MXPA01006114A - Vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a vacuum cleaner (10) having a chassis (12), supporting wheels (14) mounted on the chassis (12), drive means (15) connected to the supporting wheels (14) for driving the supporting wheels (14) and a control mechanism for controlling the drive means (15) so as to guide the vacuum cleaner (10) across a surface to be cleaned. A cleaner head (22) having a dirty air inlet (24) facing the surface to be cleaned is mounted on the chassis (12) and separating apparatus (52) is supported by the chassis (12) and communicates with the cleaner head (22) for separating dirt and dust from an airflow entering the vacuum cleaner (10) by way of the dirty air inlet (24). The separating apparatus (52) comprises at least one cyclone (54, 56). This type of separating apparatus is not prone to clogging and therefore the pick-up capability of the cleaner (10) is maintained at a high standard.

Description

VACUUM CLEANER DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a vacuum cleaner. Particularly, the invention relates to a vacuum cleaner having a chassis, support wheels mounted on the chassis, driving means connected to the support wheels for driving the support wheels, a control mechanism for controlling the driving means in order to guide the vacuum cleaner through a surface that will be cleaned, a cleaning head having a dirty air inlet facing the surface to be cleaned and a separation device supported by the chassis and communicating with the cleaning head to separate the dirt and the dust of an air flow that enters the vacuum cleaner through the dirty air inlet. Said vacuum suitably is referred to as a robotic vacuum cleaner. Robotic vacuum cleaners are known. The control mechanism usually includes sensors to detect obstacles and walls, so that the vacuum cleaner is able to guide itself around a room in order to vacuum clean the carpet or other floor covering without intervention of the human being. Examples of robotic vacuum cleaners of this general type are shown and described in, among others, EP0803224A, US5,534,762, WO97 / 41451, US5,109,566 and US5,787,545. In vacuum cleaners of the prior art, the separation apparatus through which the dirt and dust is separated from the air flow, consists of a bag type filter or an equivalent container type filter. The difficulty with provisions like these is that, as the bag fills, it becomes clogged with dirt and dust, so that the ability of the vacuum cleaner to pick up dirt and dust is reduced over time. This means that the operation of the vacuum cleaner does not remain at a constant standard point during the operation and may require human intervention to compensate for the reduction in operation. This frustrates the object of a robotic vacuum cleaner. It is an object of the present invention to provide a robotic vacuum, which does not clog as the dirt and dust are separated from the air flow. It is another object of the invention to provide a robotic vacuum whose collection capacity does not diminish over time. Still another object of the invention is to provide a robotic vacuum cleaner, which is simple to use and effective in its operation without being prohibitively expensive for the manufacturer. The invention provides a vacuum having a chassis, support wheels mounted on the chassis, driving means connected to the support wheels for driving the support wheels, a control mechanism for controlling the driving means in order to guide the vacuum to through a surface that will be cleaned, a cleaning head having a dirty air inlet facing the surface to be cleaned, and a separation apparatus supported by the chassis and communicating with the cleaning head to separate dirt and dust from a flow of air entering the vacuum through the dirt air inlet, wherein the separation apparatus comprises at least a cyclone. Providing a cyclonic separation apparatus on a robotic vacuum removes the problem of bag-type or container-type filters that become plugged with use. In a cyclonic separation apparatus, plugging occurs and, therefore, there is no reduction in the collection capacity, which keeps the suction in the dirty air inlet. The operation of the vacuum cleaner remains constant since the suction developed in the dirty air inlet is maintained at a constant level. Preferably, the separation apparatus comprises two cyclones, the upstream cyclone being adapted to remove comparatively large dirt and dust particles from the air flow, and the downstream cyclone being adapted to remove comparatively small dirt and dust particles from the flow of air. air. This arrangement allows the downstream cyclone to operate under optimum conditions since larger dirt and dust particles have already been removed from the airflow before it reaches the high efficiency downstream cyclone. It is also preferred if the cyclones are arranged concentrically, most preferably one within the other, in order to provide a compact and convenient arrangement. In this case, the external cyclone Low efficiency can have a generally cylindrical shape and the internal cyclone, of high efficiency can have a frustoconical shape. Preferably, the separation