Autonomous cleaner

• US 10,827,895 B2
• Filed: 06/21/2018
• Issued: 11/10/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Nam, Bohyun, Shim, Inbo, Sung, Jihoon, Park, Sojin, Song, Seunghyun, Lee, Sangkyu, Jun, Woochan
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Dung Van
• Application Number:
  US16/014,924
• Publication Number:
  US 20180303305A1
• Time in Patent Office: 873 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/33 having means for storing dirt
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4013 Contaminants collecting devices, i.e. hoppers, tanks or the like
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4061 Steering means; Means for avoiding obstacles; Details related to the place where the driver is accommodated
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4066 Propulsion of the whole machine
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4069 Driving or transmission means for the cleaning tools
• 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 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 9/0477 Rolls
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/122 flat
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/1608 Cyclonic chamber constructions
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/1633 Concentric cyclones
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/1641 for parallel flow
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/1691 Mounting or coupling means for cyclonic chamber or dust receptacles

Abstract

A robot cleaner comprising: a cleaner body including a controller, the cleaner body having a dust container accommodation part formed therein; a wheel unit mounted in the cleaner body, the wheel unit of which driving is controlled by the controller; and a dust container detachably coupled to the dust container accommodation part, wherein a first opening and a second opening are disposed at the same height in an inner wall of the dust container accommodation part, wherein the dust container includes: an entrance and an exit, disposed side by side along the circumference of the dust container, the entrance and the exit, respectively communicating with the first opening and the second opening when the dust container is accommodated in the dust container accommodation part; and a flow separating part extending downwardly inclined along the inner circumference of the dust container, the flow separating part separating the flow of air introduced into the entrance from the flow of air discharged toward the exit to be respectively guided to lower and upper portions thereof.

Claims

1. An autonomous cleaner, comprising:

a cleaner body including a dust container dock formed as a recess, the recess being opened toward at least one of a top or a rear of the cleaner body;

a dust container configured to be set into the dust container dock and having a multi-cyclone to filter foreign substances;

a cover having a hinge rotatably coupled to the cleaner body and configured to cover at least part of the dust container; and

a touch screen module installed in the cover,

wherein a center of the dust container is located behind a center of the cleaner body.

2. The cleaner of claim 1, wherein a side portion of the cover overlaps a wall of the recess when the cover is in a closed position to cover the dust container.

3. The cleaner of claim 2, wherein a rear portion of the dust container protrudes beyond a rear end of the cleaner body when the dust container is set into the dust container dock.

4. The cleaner of claim 2, wherein the cover is configured to cover an entire top surface of the dust container in the closed position.

5. The cleaner of claim 4, wherein the side portion of the cover is configured to partially cover a side surface of the dust container.

6. The cleaner of claim 1, wherein the hinge is located at the center of the cleaner body.

7. The cleaner of claim 1, wherein the touch screen module comprises:

a display to output visual information through the dust; and

a first touch sensor to detect a touch input applied to the visual information.

8. The cleaner of claim 7, wherein the cover includes:

a top cover formed of a light transmissive material; and

a bottom cover coupled to the top cover to define appearance of the cover together with the top cover,

wherein the first touch sensor is attached to a rear surface of the top cover.

9. The cleaner of claim 8, wherein the cover is provided with a touch key module to detect a touch input applied to a pictogram displayed on the top cover, and

wherein the touch key module includes:

a second touch sensor attached on the rear surface of the top cover to detect a touch input applied to the pictogram; and

a backlight unit to emit light to the pictogram.

10. The cleaner of claim 9, wherein the touch key module provides a home key to input a control command related to a movement toward a charging station.

11. The cleaner of claim 1, further comprising a battery detachably coupled to the cleaner body, and the touch screen module is configured to output a visual information indicating a residual power level of the battery.

12. The cleaner of claim 1, wherein the foreign substances include dust and fine dust, the multi-cyclone includes:

a first cyclone to filter dust from air introduced into the dust container; and

a second cyclone provided inside the first cyclone to filter fine dust.

13. The cleaner of claim 12, wherein the dust container is provided with a flow separation guide extending along an inner circumference of the dust container to guide air introduced through an entrance of the dust container to flow toward a lower portion of the dust container and to guide filtered air to an exit provided at an upper portion of the dust container, and

wherein the flow separation guide includes an opening to accommodate the second cyclone.

14. The cleaner of claim 13, wherein the air guided toward the lower portion flows into the first cyclone, and the air flowing through the second cyclone is guided toward the upper portion.

15. The cleaner of claim 14, wherein the dust container is provided with a filter covering the opening of the flow separation guide to filter the air which has passed through the second cyclone.