U.S. patent application number 11/177818 was filed with the patent office on 2007-01-11 for remote control sweeper.
This patent application is currently assigned to Gooten Innolife Corporation. Invention is credited to Yong-Han Chang, Tzo Fang Cheng.
Application Number | 20070006404 11/177818 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37616961 |
Filed Date | 2007-01-11 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070006404 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Cheng; Tzo Fang ; et
al. |
January 11, 2007 |
Remote control sweeper
Abstract
A remote control sweeper includes a wireless remote control
receiver installed at the sweeper; a remote control for
transmitting a direction control signal to the remote control
receiver via a wireless transmission to control the moving
direction of the sweeper, such that the sweeper can be moved to
automatically clean up the dirt and collect the dust on a
floor.
Inventors: |
Cheng; Tzo Fang; (Taichung
Hsien, TW) ; Chang; Yong-Han; (Taichung Hsien,
TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
CHARLES E. BAXLEY, ESQ.
90 JOHN STREET
THIRD FLOOR
NEW YORK
NY
10038
US
|
Assignee: |
Gooten Innolife Corporation
|
Family ID: |
37616961 |
Appl. No.: |
11/177818 |
Filed: |
July 8, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
15/52.1 ; 15/319;
15/41.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47L 2201/00 20130101;
A47L 11/33 20130101; A47L 11/4011 20130101; A47L 11/32
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
015/052.1 ;
015/319; 015/041.1 |
International
Class: |
A47L 11/24 20060101
A47L011/24 |
Claims
1. A remote control sweeper, comprising: a wireless remote control
receiver, installed at said sweeper; and a remote control, for
transmitting a direction control signal to said remote control
receiver to control the moving direction of said sweeper.
2. The sweeper of claim 1, further comprising: an upper casing and
a lower casing, both being coupled with each other manually to
define an interior space; a battery, installed in said interior
space; two wheels, installed in said interior space and in contact
with a floor, and each wheel being controlled by a motor
transmission gear module to rotate; a sweeping brush, installed in
said interior space and in contact with a floor, and controlled by
a sweeping brush transmission module to rotate axially; a dust
container, detachably fixed into said interior space and having a
dust collecting opening disposed on a surface corresponding to said
sweeping brush for collecting dirt and dust swept by said sweeper;
an electronic control unit, installed in said interior space and
electrically coupled with said battery, said motor transmission
gear module, said sweeper transmission module and said remote
control receiver.
3. The sweeper of claim 2, further comprising at least two
universal wheels installed at an external surface of the bottom of
said lower casing.
4. The sweeper of claim 2, wherein said lower casing installs a
lateral brush transmission module disposed at a corner of said
lower casing proximate to said sweeping brush and electrically
coupled with said electronic control unit for driving a lateral
brush disposed at the bottom of said lower casing to rotate.
5. The sweeper of claim 2, wherein said upper casing comprises a
pushing section pivotally coupled to a surface of said upper
casing.
6. The sweeper of claim 5, wherein said pushing section comprises a
pivotal connecting section for pivotally coupling an end of a
handle rod.
7. The sweeper of claim 6, wherein said lower casing comprises a
grove having a first groove end and a second groove end, and the
groove of said second groove end is shallower than the groove of
said first groove; and a T-shape rod is pivotally coupled with said
grooves, and an auxiliary roller is disposed separately on both
ends of said T-shape rod, and said two auxiliary rollers are
accommodated by the groove of said first groove end or said second
groove end by said T-shape rod.
8. The sweeper of claim 2, wherein said sweeping brush comprises an
axle, a brush body coupled outside said axle, and said brush body
includes a brush, and said axle of said sweeping brush is
controlled by said brush transmission module to rotate and said
brush is provided for cleaning.
9. The sweeper of claim 8, wherein both ends of said axle of said
sweeping brush are pivotally mounted onto a pivotal base of a
sidewall corresponding to an opening of said sweeping brush of said
lower casing, and an end of said axle is coupled to said sweeping
brush transmission module.
