Vacuum cleaner with obstacle avoidance
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A cleaning apparatus which comprises:
- a housing provided with an electric motor, a body portion which comprises an intake portion, a hose portion attached to the body portion and adapted to permit a user to move the cleaning apparatus by user movement of said hose portion at least one direction-controlling means comprising one or more castor wheels which controls the direction of the forward motion of said apparatus in response to a controller, and a controller comprising a signal processing unit (SPU) for controlling at least the direction of the at least one castor wheel, wherein the body portion includes angular front portions at least one of which includes at least one touch or proximity sensor for detecting the presence of at least one obstacle in the proximity of a travel path of the cleaning apparatus and delivering an input to the SPU, the controller being adapted to actively control at least the direction of at least one castor wheel to actuate a change in at least the direction of the at least one castor wheel based on said detection and input, said controller being effective, based solely on input from said sensor, to cause the cleaning apparatus to move in the correct direction to avoid the obstacle when the user pulls the hose portion at the point in time of contact or sensing.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A vacuum cleaner is provided that is adapted to detect and display and/or avoid obstacles. In such vacuum cleaners the driving wheels and/or castor wheels that determine the direction of travel may be actively controlled to achieve, at the point in time of obstacle touch or obstacle sensing, a resultant velocity away from obstacles in the path of the cleaning apparatus.
249 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A cleaning apparatus which comprises:
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a housing provided with an electric motor, a body portion which comprises an intake portion, a hose portion attached to the body portion and adapted to permit a user to move the cleaning apparatus by user movement of said hose portion at least one direction-controlling means comprising one or more castor wheels which controls the direction of the forward motion of said apparatus in response to a controller, and a controller comprising a signal processing unit (SPU) for controlling at least the direction of the at least one castor wheel, wherein the body portion includes angular front portions at least one of which includes at least one touch or proximity sensor for detecting the presence of at least one obstacle in the proximity of a travel path of the cleaning apparatus and delivering an input to the SPU, the controller being adapted to actively control at least the direction of at least one castor wheel to actuate a change in at least the direction of the at least one castor wheel based on said detection and input, said controller being effective, based solely on input from said sensor, to cause the cleaning apparatus to move in the correct direction to avoid the obstacle when the user pulls the hose portion at the point in time of contact or sensing. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A vacuum cleaner which comprises:
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a housing provided with an electric motor, a body portion which comprises an intake hose portion adapted to permit a user to move the cleaning apparatus by user movement of said hose portion, at least one direction-controlling means comprising one or more castor wheels which controls the direction of the forward motion of said apparatus in response to a controller, at least one driving means, and a controller comprising a signal processing unit (SPU) for controlling at least the direction of the at least one castor wheel, wherein the body portion includes multiple touch and proximity sensors mounted in angular disposition relative to at least one other sensor to achieve virtual angularity of the body portion for detecting the presence of at least one obstacle in the proximity of a vacuum cleaner travel path and delivering an input to the SPU, the controller being adapted to actuate a change in at least the direction of the at least one castor wheel based on said detection and input to cause the vacuum cleaner to move in the correct direction to avoid the obstacle when the user pulls the hose portion at the point in time of contact or sensing. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6)
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7. A cleaning apparatus which comprises:
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a housing provided with an electric motor, a body portion which comprises an intake portion, at least one direction-controlling means comprising at least one castor wheel which controls the direction of the forward motion of said apparatus in response to a controller, at least one driving means, and a controller comprising a signal processing unit (SPU) for controlling at least the direction of the at least one castor wheel and driving means, wherein the body portion includes angular front portions at least one of which includes at least one touch or proximity sensor for detecting the presence of at least one obstacle in the proximity of a travel path of the cleaning apparatus and delivering an input to the SPU, the controller being adapted to actuate a change in at least the direction of the at least one castor wheel based on said detection and input to cause the cleaning apparatus to move in the correct direction toward the center of the vacuum cleaner body to avoid the obstacle when the user pulls the hose portion at the point in time of contact or sensing, said controller actively controlling the movement of the castor wheel toward the center of the vacuum cleaner body to achieve, at the point in time of touch or obstacle sensing, a resultant velocity away from the obstacle in the path of the cleaning apparatus, which resultant velocity is achieved when the cleaning apparatus is subjected to arbitrary forward velocities that a user imposes by pulling the apparatus by an intake hose.
