REMOVING DEBRIS FROM CLEANING ROBOTS
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A cleaning robot system including a robot and a robot maintenance station. The robot includes a robot body, a drive system, a cleaning assembly, and a cleaning bin carried by the robot body and configured to receive debris agitated by the cleaning assembly. The robot maintenance station includes a station housing configured to receive the robot for maintenance. The station housing has an evacuation passageway exposed to a top portion of the received robot. The robot maintenance station also includes an air mover in pneumatic communication with the evacuation passageway and a collection bin carried by the station housing and in pneumatic communication with the evacuation passageway. The station housing and the robot body fluidly connect the evacuation passageway to the cleaning bin of the received robot. The air mover evacuates debris held in the robot cleaning bin to the collection bin through the evacuation passageway.
36 Citations
46 Claims
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1-26. -26. (canceled)
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27. A cleaning robot system comprising:
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a robot comprising; a chassis; a drive system supporting the chassis and configured to maneuver the robot as directed by a controller in communication with the drive system; a driven cleaning head rotatably carried by the chassis; and a cleaning bin carried by the chassis and configured to receive debris from the cleaning head during cleaning, the cleaning bin defining a service opening in a top portion of the cleaning bin for removing debris held in a debris holding area of the cleaning bin; a robot maintenance station comprising; a station housing configured to receive the robot for maintenance; a collection bin received by the station housing; and a motorized vacuum pump housed by the station housing; a hose having first and second ends, the first hose end in pneumatic communication with the vacuum pump, the second hose end receivable by the service opening of the cleaning bin; wherein the vacuum pump draws air and debris through the hose received by the robot cleaning bin to deposit the debris into the debris collection bin. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30)
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31. A cleaning robot system comprising:
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a robot comprising; a robot body, a drive system supporting the robot body and configured to maneuver the robot as directed by a controller in communication with the drive system; a cleaning assembly carried by the robot body comprising a first cleaning brush rotatably coupled to the robot body to rotate substantially parallel a cleaning surface; and a cleaning bin carried by the robot body and configured to receive debris agitated by the cleaning assembly, the cleaning bin removable from the robot body; and a robot maintenance station comprising; a station housing configured to receive the robot for maintenance, the station housing having an evacuation passageway exposed to a bottom portion of the received robot; an air mover in pneumatic communication with the evacuation passageway; and a collection bin carried by the station housing and in pneumatic communication with the evacuation passageway; wherein the station housing and the robot body fluidly connect the evacuation passageway to the cleaning bin of the received robot, the air mover evacuating debris held in the robot cleaning bin or on the first cleaning brush to the collection bin by directing air over the first cleaning brush and through the evacuation passageway, and wherein the cleaning robot system is configured such that debris held in the robot cleaning bin is removable from the robot cleaning bin by either one of (i) removal of the cleaning bin from the robot body and (ii) fluid communication between the robot cleaning bin and the evacuation passageway of the robot maintenance station, and debris held on the first cleaning brush is removable from the first cleaning brush by fluid communication between the first cleaning brush and the evacuation passageway of the robot maintenance station. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A cleaning robot system comprising:
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a robot comprising; a chassis, a drive system supporting the chassis and configured to maneuver the robot as directed by a controller in communication with the drive system; a cleaning assembly carried by the chassis comprising a first cleaning brush rotatably coupled to the robot body to rotate substantially parallel to a cleaning surface; and a cleaning bin carried by the chassis and configured to receive debris agitated by the cleaning assembly, the cleaning bin defining a service opening in a bottom portion of the cleaning bin for removing debris held in a debris holding area of the cleaning bin, the cleaning bin removable from the robot body; and a robot maintenance station comprising; a station housing configured to receive the robot for maintenance, the station housing defining an evacuation port arranged to be exposed to the bottom portion of the robot cleaning bin when the robot is received in the maintenance station for maintenance; an air mover in pneumatic communication with the evacuation port; and a collection bin carried by the station housing and in pneumatic communication with the evacuation port; wherein the air mover evacuates debris held in the robot cleaning bin or the first cleaning brush to the collection bin by directing air over the first cleaning brush and through the service opening and the evacuation port, and wherein the cleaning robot system is configured such that debris held in the robot cleaning bin is removable from the robot cleaning bin by either one of (i) removal of the cleaning bin from the robot body and (ii) fluid communication between the robot cleaning bin and the evacuation port of the robot maintenance station that also removes debris on the first cleaning brush. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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Specification