10. The sweeper of claim 9, wherein said sweeping brush
transmission module comprises a belt roller coupled with an axle
end of said sweeping brush and driven by a transmission belt and a
motor axle, and said motor is electrically coupled with said
electronic control unit.
11. The sweeper of claim 2, further comprises an external power
socket electrically coupled with said electronic control unit for
charging said battery.
12. The sweeper of claim 2, wherein said upper casing further
comprises an object accommodating groove disposed in an
accommodating space of said upper casing.
13. The sweeper of claim 2, wherein said dust container is
comprised of a box body and a lid covering said box body.
14. The sweeper of claim 2, wherein said dust container installs a
dust scraper being in contact with said sweeping brush and disposed
at a lower edge of said dust collecting opening of said dust
container.
15. The sweeper of claim 14, wherein said dust scraper is tilted to
be in contact with said sweeping brush.
16. The sweeper of claim 2, wherein said upper casing further
comprises a power button electrically coupled with said electronic
control unit.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention generally relates to a cleaning
machine, and more particularly to a sweeper whose moving direction
can be controlled by a remote control.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] The common tool used for sweeping floor is a broom, which
can be used to clean up a small area of floor, but using a broom to
clean up a large area of floor is very inefficient. To save efforts
of the cleaning job, an electric sweeper is introduced, so that
users can push and control the electric sweeper to automatically
clean up and collect the dirt on the floor along the path where the
sweeper passes.
[0005] Regardless of the traditional broom and electric sweeper,
the inventor of the present invention believe that pushing the
machine by users is difficult, particularly for a person who has a
walking problem. Even for general users, operating or pushing the
machine will cause backaches easily. Furthermore, the broom and
electric sweepers cannot take care of the hard-to-reach areas such
as a place with many obstacles or an area with a short height
(under a seat, table or furniture, etc), since the structure and
the volume of the broom or sweeper are restricted and thus cannot
clean up the hard-to-reach areas.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] To overcome the inconvenience and shortcomings of the prior
art, the present invention provides a lightweight and convenient
remote control sweeper.
[0007] Therefore, it is a primary objective of the invention to
provide a sweeper whose moving direction can be controlled to clean
up dirt and collect dust. The present invention is an
effort-saving, convenient, easy-to-operate sweeper, particularly
suitable for people who have a walking problem.
[0008] A secondary objective of the present invention is to provide
a sweeper with a small size and a flat shape that can freely sweep
and pass through a small, short and hard-to-reach area.
[0009] Another objective of the present invention is to provide a
sweeper that also can be pushed manually by users to automatically
clean up the floor.
[0010] A further objective of the present invention is to provide a
sweeper whose brush can be replaced by users. Users can change the
brush to an appropriate one according to actual needs.
[0011] The remote control sweeper in accordance with the present
invention comprises:
[0012] an upper casing and a lower casing, both can be coupled
manually with each other to define an interior space;
[0013] a battery, installed in the interior space;
[0014] two wheels, installed in the interior space and in contact
with a floor, and each wheel being driven by a motor transmission
gear module to rotate;
[0015] a sweeping brush, installed in the interior space and in
contact with a floor, and controlled by a sweeping brush
transmission module to rotate axially;
[0016] a dust container, detachably fixed in the interior space and
disposed proximate to the sweeping brush and having a
dust-collecting opening disposed on a surface corresponding to the
sweeping brush for collecting the dust swept by the sweeping
brush;
[0017] a remote control receiver, installed on the sweeper;
[0018] a remote control, capable of transmitting a direction
control signal to the remote control receiver for controlling the
moving direction of the sweeper; and
[0019] an electronic control unit, installed in the interior space
and electrically coupled with the battery, motor transmission gear
module, sweeping transmission module and remote control
receiver.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0020] FIG. 1 is a rear view of the present invention;
[0021] FIG. 2 is a front view of the present invention;
[0022] FIG. 3 is a first exploded view of the present
invention;
[0023] FIG. 4 is a second exploded view of the present
invention;
[0024] FIG. 5 is a third exploded view of the present
invention;
[0025] FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the present invention;
[0026] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of Section 7-7 as depicted
in FIG. 2 and two wheels of the sweeper and a universal roller are
in contact with a floor;
[0027] FIG. 8 is another cross-sectional view and two wheels and a
universal roller of the sweeper are in contact with a floor;
and
[0028] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a sweeper being operated
manually according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0029] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 respectively for the rear view
and front view of the remote control sweeper in accordance with the
present invention, the sweeper comprises an upper casing 10 and a
lower casing 20 being engaged with each other, and the left and
right sections of the upper and lower casings 10, 20 separately
install a wheel 30, 30'. The upper casing 10 pivotally connects a
pushing section 11 at its surface, and the pushing section 11 can
be turned to any angle with respect to the pivotal end 111 as the
center, and can be placed flatly and accommodated into a groove 12
of the upper casing 10. Further, the upper casing 10 further
comprises a power button 13 and a remote control receiver 14, and a
cover 16 for covering an upper casing opening 161 can be installed
and detached easily. In FIG. 1, the upper casing 10 further
comprises a power socket 15.
