ROBOT CLEANER AND METHOD FOR SENSING DUST

• US 20150107449A1
• Filed: 10/16/2014
• Published: 04/23/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: SON, Kuyoung
• Granted Patent: US 9,770,149 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 95/2
• 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 9/0072 Mechanical means for controlling the suction or for effecting pulsating action
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/10 Filters in general B01D; cyclones B04C; Dust separators; Dust removal; Automatic exchange of filters for machines for cleaning floors A47L11/40
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/122 flat
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/19 Means for monitoring filtering operation
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/20 Means for cleaning filters
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2805 Parameters or conditions being sensed
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/281 the amount or condition of incoming dirt or dust
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2836 characterised by the parts which are controlled
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2857 User input or output elements for control, e.g. buttons, switches or displays
• CPC Class Codes: B03C 3/017 Combinations of electrostatic separation with other processes, not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: B03C 3/66 Applications of electricity supply techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 27/22 by investigating capacitance
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/955 using a capacitive detector

Abstract

A robot cleaner is provided that may include a suction motor installed within a main body to generate a suction force, at least two conductive plates spaced apart from each other to form a flow path for external air introduced by the suction force, and a calculator to measure a capacitance value between the at least two conductive plates. Further, provided is a robot cleaner that may include a suction motor installed within a main body to generate a suction force, a porous structure having at least one through hole, through which external air introduced by the suction force may flow, at least one filter disposed on a surface of the porous structure to filter dust contained in the air, and a power supply configured to apply alternating current (AC) power to at least a portion of the surface of the porous structure.

Claims

1. A robot cleaner, comprising:

a suction motor installed within a main body and configured to generate a suction force;

at least two conductive plates spaced apart from each other to form a flow path for external air introduced by the suction force; and

a calculator that measures a capacitance value between the at least two conductive plates.

2. The robot cleaner of claim 1, wherein the at least two conductive plates are disposed substantially parallel to each other.

3. The robot cleaner of claim 1, wherein the at least two conductive plates are arranged to extend along of a flow direction of the air introduced from one side thereof.

4. The robot cleaner of claim 1, wherein the calculator senses an amount of dust within a dust container of the robot cleaner based on the capacitance value.

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

a notification member to generate sound or light to an exterior of the robot cleaner when the capacitance value exceeds a predetermined value.

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

a porous structure provided with at least one through hole through which external air introduced by the suction force flows;

at least one filter disposed in the flow path of the air, to filter dust contained in the air; and

a power supply configured to apply alternating current (AC) power to at least a portion of a surface of the porous structure.

7. The robot cleaner of claim 1, wherein the at least two conductive plates comprise a plurality of first conductive plates and a plurality of second conductive plates, the plurality of the first and second conductive plates being alternately provided and disposed in parallel.

8. The robot cleaner of claim 7, wherein the plurality of first conductive plates is connected by a first connector and the plurality of second conductive plates is connected by a second connector.

9. A robot cleaner, comprising:

a suction motor installed within a main body to generate a suction force;

a porous structure provided with at least one through hole through which external air introduced by the suction force flows;

at least one filter disposed in a flow path of the air, to filter dust contained in the air; and

a power supply configured to apply alternating current (AC) power to at least a portion of a surface of the porous structure.

10. The robot cleaner of claim 9, wherein the at least one filter is disposed adjacent to a surface of the porous structure and spaced apart therefrom.

11. The robot cleaner of claim 9, wherein the porous structure is formed in a mesh shape.

12. The robot cleaner of claim 11, wherein the porous structure has a honeycomb structure.

13. The robot cleaner of claim 9, wherein the porous structure comprises n-numbered conducting portions, and wherein the power supply applies n-phase AC power to the porous structure by applying power to each of the n-numbered conducting portions for each phase.

14. The robot cleaner of claim 13, wherein the n-numbered conductive portion are formed along an inner circumferential surface and/or an outer circumferential surface of the at least one through hole.

15. The robot cleaner of claim 13, wherein the power supply applies power having a predetermined phase difference to the n-numbered conducting portions based on predetermined single-phase power, sequentially in an order of positions of the n-numbered conducting portions.

17. The filter assembly of claim 12, further comprising:

a porous structure provided with at least one through hole through which the air flows, wherein the porous structure is configured to receive alternating current (AC) power applied from an exterior of the filter assembly to at least a portion of a surface thereof.

18. The filter assembly of claim 12, further comprising:

a plurality of filters to filter dust particles of different sizes contained in the air.

16. A filter assembly for a robot cleaner, the filter assembly comprising:

at least two conductive plates disposed spaced apart from each other so as to form a flow path for external air introduced into the robot cleaner, wherein a capacitance measured between the at least two conductive plates varies due to dust collected between the at least two conductive plates.

19. A robot cleaner comprising the filter assembly of claim 16.

22. A robot cleaner comprising the filter assembly of claim 19.

20. A filter assembly for a robot cleaner, the filter assembly comprising:

a porous structure provided with at least one conductive through hole through which external air sucked in by the robot cleaner flows, wherein at least a portion of a surface of the through hole receives alternating current (AC) power applied from an exterior of the filter assembly.

21. The filter assembly of claim 20, further comprising:

a plurality of filters to filter dust particles of different sizes, contained in the air.

23. A dust sensing method for a robot cleaner, the method comprising:

measuring a capacitance between at least two conductive plates, which are spaced apart from each other to form a flow path of external air introduced by the robot cleaner.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

determining whether or not the capacitance exceeds a predetermined value.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

applying alternating current (AC) power to at least a portion of a surface of a porous structure through which the air flows, when the capacitance exceeds the predetermined value.

26. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

generating sound or light to an exterior of the robot cleaner when the capacitance exceeds the predetermined value.