Robot cleaner

• US 10,500,894 B2
• Filed: 11/29/2016
• Issued: 12/10/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Park, Chan-young, Han, Seung-il, Seo, Jun-won, Lee, Kyu-ha, Kim, Young-mi, Park, Hyun-uk, Lee, Jea-won, Jeong, Young-kyun
• Primary Examiner(s): Redding, David
• Application Number:
  US15/363,292
• Publication Number:
  US 20170181592A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,106 Days
• 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 9/009 Carrying-vehicles; Arrangements of trollies or wheels; Means for avoiding mechanical obstacles
• CPC Class Codes: B60B 19/00 Wheels not otherwise provided for or having characteristics specified in one of the subgroups of this group
• CPC Class Codes: B60B 3/001 Lightweight wheels, e.g. for strollers or toys
• CPC Class Codes: B60B 3/02 with a single disc body integral with rim
• CPC Class Codes: B60B 3/10 apertured to simulate spoked wheels

Abstract

A wheel for a robot cleaner includes an outer ring in contact with a surface to be cleaned, an inner ring which is disposed inside the outer ring and receives a driving force, a plurality of spokes which connect the outer ring and the inner ring, and form a plurality of independent spaces through which air passes, and a plurality of ribs disposed in the plurality of independent spaces, each of the plurality of ribs having a shorter length than a length of each of the plurality of spokes.

Claims

1. A robot cleaner, comprising:

a wheel, comprising;

an outer ring contactable with a surface to be cleaned by the robot cleaner,

an inner ring disposed inside the outer ring and configured to receive a driving force,

a plurality of spokes connecting the outer ring with the inner ring,

a plurality of through holes through which air passes, provided between the plurality of spokes, respectively, and

a plurality of ribs disposed in a portion of the plurality of through holes, respectively, the plurality of ribs having a length that is less than a length of the plurality of spokes,

wherein when the outer ring is moved toward the inner ring, the plurality of ribs are configured to limit movement of the outer ring.

2. The robot cleaner of claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of supporting pieces disposed in another portion of the plurality of through holes, respectively, and configured to support the plurality of ribs with respect to adjacent spokes among the plurality of spokes.

3. The robot cleaner of claim 2, wherein a thickness of the supporting piece is less than a thickness of a respective rib among the plurality of ribs, and a length of the supporting piece is less than a length of the respective rib among the plurality of ribs.

4. The robot cleaner of claim 1, wherein the plurality of ribs are connected at one end to the inner ring.

5. The robot cleaner of claim 1, wherein a width of each of the plurality of ribs is less than a width of each of the plurality of spokes.

6. The robot cleaner of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of spokes has a curved surface bent in a circumferential direction of the inner ring.

7. The robot cleaner of claim 6, wherein each of the plurality of ribs has a curved surface bent in a same direction as the plurality of spokes.

8. The robot cleaner of claim 7, wherein

the wheel comprises a first wheel and a second wheel that are disposed parallel to each other, and

a plurality of spokes of the first wheel are bent in a same direction as a plurality of spokes of the second wheel.

9. The robot cleaner of claim 8, wherein the first wheel and the second wheel are disposed so that when each of the plurality of spokes of the first wheel and the second wheel is adjacent to the surface to be cleaned, a recessed portion of the each of the plurality of spokes of the first wheel and the second wheel is directed toward a front surface of the robot cleaner.

10. The robot cleaner of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of ribs is spaced apart from two adjacent spokes among the plurality of spokes.

11. The robot cleaner of claim 10, wherein each of the plurality of ribs is centrally disposed between the two adjacent spokes among the plurality of spokes.

12. The robot cleaner of claim 1, wherein at least one of a width of one end of at least one spoke among the plurality of spokes connected to the inner ring and a width of an opposite end of the at least one spoke connected to an inner surface of the outer ring is greater than a width of a middle portion of the at least one spoke.

13. The robot cleaner of claim 1, wherein the inner ring is fixed to a hub having a rigid body.

14. The robot cleaner of claim 1, wherein an outer surface of the outer ring is includes a plurality of protrusions.

15. A robot cleaner, comprising:

a wheel, comprising;

an outer ring contactable with a surface to be cleaned by the robot cleaner,

an inner ring disposed inside the outer ring and configured to receive a driving force,

a plurality of spokes connecting the outer ring with the inner ring,

a plurality of through holes through which air passes, provided between the plurality of spokes, respectively, and

a plurality of ribs disposed in a portion of the plurality of through holes, respectively, and configured to limit movement of the outer ring when the outer ring is moved toward the inner ring.

16. The robot cleaner of claim 15, wherein

the plurality of ribs are connected at one end to the inner ring, and

a length of each of the plurality of ribs is less than a length of each of the plurality of spokes.

17. The robot cleaner of claim 16, wherein each of the plurality of spokes and each of the plurality of ribs have a curved surface bent in a circumferential direction of the inner ring.

18. The robot cleaner of claim 17, further comprising:

a plurality of supporting pieces disposed in another portion of the plurality of through holes, respectively, and configured to support the plurality of ribs with respect to adjacent spokes among the plurality of spokes.

19. A robot cleaner, comprising:

a main body;

a cleaning device disposed in the main body and configured to suck material from a surface to be cleaned;

at least one drive device disposed in the main body and configured to allow movement of the robot cleaner; and

at least one wheel rotated by the at least one drive device, the at least one wheel comprising;

an outer ring,

an inner ring disposed concentrically inside the outer ring and configured to receive a driving force from the at least one drive unit,

a plurality of spokes connecting the outer ring with the inner ring,

a plurality of through holes through which air passes, provided between adjacent spokes among the plurality of spokes, respectively, and

a plurality of ribs protruding from one of the inner ring and the outer ring into the plurality of through holes, respectively, and toward the other one of the inner ring and the outer ring, the plurality of ribs being spaced apart from the other one of the inner ring and the outer ring such that the plurality of through holes are substantially u-shaped,

wherein when the outer ring is moved toward the inner ring, the plurality of ribs are configured to limit movement of the outer ring.