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8. A cleaning apparatus which comprises:
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a housing provided with an electric motor, a body portion which comprises an intake portion, a hose portion connectable to said body portion, at least one direction-controlling means, at least one driving means, and a controller comprising a signal processing unit (SPU) for controlling at least the direction of the at least one direction-controlling means or driving means, wherein the body portion includes angular front portions at least one of which includes at least one touch or proximity sensor in the form of an electromagnetic radiation beam generated by mounting a light emitting diode (LED) and a photosensor on the vacuum cleaner for detecting the presence of at least one obstacle in the proximity of a travel path of the cleaning apparatus and delivering an input to the SPU, the controller being adapted to actuate a change in at least the direction of at least one of the direction-controlling means or driving means based on said detection and input to move the cleaning apparatus to avoid the obstacle at the point in time of contact or sensing. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A vacuum cleaner which comprises:
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a housing provided with an electric motor, a body portion which comprises an intake hose, at least one direction-controlling means, at least one driving means, and a controller comprising a signal processing unit (SPU) for controlling at least the direction of the at least one direction-controlling means or driving means, wherein the body portion includes at least two infrared sensors mounted in angular disposition relative to at least two LED emitter sensors located on a hose attachment to achieve virtual angularity of the body portion for detecting the presence of at least one obstacle in the proximity of a vacuum cleaner travel path and delivering an input to the SPU, the controller being adapted to actuate a change in at least the direction of at least one of the direction-controlling means or driving means based on said detection and input to move the vacuum cleaner to avoid the obstacle at the point of contact or sensing. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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17. A vacuum cleaner which comprises:
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a housing provided with an electric motor, a body portion which comprises an intake hose, at least one direction-controlling means, at least one driving means, and a controller comprising a signal processing unit (SPU) for controlling at least the direction of the at least one direction-controlling means or driving means, wherein the body portion includes multiple touch and proximity sensors mounted in angular disposition relative to at least one other sensor to achieve virtual angularity of the body portion for detecting the presence of at least one obstacle in the proximity of a vacuum cleaner travel path and delivering an input to the SPU, and wherein the vacuum cleaner further comprises a display means for displaying information relative to the distance of the detected obstacle, said means including at least three sensors associatively operative with said SPU and at least three corresponding display indicia, the controller being adapted to actuate a change in at least the direction of at least one of the direction-controlling means or driving means based on said detection and input to move the vacuum cleaner to avoid the obstacle at the point of contact or sensing. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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20. A cleaning apparatus which comprises:
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a housing provided with an electric motor, an intake portion, a body portion, a hose portion attached to the body portion and adapted to permit a user to move the cleaning apparatus by user movement of said hose portion, a controller comprising a signal processing unit (SPU), and display means associatively adapted to display an input from the SPU, wherein the body portion includes at least one touch or proximity sensor for detecting the presence of at least one obstacle in the proximity of the cleaning apparatus travel path and delivering an input to the SPU for display on said display means, and wherein said apparatus also includes means for sensing the distance of an obstacle and remotely displaying information derived from said sensing. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. A cleaning apparatus which comprises:
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a housing provided with an electric motor, a body portion which comprises an intake portion, a hose portion attached to the body portion and adapted to permit a user to move the cleaning apparatus by user movement of said hose portion, at least one direction-controlling means, at least one driving means, and a controller comprising a signal processing unit (SPU) for controlling at least the direction of the at least one direction-controlling means or driving means, wherein the body portion includes angular front portions at least one of which includes at least one touch or proximity sensor for detecting the presence of at least one obstacle in the proximity of a travel path of the cleaning apparatus and delivering an input to the SPU, and wherein said apparatus also includes means for sensing the distance of an obstacle and remotely displaying information derived from said sensing, the controller being adapted to actuate a change in at least the direction of at least one of the direction-controlling means or driving means based on said detection and input to move the cleaning apparatus to avoid the obstacle at the point in time of contact or sensing.