apparatus is supported on the chassis with the longitudinal axis of the separation apparatus lying in a substantially horizontal position. This minimizes the height of the vacuum cleaner. The cyclonic separation apparatus preferably includes a removable tank or collection chamber where, during use, dirt and dust separated from the air flow are collected. The tank or collection chamber can be removed to allow for a convenient emptying of the dirt and dust from the vacuum cleaner. It is preferred if the deposit or collection chamber is transparent or translucent so that the interior of the deposit or collection chamber can be periodically inspected. The user can then see when the deposit needs to be emptied. Now, one embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a vacuum cleaner according to the invention; Figure 2 is a plan view of the vacuum of the Figure 1; Figure 3 is a rear view of the vacuum of the Figure 1; Figure 4 is a side view of the vacuum cleaner of Figure 1, Figure 5 is a bottom view of the vacuum cleaner of Figure 1; Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along line V-V of Figure 2; and Figure 7 is a sectional view taken along the line Vl-Vl of Figure 6, showing only the cleaning head and the cyclone separator of the vacuum cleaner of Figure 1. The vacuum cleaner 10 shown in the drawings has a supporting frame 12, which has a generally circular shape and is supported on two driving wheels 14, and an adjustable wheel 16. The chassis 12 is preferably made of a high strength molded plastic material, such as ABS, but also It can be made of metal such as aluminum or steel. The chassis 12 provides support for the components of the vacuum cleaner 10, which will be described later. The drive wheels 14 are disposed at both ends of a diameter of the chassis 12, the diameter lying perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 18 of the vacuum cleaner 10. Each drive wheel 14 is molded of a high strength plastic material and carries a band of flange, comparatively smooth around its circumference to improve the grip of the wheel 14 when the vacuum cleaner 10 is passing through a smooth floor. The drive wheels 14 are mounted independently of one another via support bearings (not shown) and each drive wheel 14 is directly connected to a motor 15, which is capable of driving the wheel respective 14 either in a forward direction or in a reverse direction. By driving both wheels 14 forward at the same speed, the cleaner 10 can be driven in a forward direction. By driving both wheels 14 in a reverse direction at the same speed, the cleaner 10 can be driven in a backward direction. By driving the wheels 14 in opposite directions, the vacuum cleaner 10 can rotate around its own central axis in order to effect a return maneuver. The aforementioned method for driving a vehicle is well known and will therefore not be described here. The steerable wheel 16 is significantly smaller in diameter than the drive wheels 14 as can be seen, for example, in Figure 4. The steerable wheel 16 is not driven and merely serves to support the chassis 12 at the rear of the wheel. vacuum 10. The location of the steerable wheel 16 at the rear end of the chassis 12, and the fact that the steerable wheel 16 is not rotatably mounted on the chassis through a rotary joint 20, allows the steerable wheel 16 is dragged behind the vacuum cleaner 10 in a manner that does not impede the maneuverability of the vacuum cleaner.10, while being driven through the drive wheels 14. The rotation seal 20 is more clearly shown in the FIG. Figure 6. The steerable wheel 16 is fixedly attached to a cylindrical member 20a extending upwards, which is received by an annular housing 20b to allow free rotational movement of the cylinder member. ico 20a with the same. This type of arrangement is well known. The steerable wheel 16 can be made of a molded plastic material or it can be made of another synthetic material such as Nylon. Mounted on the underside of the chassis 12 is a cleaning head 22, which includes a suction opening 24 facing the surface on which the vacuum cleaner 10 is supported. The suction opening 24 is essentially rectangular and extends through the suction opening 24. most of the width of the cleaning head 22. A brush bar 26 is rotatably mounted in the suction opening 24 and a motor 28 is mounted on the cleaning head 22 to drive the brush bar 26 through a band of drive (not shown) extending between an arrow of the motor 28 and the brush bar 26. The cleaning head is mounted on the chassis 12 in such a way that the cleaning head 22 is able to float on the surface to be cleaned. This is achieved in this embodiment, since the cleaning head 22 is pivotally connected to an arm (not shown), which in turn is pivotally connected to the underside of the chassis 12. The double articulation of the connection between the head cleaner 22 and chassis 12 allows the cleaning head to move freely in a vertical direction relative to the chassis 12. This allows the cleaning head to scale over small obstacles such as books, magazines, rims of mats, etc. The obstacles with a height of up to approximately 25mm can be crossed in this way.

