Extractor with light-sensitive stain sensor
First Claim
1. A surface cleaning apparatus comprising:
- a housing for movement along a surface to be cleaned;
a suction nozzle associated with the housing and having a nozzle opening directed at the surface to be cleaned;
a vacuum source associated with the housing and in fluid communication with the suction nozzle via a working air conduit;
a recovery chamber in fluid communication with the vacuum source and the working air conduit whereby material drawn into the suction nozzle by the vacuum source is deposited into the recovery chamber;
a stain sensing system directed at the surface to be cleaned and comprising;
a visible light-emitting element;
an ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting element; and
at least one light reader for detecting light intensity as reflected from the surface to be cleaned when light is emitted from the at least one of the visible and UV light-emitting elements; and
a controller for receiving a signal representative of the light received by the at least one light reader;
wherein the controller receives a first signal representative of the light reflected from the surface to be cleaned by the visible light-emitting element and a second signal representative of the light reflected from the surface to be cleaned by the UV light-emitting element; and
wherein the controller determines a differential value between the first signal and the second signal and compares the differential value to a predetermined threshold value.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A light-sensitive stain sensing system for an extractor for detecting and treating biological stains, such as food or pet stains. The stain sensing system comprises an ultraviolet light-emitting element, a visible light-emitting element, and at least one light reader. Ultraviolet and visible light beams are reflected off the surface to be cleaned into a light reader that measures reflectance values and transmits the values to a processor. The processor compares a relative reflectance value to a predetermined threshold value. The presence of a biological stain is indicated when the relative reflectance value is greater than the threshold value, and may trigger a controller to automatically adjust one or more cleaning parameters of the extractor.
24 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A surface cleaning apparatus comprising:
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a housing for movement along a surface to be cleaned; a suction nozzle associated with the housing and having a nozzle opening directed at the surface to be cleaned; a vacuum source associated with the housing and in fluid communication with the suction nozzle via a working air conduit; a recovery chamber in fluid communication with the vacuum source and the working air conduit whereby material drawn into the suction nozzle by the vacuum source is deposited into the recovery chamber; a stain sensing system directed at the surface to be cleaned and comprising; a visible light-emitting element; an ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting element; and at least one light reader for detecting light intensity as reflected from the surface to be cleaned when light is emitted from the at least one of the visible and UV light-emitting elements; and a controller for receiving a signal representative of the light received by the at least one light reader; wherein the controller receives a first signal representative of the light reflected from the surface to be cleaned by the visible light-emitting element and a second signal representative of the light reflected from the surface to be cleaned by the UV light-emitting element; and wherein the controller determines a differential value between the first signal and the second signal and compares the differential value to a predetermined threshold value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A surface cleaning apparatus comprising:
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a housing for movement along a surface to be cleaned; a suction nozzle associated with the housing and having a nozzle opening directed at the surface to be cleaned; a vacuum source associated with the housing and in fluid communication with the suction nozzle via a working air conduit; a recovery chamber in fluid communication with the vacuum source and the working air conduit whereby material drawn into the suction nozzle by the vacuum source is deposited into the recovery chamber; and a stain sensing system directed at the surface to be cleaned and comprising; a visible light-emitting element; an ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting element; and at least one light reader for detecting light intensity as reflected from the surface to be cleaned when light is emitted from at least one of the visible and UV light-emitting elements; wherein the stain sensing system determines that a stain condition exists on the surface to be cleaned by; reflecting visible light from the visible light-emitting element off of the surface to be cleaned; reflecting UV light from the UV light-emitting element off of the surface to be cleaned; measuring a visible light value and a UV light value and determining a differential therebetween; and determining whether the differential exceeds a predetermined value. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A surface cleaning apparatus comprising:
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a housing for movement along a surface to be cleaned; a suction nozzle associated with the housing and having a nozzle opening directed at the surface to be cleaned; a vacuum source associated with the housing and in fluid communication with the suction nozzle via a working air conduit; a recovery chamber in fluid communication with the vacuum source and the working air conduit whereby material drawn into the suction nozzle by the vacuum source is deposited into the recovery chamber; and a stain sensing system directed at the surface to be cleaned and comprising; a visible light-emitting element; an ultraviolet (UV) light emitting element; and at least one light reader for detecting light intensity as reflected from the surface to be cleaned when light is emitted from at least one of the visible and UV light-emitting elements; wherein the stain sensing system includes a controller which; measures a differential value over time between a first measured UV light reflectance value as received by the at least one light reader from light emitted by the UV light-emitting element and a second measured visible light reflectance value as received by the at least one light reader from light emited by the visible light-emitting element; and initiates a response when the differential value exceeds a predetermined reflectance value. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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Specification