[0030] Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, we can see that the upper casing
10 comes with a specific accommodating space, after the cover 16 is
removed. The accommodating space comprises an object accommodating
groove 171, a motor chamber 172 for accommodating and mounting a
motor 61, and the motor chamber 172 being covered by a motor hood
173, an accessing opening 174 for accessing a dust container 40 and
a battery chamber 15 for accommodating a battery 50.
[0031] Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the lower casing 20 also
includes a specific accommodating space, and the accommodating
space comprises a dust container 40 accommodated and mounted into a
dust container fixing groove 201, a sweeping brush opening 202 for
accommodating a sweeping brush 60, and an electronic component
chamber 203 for accommodating an electronic control unit 70.
[0032] The electronic component chamber 203 installs the wheels 30,
30' on both sidewalls proximate to the lower casing 20, and each
wheel 30, 30' is controlled by the electronic control unit 70 and
driven by a motor transmission gear module 31 to rotate. Both of
the two wheels 30, 30' rotate clockwise to move the sweeper forward
and counterclockwise to move the sweeper backward. If the wheel 30
on the right rotates clockwise and the wheel 30' on the left
rotates counterclockwise, then the sweeper will be turned left. If
the wheel 30 on the right rotates counterclockwise and the wheel
30' on the left rotates clockwise, then the sweeper will be turned
right. The electronic control unit 70 is electrically connected
with the battery 50, power button 13, power socket 15, motor 61,
and remote control receiver 14, and the remote control receiver 14
works with a remote control 141 as shown in FIG. 2. An external
power supply can be used to charge the battery 50 through the power
socket 15 to supply electric power required by the operation of the
foregoing components. The power button 13 turns on or off the
power, and the remote control receiver 14 is controlled by the
remote control 141 to drive the sweeper to move forward or backward
and turn left or right. The foregoing remote control technology
uses a transmission source (including infrared, radio frequency
(RF), supersonic, or oral command) for a wireless transmission with
a wireless receiving end.
[0033] The sweeper 60 comprises an axle 62, a brush body 66 fixed
outside the axle 62, and a brush 661 installed outside the brush
body 66. The brush 60 uses both ends of the axle 62 to detachably
couple a pivotal base 63, 64 disposed separately on the sidewalls
corresponding to a sweeping brush opening 202 of the lower casing
20. An end of the axle 62 is connected to a sweeping brush
transmission module which is electrically coupled to the electronic
control unit for controlling the rotation of the sweeping brush 60
to sweep the floor with the brush 661. The sweeping brush
transmission module comprises a motor 61, a belt 65 and an axle 62
of the sweeping brush 60 connected to an end of the belt wheel
651.
[0034] The dust container 40 is a box body 41 covered by a lid 42.