A flexible connection 30 (see Figure 7) is located between a rear portion of the cleaning head 22 and an inlet port 32 (see also Figure 7) located in the chassis 12. The flexible connection 30 consists of a bearing seal, a the end of which is sealed to the mouth upstream of the inlet port 32 and the other end of which is sealedly attached to the cleaning head 22. When the cleaning head 22 moves upwardly relative to the chassis 12, the bearing seal 30 deforms or wrinkles to accommodate the upward movement of the cleaning head 22. When the cleaning head 22 moves downwardly relative to the chassis 12, the bearing seal 30 unfolds and extends into an extended position to adapt to the downward movement. In order to help the cleaning head move vertically upwards when an obstacle is encountered, ramps 36 projecting forward are provided at the front edge of the cleaning head 22. In the case where an obstacle is encountered , the obstacle will initially bump against the ramps 36 and the inclination of the ramps then raise the cleaning head 22 over the obstacle in question in order to prevent the vacuum cleaner 10 from being lodged against the obstacle. The cleaning head 22 is shown in a downward position in Figure 6 and in an elevated position in Figure 4. The steerable wheel 16 also includes a ramp portion 17, which provides additional assistance when the vacuum 10 encounters an obstacle and It requires you to scale it. In this way, the steerable wheel 16 will not be lodged against the obstacle after the cleaning head 22 has climbed therein. As can be seen from Figures 2 and 5, the cleaning head 22 is asymmetrically mounted on the chassis 12, so that one side of the cleaning head goes beyond the general circumference of the chassis 12. This allows the vacuum cleaner 10 clean the edge of a room on the side of the vacuum cleaner 10 on which the cleaning head 22 emerges. The chassis 12 carries a plurality of sensors 40, which are designed and arranged to detect obstacles in the vacuum cleaner's path 10 and its proximity, for example, to a wall or other limit such as a piece of furniture. The sensors 40 comprise several ultrasonic sensors and several infrared sensors. The arrangement illustrated in Figures 1 and 4 is not intended to be limiting and the arrangement of the sensors is not part of the present invention. Suffice it to say that the vacuum 10 carries enough sensors and detectors 40 for the vacuum 10 to be guided by itself or guided around a predefined area so that said area can be cleaned. The control software, comprising navigation controls and steering devices, is housed within a housing 42 located below a control panel 44 or elsewhere inside the vacuum 10. Battery packs 46 are mounted on the chassis 12 inboard of the wheels of drive 14 to provide power to the motors to drive and the wheels 14 and to the control software .. The battery packs 46 are removable and allow them to be transferred to a battery charger (not shown). The vacuum cleaner 10 also includes a motor and fan unit 50 supported on the chassis 12 to draw dirty air to the vacuum cleaner 10 through the suction opening 24 in the cleaning head 22. The chassis 12 also carries a cyclonic separator 52 for separating the dirt and dust of the air extracted in the vacuum cleaner 10. The characteristics of the cyclone separator 52 are best seen in Figures 6 and 7. The cyclone separator 52 comprises an outer cyclone 54 and a cyclone 56, arranged concentrically therewith, both cyclones 54, 56 having their coaxial axes lying horizontally. The outer cyclone 54 comprises an inlet portion 58, which communicates directly with the inlet port 32 as shown in Figure 7. The inlet port 32 is arranged to be tangential to the inlet portion 58, which is cylindrical and has an end wall 60 which is generally helical. The inlet portion 58 opens directly into a cylindrical reservoir 62 having an external wall 64, whose diameter is equal to that of the inlet portion 58. The cylindrical reservoir 62 is made of a transparent plastic material to allow a user see the inside of the outer cyclone 54. The end of the tank 62 away from the inlet portion 58, has a frustoconical shape and is closed. A location ring 66 is formed integrally with the end of the reservoir at a distance from the outer wall 64 thereof, and a powder ring 68 is also formed integrally with the end of the reservoir 62 inwardly of the locating ring 66. Located on the external surface of the reservoir 62 is they encounter two opposing fastener portions 70, which are adapted to assist a user to remove the spacer 52 from the chassis 12 for emptying purposes. Specifically, the fastener portions 70 are integrally molded with the transparent reservoir 62 and extend upwardly and outwardly from the outer wall 64 in order to form a cutting profile as shown in Figure 1. The inner cyclone 56 is formed through a partially cylindrical, partially frustoconical cyclone body, 72, which is rigidly attached to the end face of the inlet portion 58. The inner cyclone body 72 lies along the longitudinal axis of the transparent reservoir 62 and is extends almost to the end face thereof so that the distal end 72a of the cyclone body 72 is surrounded by the dust ring 68. The gap between the cone opening at the distal end 72a of the cyclone body 72 and the end face of the reservoir 62 is preferably less than 8 mm. A fine dust collector 74 is located in the tank 62 and is supported by the location ring 66 at one end thereof. The fine dust collector 74 is supported at the other end thereof through the cyclone body 72. Seals 76 are provided between the fine dust collector 74 and the respective support at any extreme. The fine dust collector 74 has a first cylindrical portion 74a adapted to be received within the location ring 66 and a second cylindrical portion 74b having a smaller diameter than the first cylindrical portion 74a. The cylindrical portions 74a, 74b are joined through a frusto-conical portion 74c, which is integrally molded therewith. A single fin or baffle 78 is also integrally mounted with the fine dust collector 74 and extends radially outwardly from the second cylindrical portion 74b and the frustoconical portion 74c. The outer edge of the flap 8 is aligned with the first cylindrical portion 74a and the edge of the flap 78 away from the first cylindrical portion 74a essentially parallel to the frusto-conical portion 74c. The flap 78 extends vertically upwards from the fine dust collector 74. A cover 80 is located between the first and second cyclones 54.56. The cover 80 has a cylindrical shape and is supported at one end by the inlet portion 58 and the cyclone body 72 of the inner cyclone 56 at the other end. As is known, the cover 80 has perforations 82 extending therethrough and a lip 83 projecting from the end of the cover 80 away from the entrance portion 58. A channel 84 is formed between the cover 80 and the external surface of the cover 80. cyclone body 72, said channel 84 communicates