobile floor cleaning robot, the method comprising:

initiating an evacuation operation to generate an airflow to draw debris from a cleaning bin of the cleaning robot into a debris canister of the evacuation station when the cleaning robot is docked with the evacuation station;

detecting an amount of debris present in the debris canister of the evacuation station; and

wirelessly transmitting, from a wireless communications system of the cleaning robot to a mobile computing device, information indicative of a number of evacuation operations initiated to evacuate debris from the cleaning bin of the cleaning robot to cause the mobile computing device to present an indication of the number of evacuation operations initiated to evacuate debris from the cleaning bin of the cleaning robot.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

detecting a change in motor current of an evacuation vacuum of the evacuation station;

determining an operational state of an evacuation station filter based on the detected change in motor current; and

wirelessly transmitting, to the mobile computing device, information indicative of the operational state of the evacuation station filter to cause the mobile computing device to present an indication of the operation state of the evacuation station filter.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

calculating a number of potential evacuation operations that can be initiated until the debris canister is full, and

wirelessly transmitting, to the mobile computing device, information indicative of the number of potential evacuation operations to cause the mobile computing device to present an indication of the number of potential evacuation operations.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising causing the mobile computing device to present an alert indicating required maintenance of the evacuation station.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising causing the mobile computing device to present an alert indicating a completed evacuation status of the cleaning robot.

19. The method of claim 14, further comprising causing the mobile computing device to present one or more user selectable options for ordering a new debris collection bag for the debris canister.