Air purifying robot and operation method thereof

• US 20060059872A1
• Filed: 03/14/2005
• Published: 03/23/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Rew, Ho-Seon, Lee, Seong-Bin
• Application Number:
  US11/078,424
• Publication Number:
  US 20060059872A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 55/356
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2259/4558 for being employed as mobile cleaners for ambient air, i.e. the earth's atmosphere
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 46/10 Particle separators, e.g. dust precipitators, using filter plates, sheets or pads having plane surfaces
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 46/46 automatic
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/30 for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/56 Remote control
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/50 Air quality properties
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2221/42 Mobile autonomous air conditioner, e.g. robots
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 8/10 by separation, e.g. by filtering
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 8/108 using dry filter elements
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 30/70 Efficient control or regulation technologies, e.g. for control of refrigerant flow, motor or heating

Abstract

An air purifying robot and its operation method capable of purifying air using a mobile robot are disclosed. To this end, an air purifying robot comprises: a main body casing having a certain space therein, and provided with a suction hole for sucking ambient air and a discharge hole for discharging the purified air; a fan motor installed in the main body casing, and rotating so as to suck the ambient air of the main body casing through the suction hole; a dust collecting filter for filtering pollutants contained in the ambient air having been sucked through the suction hole; main wheels installed at a lower surface of the main body casing at a certain interval therebetween, and driven by the motor; an auxiliary wheel installed so as to maintain a horizontal state of the main casing, and moving the air purifying robot together with the main wheels; and a control unit for controlling the fan motor, the dust collecting filter and the main wheels.

Claims

1. An air purifying robot comprising:

a main body casing having a certain space therein, and provided with a suction hole for sucking ambient air and a discharge hole for discharging the purified air;

a fan motor installed in the main body casing, and rotating so as to suck the ambient air of the main body casing through the suction hole;

a dust collecting filter for filtering pollutants contained in the ambient air having been sucked through the suction hole;

main wheels installed at a lower surface of the main body casing at a certain interval therebetween, and driven by the motor;

an auxiliary wheel installed so as to maintain a horizontal state of the main casing, and moving the air purifying robot together with the main wheels; and

a control unit for controlling the fan motor, the dust collecting filter and the main wheels.

2. The air purifying robot of claim 1, wherein the main body casing further comprises:

an obstacle detecting sensor for detecting an obstacle while the air purifying robot is moving.

3. The air purifying robot of claim 1, wherein the main body casing further comprises:

an air pollution detecting sensor for detecting an air pollution state.

4. The air purifying robot of claim 1, wherein the suction hole is provided at an upper surface of the main body casing, and the dust collecting filter and the fan motor are sequentially installed under the suction hole.

5. The air purifying robot of claim 1, wherein the main body casing further comprises:

a rechargeable battery for supplying power to the air purifying robot.

6. An air purifying robot comprising:

a moving unit for moving the air purifying robot along a preset moving path;

an air purifying unit for purifying the ambient air of the preset moving path; and

a control unit for controlling the moving unit and the air purifying unit.

7. The air purifying robot of claim 6, wherein the moving unit comprises:

two main wheels driven by a motor; and

an auxiliary wheel installed on the same plane as the main wheels, for maintaining a horizontal state of the air purifying robot.

8. The air purifying robot of claim 6, wherein the air purifying unit comprises:

an air pollution detecting sensor for detecting an air pollution state;

a fan motor rotating so as to suck polluted air by a signal which is generated from the control unit according to a pollution state; and

a dust collecting filter for filtering pollutants contained in the sucked polluted air.

9. The air purifying robot of claim 6, further comprising:

a power supply unit for supplying power to the moving unit, the air purifying unit and the control unit.

10. The air purifying robot of claim 9, wherein the power supply unit is a rechargeable battery.

11. An operation method of an air purifying robot comprising:

detecting a level of air pollution of a preset area in which the air purifying robot is moving;

comparing the detected level of air pollution with a preset reference value; and

stopping the air purifying robot when the detected level of air pollution is greater than the preset reference value, and purifying the ambient air of a spot where the robot stops.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the detecting step further comprises:

selecting a pollution detection area from map information pre-stored in a memory.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of selecting the pollution detection area further comprises:

selecting a moving path of the air purifying robot in the pollution detection area.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

returning to the detecting step when the detected level of air pollution is smaller than the preset reference value.