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23. A vacuum cleaner which comprises:
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a housing provided with an electric motor, a body portion which comprises an intake hose portion adapted to permit a user to move the cleaning apparatus by user movement of said hose portion, at least one direction-controlling means, at least one driving means, and a controller comprising a signal processing unit (SPU) for controlling at least the direction of the at least one direction-controlling means or driving means, wherein the body portion includes at least two first sensors mounted in angular disposition relative to at least two second sensors, said first sensors being disposed at predetermined angles to said second sensors to achieve virtual angularity of the body portion for detecting the presence of at least one obstacle in the proximity of a vacuum cleaner travel path and delivering an input to the SPU, the controller being adapted to actuate a change in at least the direction of at least one of the direction-controlling means or driving means based on said detection and input to move the vacuum cleaner to avoid the obstacle at the point of contact or sensing. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
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26. A vacuum cleaner which comprises:
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a housing provided with an electric motor, a body portion which comprises an intake hose portion adapted to permit a user to move the cleaning apparatus by user movement of said hose portion, at least one direction-controlling means, at least one driving means, and a controller comprising a signal processing unit (SPU) for controlling at least the direction of the at least one direction-controlling means or driving means, wherein the body portion includes multiple touch and proximity sensors mounted in angular disposition relative to at least one other sensor to achieve virtual angularity of the body portion for detecting the presence of at least one obstacle in the proximity of a vacuum cleaner travel path and delivering an input to the SPU, the controller being adapted to actuate a change in at least the direction of at least one of the direction-controlling means or driving means based on said detection and input to move the vacuum cleaner to avoid the obstacle at the point of contact or sensing, and wherein the vacuum cleaner further comprises a display means for displaying information indicative of the distance of the detected obstacle from said vacuum cleaner travel path, said means including sensors associatively operative with said SPU and corresponding display indicia based on input from said sensors.
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27. A cleaning apparatus which comprises:
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a housing provided with an electric motor, a body portion which comprises an intake portion, a hose portion attached to the body portion and adapted to permit a user to move the cleaning apparatus by user movement of said hose portion, at least one direction-controlling means which controls the direction of the forward motion of said apparatus in response to a controller, and a controller comprising a signal processing unit (SPU) for controlling at least the direction of the at least one direction-controlling means, wherein the body portion includes angular front portions at least one of which includes at least one touch or proximity sensor for detecting the presence of at least one obstacle in the proximity of a travel path of the cleaning apparatus and delivering an input to the SPU, the controller being adapted to actively control at least the direction of at least one castor wheel to actuate movement of the direction-controlling means towards the inside of the vacuum cleaner body to maintain an arbitrary forward velocity based on said detection and input, said controller being effective, based solely on the input from said sensor, to cause the cleaning apparatus to move in the correct direction to avoid the obstacle when the user pulls the hose portion at the point in time of contact with or sensing of an obstacle.
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28. A cleaning apparatus which comprises:
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a housing provided with an electric motor, a body portion which comprises an intake portion, a hose portion attached to the body portion and adapted to permit a user to move the cleaning apparatus by user movement of said hose portion, at least one direction-controlling means comprising one or more castor wheels which controls the direction of the forward motion of said apparatus in response to a controller, drive means comprising at least one drive wheel, and a controller comprising a signal processing unit (SPU) for controlling at least the direction of the at least one castor wheel, wherein the body portion includes angular front portions at least one of which includes at least one touch or proximity sensor for detecting the presence of at least one obstacle in the proximity of a travel path of the cleaning apparatus and delivering an input to the SPU, the controller being adapted to actuate a change in at least the direction of the at least one castor wheel based on said detection and input to cause the cleaning apparatus to move in the correct direction to avoid the obstacle when the user pulls the hose portion at the point in time of contact or sensing.
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Specification