The bottom of the box body 41 is fixed to the dust container fixing
groove 201 of the lower casing 20. The box body 41 has a dust
connecting opening 43 disposed on a surface corresponding to the
sweeping brush 60, and the lower edge 431 of the dust collecting
opening 43 will not exceed the groove walls of the dust collecting
fixing groove 201. The dust container fixing groove 201 installs a
dirt scraper 44 at the groove wall corresponding to sweeping brush
60, and the dirt scraper 44 is tilted in contact with the brush
661, so that the dirt and dust collected by the brush 661 are
guided into the dust container 40 by the dirt scraper 44.
[0035] Referring to FIGS. 4 to 6, the lower casing 20 installs a
lateral brush transmission module 51 disposed at a position
proximate to a corner of the sweeping brush 60 and electrically
connected to the electronic control unit 70 and the lateral brush
transmission module 51 installs a lateral brush 52 disposed at the
bottom of the lower casing and controlled to rotate by the
transmission module 51 to clean up the area reached by the sweeping
brush and further be brushed by the sweeping brush 60.
[0036] Referring to FIG. 6, the bottom of the lower casing 20
includes two universal rollers 69 and two auxiliary rollers 67. The
bottom of the lower casing 20 has a groove 21, and the groove 21
has a first groove end 211 and a second groove end 212. In FIG. 7,
the depth of the first groove end 211 is shallower than the second
groove end 212. In FIG. 6, the two auxiliary rollers 67 in the
groove 21 are pivotally coupled to both ends 681, 682 of a T-shape
rod 68, and the third end of the T-shape rod 68 is movable and
pivotally coupled to a pivotal base 22 in the groove 21. The
horizontal level L1 of the second auxiliary roller 67 is higher
than the horizontal level L2 of the two rollers 30, 30', such that
the two wheels 30, 30' are in contact with the floor and move
according to the universal rollers 69. On the other hand, when the
two auxiliary rollers 6 are accommodated in the two groove ends 212
as shown in FIG. 8, the horizontal level L1 of the two auxiliary
rollers 67 is lower than the horizontal level L2 of the two wheels
30, 30' such that the rear section of the sweeper is lifted and no
longer in contact with the floor, and then the two auxiliary wheels
67 together with the universal rollers 69 move the sweeper.
[0037] Reference is made to FIG. 9, and if the two auxiliary wheels
67 work together with the universal rollers, the sweeper is moved
manually. An end of a handle rod 53 is pivotally coupled into a
pivotal connecting section 112 of the pushing section 11, and the
pushing section 11 is tilted so that a user can use the handle rod
53 to push the sweeper to move.
[0038] In summation of the above description, the moving modes of
the sweeper of the present invention include a manual mode and a
remote control mode. The manual mode is described as above, and the
remote control mode allows users to use a remote control 141 to
control the two wheels 30, 30' to move in the same direction or
opposite directions to achieve the forward, backward, left turn,
right turn movements through the remote control receiver 14 and the
electronic control unit 70. The moving sweeper can rotate its
sweeping brush 60 to sweep the floor, and the dust is collected
into the dust container 40 by the dirt scraper 44 and the dust
collecting opening 43. The sweeping brush 60 can be changed to a
different model as needed. If it is necessary to dump the dust in
the dust container 40, users can remove the cover 16 and directly
take out the whole dust container 40, and then open the cover 42 to
dump the dust. After dumping the dust, users can reinstall the
sweeper in a reverse process.
[0039] The sweeper of the present invention has a small size and
can be operated by a remote control. The invention allows users to
clean up a floor quickly without bearing the pain of backaches
caused by sweeping the floor. The sweeper of the invention can even
pass through and clean up the hard-to-reach areas with obstacles or
having a short height.
[0040] Other detailed functions of the invention include the
integration of the pushing section 11 with the handle rod 53 for a
manual mode, or the pushing section 11 being an independent handle
to facilitate users to carry the sweeper. The cover 16 could be
detached by hands, so that users can easily open or install the
cover 16 to facilitate the cleaning of the dust container 40 or
removing objects from the object accommodating groove 171.
[0041] While the invention has been described by way of example and
in terms of a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the
invention is not limited thereto. To the contrary, it is intended
to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and
procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should
be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such
modifications and similar arrangements and procedures.
* * * * *