with an inlet port 86 leading into the interior of the inner cyclone 56 in a manner in which it forces the inlet air flow to adopt a path rotary helical. This is achieved through a tangential or spiral entrance to the inner cyclone 56 as can be seen in Figure 7. A whirlwind finder (not shown) is centrally located at the larger end of the inner cyclone 56 to drive the air out of the cyclonic separator 52 after the separation has been presented. The exhaust air is conducted beyond the motor and fan unit 50, so that the motor can be cooled before the air is exhausted to the atmosphere. In addition, a rear motor filter (not shown) can be provided downstream of the motor and fan unit 50 in order to minimize the risk of emissions to the sphere of the vacuum cleaner 10. The entire cyclone separator 52 can be releasable from the chassis 12 in order to allow the emptying of the outer and inner cyclones 54, 56. A locking latch (not shown) is provided adjacent the inlet port 32 through which the cyclone separator 52 is held in its place when the vacuum cleaner 10 is in use. When the latch latch is released (through manual pressing of a button 34 located on the control panel 44), the cyclone separator 52 can be lifted away from the chassis 12 through the fastener portions 70. The reservoir 62 can then be to be released from the inlet portion 58 (which carries with it the cover 80 and the internal cyclone body 72) to facilitate its emptying. An electronic circuit for controlling the operation of the robotic vacuum cleaner is housed in a lower portion of the chassis 12 (see region 90, Figure 6). Another circuit system is located below the control panel 44. The circuit system is electrically protected from electrostatic fields generated by the cyclone by placing the circuit system between sheets of electrically conductive material. A first sheet is below the reservoir 62. The circuit system is mounted below this first sheet and a second sheet lies on the base of the frame, below the circuit system. The plates are electrically connected to ground. The vacuum cleaner 10 described above operates in the following manner. In order for the vacuum cleaner 10 to pass through the area to be cleaned, the wheels 14 are driven by the motors 15, which, in turn, are driven by the batteries 46. The direction of movement of the vacuum cleaner 10 is determined by the control software, which communicates with the sensors 40 which are designed to detect any obstacle in the path of the vacuum cleaner 10 in order for the vacuum cleaner 10 to navigate around the area to be cleaned. The methodologies and control systems for navigating a robotic vacuum around a room or another area are well documented anywhere, and are not part of the inventive concept of this invention. Any of the known methodologies or systems can be implemented here to provide an adequate navigation system. The batteries 46 also provide power to operate the motor and fan unit 50 to draw air towards the vacuum cleaner 10 through the suction opening 24 in the cleaning head 22. The motor 28 is also driven by the batteries 46, so that the brush bar 26 is rotated in order to achieve good collection, particularly when the Vacuum cleaner 10 will be used to clean a carpet. The dirty air is drawn to the cleaning head 22 and led to the cyclone separator 52 through the telescopic duct 30 and the inlet port 32. The dirty air then enters the inlet portion 58 in a tangential manner and adopts a helical path by virtue of the shape of the helical wall 60. Then, the air spirally falls inside the external wall 64 of the tank 62 during that movement, any particles of relatively large dirt and lint are separated from the air flow. The separate dirt and lint particles are collected at the end of the reservoir 62 away from the inlet portion 58. The fin 78 disapproves of uneven accumulation of dirt and lint particles and helps distribute collected dirt and lint around the end of the reservoir. reservoir 62 in a relatively even manner. The air flow from which the largest dirt and lint particles have been separated, moves inwardly from the outer wall 64 of the tank 62 and travels back along the outer wall of the fine dust collector 74 to the cover 80. The presence of the cover 80 also helps to prevent the larger particles and lint travel from the cyclone external 54 to internal cyclone 56, as is known. The air from which comparatively large particles and dirt have been separated, then passes through the cover 80 and travels along the channel between the cover 80 and the outer surface of the inner cyclone body 72 until it reaches the port of inlet 86 towards the inner cyclone 56. The air then enters the inner cyclone 56 in a helical shape and follows a spiral path around the inner surface of the cyclone body 72. Due to the frusto-conical shape of the cyclone body 72, the velocity of the air flow increases to very high values where the dirt and fine dust that continue to enter the air flow are separated from it. The dirt and fine dust separated in the inner cyclone 56 are collected in the fine dust collector 74 out of the dust ring 68. The dust ring 68 disapproves of the separated dirt and dust returning back to the air flow. When dirt and fine dust have been separated from the air flow, clean air exits the cyclone separator through vortex seeker (not shown). The air is passed over or around the engine and fan unit 50 in order to cool the engine before it is expelled into the atmosphere. The provision of the cyclone separation apparatus on a robotic vacuum avoids the need to make use of bag type filters to separate dirt or dust from the air flow. This in turn avoids the inevitable clogging of bag type filters, which can result in a reduction in collection (and therefore a reduced efficiency in cleaning). The invention described herein does not have to look at the specific means by which the vacuum cleaner is driven through a surface to be cleaned, nor with the specific means through which the vacuum cleaner avoids contact with obstacles or obstructions. Rather, the vacuum can be operated through a main supply using a cable, if desired, although it is preferred that the vacuum cleaner be operated in a cordless manner. The nature and arrangement of the sensors described herein are also immaterial and can be replaced by equivalent arrangements, which will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It will be understood that the means by which the batteries that provide power to the vacuum cleaner are charged are also immaterial to the invention, as is the arrangement through which they are attached to and are released from the vacuum cleaner. The same goes for the exact design and configuration of the cleaning head and the manner in which it is mounted on the chassis. All these characteristics are going to be considered as non-essential to the central concept of providing a robotic or autonomous vacuum with cyclonic separation means in the manner described above.

