System with at least two cleaning devices

• US 10,806,318 B2
• Filed: 06/15/2018
• Issued: 10/20/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vorwerk & Company Interholding Gesellschaft Mit Beschrã¤Nkter Haftung (Vorwerk & Company KG)
• Original Assignee: Vorwerk & Company Interholding Gesellschaft Mit Beschrã¤Nkter Haftung (Vorwerk & Company KG)
• Inventors: Erkek, David, Hackert, Georg, Isenberg, Gerhard, Ortmann, Roman, Schmidt, Andreas
• Primary Examiner(s): Refai, Ramsey
• Application Number:
  US16/009,421
• Publication Number:
  US 20180360282A1
• Time in Patent Office: 858 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2201/024 Emptying dust or waste liquid containers
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2201/04 Automatic control of the travelling movement; Automatic obstacle detection
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2201/06 Control of the cleaning action for autonomous devices; Automatic detection of the surface condition before, during or after cleaning
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/19 Means for monitoring filtering operation
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/28 Installation of the electric equipment, e.g. adaptation or attachment to the suction cleaner; Controlling suction cleaners by electric means
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2847 Surface treating elements
• 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: A47L 9/2857 User input or output elements for control, e.g. buttons, switches or displays
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2894 Details related to signal transmission in suction cleaners
• CPC Class Codes: B08B 5/04 Cleaning by suction, with or without auxiliary action B08B9/035 takes precedence; suction cleaners A47L

Abstract

A system has at least two cleaning devices, wherein at least one of the cleaning devices can be displaced relative to another cleaning device. In order to perform a service on one of the cleaning devices in an especially advantageous manner, the cleaning devices each have a communications link to a shared controller, wherein the controller is set up to transmit a service request to the second cleaning device and/or to a user of the second cleaning device, depending on the service required by a device component of a first cleaning device, and depending on the service availability status of a second cleaning device.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

at least two cleaning devices, wherein at least one of the cleaning devices can be displaced relative to another cleaning device, and

a shared controller to which the cleaning devices each have a communications link, wherein the controller is a central controller of the system formed outside of the cleaning devices, to which the cleaning devices are registered and which is available even when the cleaning devices are turned off, wherein the controller is configured to transmit a service request to a second one of the cleaning devices and/or to a user of the second cleaning device, depending on a service required by a device component of a first one of the cleaning devices, and depending on a service availability status of the second cleaning device.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to transmit a control command for performing the service to the second cleaning device.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the controller is a controller of a home automation system.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the first cleaning device is a vacuum cleaner and the device component requiring service is a suction material collector of the vacuum cleaner, and/or wherein the second cleaning device is a vacuum cleaner manually guideable by a user.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to generate a control command for moving the second cleaning device to a device location of the first cleaning device and transmit the device location to the second cleaning device, and/or to generate a control command for moving the first cleaning device to a device location of the second cleaning device and transmit the device location to the first cleaning device.

6. A method for operating a system with at least two cleaning devices that are displaceable relative to each other, comprising the following steps:

registering the cleaning devices to a shared central controller of the system formed outside of the cleaning devices,

communicating with the cleaning devices with a shared controller via a communications link,

transmitting with the controller a request for performing a service to a second one of the cleaning devices and/or to a user of the second cleaning device, depending on a required surface for a device component of a first one of the cleaning devices and depending on a service availability status of the second cleaning device, wherein the controller is available for communication even when the cleaning devices are turned off.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the request for performing a service is transmitted acoustically, optically and/or haptically to the user by a display of the first or second cleaning device.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the controller controls the second cleaning device for performing a service on the device component of the first cleaning device.

9. The method according to claim 6, further comprising the steps of:

generating with the controller a control command for moving the second cleaning device to a device location of the first cleaning device and/or moving the first cleaning device to a device location of the second cleaning device, and

transmitting the control command to the second cleaning device and/or to the first cleaning device.

10. The method according to claim 6, further comprising the steps of:

detecting a fill level of a suction material collector of the first cleaning device, wherein a required service for the suction material collector is transmitted to the controller,

determining a service availability status for the second cleaning device,

controlling at least one of the cleaning devices in such a way that the at least one cleaning device moves toward the other one of the cleaning devices, and

emptying the suction material collector of the first cleaning device by a mechanism of the second cleaning device.