Claims (17)

1. A vacuum having a chassis, support wheels mounted on the chassis, driving means connected to the support wheels for driving the support wheels, a control mechanism for controlling the driving means in order to guide the vacuum through a surface to be cleaned, a cleaning head that has a dirty air inlet facing the surface to be cleaned, and a separation device supported by the chassis and communicating with the cleaning head to separate dirt and dust from an air flow which enters the vacuum cleaner through the entry of dirt air, wherein the separation apparatus comprises at least one cyclone.

A vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the separation apparatus is supported on the chassis with the longitudinal axis of the separation apparatus lying in a substantially horizontal position.

3. A vacuum cleaner according to claim 2, wherein the entrance to the separation apparatus is located directly above an outlet of the cleaning head.

A vacuum cleaner according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the separation apparatus comprises two cyclones arranged in series.

5. A vacuum cleaner according to claim 4, wherein the upstream cyclone is adapted to remove particles of dirt and dust with a comparatively large airflow size and the downstream cyclone is adapted to remove dirt and dust particles with a comparatively small air flow size.

6. A vacuum cleaner according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the cyclones are arranged concentrically.

A vacuum cleaner according to any of claims 4 to 6, wherein the downstream cyclone is disposed within the upstream cyclone.

A vacuum cleaner according to any of claims 4 to 7, wherein the upstream cyclone has a generally cylindrical shape.

9. A vacuum cleaner according to any of claims 4 to 8, wherein the downstream cyclone has a frusto-conical shape.

A vacuum cleaner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the separation apparatus comprises a single cyclone, which has a frusto-conical shape.

11. A vacuum cleaner according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the separation apparatus comprises a removable tank or collection chamber where, during use, dirt and dust are collected.

12. A vacuum cleaner according to claim 11, wherein the removable tank or collection chamber is transparent or translucent.

13. A vacuum cleaner according to claim 11 or 12, wherein removable tank forms an external part of the vacuum cleaner.

A vacuum cleaner according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the cleaning head is connected to the chassis in a way that allows the cleaning head to float on the surface to be cleaned.

A vacuum cleaner according to claim 14, wherein the cleaning head is connected to the chassis through an arm, which is pivotally connected to the chassis at a first end and pivotally connected to the cleaning head at a second end.

16. A vacuum cleaner according to any of the preceding claims, wherein at least one power pack is carried by the chassis and is connected to the driving means and the control mechanism. A vacuum cleaner according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the control mechanism is electrically protected from electrostatic fields generated by the cyclone.