U.S. patent application number 11/491862 was filed with the patent office on 2007-09-13 for robot vacuum cleaner having microbe sensing function.
Invention is credited to Soo-hyung Choi, Jung-im Han, Soo-suk Lee.
Application Number | 20070209143 11/491862 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38103652 |
Filed Date | 2007-09-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070209143 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Choi; Soo-hyung ; et
al. |
September 13, 2007 |
Robot vacuum cleaner having microbe sensing function
Abstract
A robot vacuum cleaner having a microbe sensing function is
provided. The robot vacuum cleaner includes: a cleaner body which
automatically travels in an area to be cleaned; a suction unit
which sucks dust in the area to be cleaned into a specific space
included in the cleaner body; a microbe contamination sensor which
detects a microbe contamination in the area to be cleaned; and a
sterilizing unit which sterilizes a corresponding portion according
to a microbe contamination measuring signal generated from the
microbe contamination sensor. Accordingly, a robot vacuum cleaner
directly measures a level of microbe contamination to perform a
sterilizing operation according to the result obtained from
measurement. As a result, the sterilizing operation is performed
sufficiently in a severely contaminated area, the sterilizing
operation is performed in a general manner in other areas, and thus
a cleaning operation can be rapidly carried out. Therefore,
efficiencies in the cleaning and sterilizing operations are
improved.
Inventors: |
Choi; Soo-hyung;
(Hwaseong-si, KR) ; Han; Jung-im; (Seoul, KR)
; Lee; Soo-suk; (Suwon-si, KR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
CANTOR COLBURN, LLP
55 GRIFFIN ROAD SOUTH
BLOOMFIELD
CT
06002
US
|
Family ID: |
38103652 |
Appl. No.: |
11/491862 |
Filed: |
July 24, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
15/339 ; 422/24;
422/26; 422/62; 422/88 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47L 9/2852 20130101;
A47L 11/34 20130101; A47L 9/2805 20130101; A47L 11/4044 20130101;
A47L 11/4011 20130101; A47L 2201/06 20130101; A47L 9/2836 20130101;
A47L 11/4086 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
15/339 ; 422/62;
422/88; 422/26; 422/24 |
International
Class: |
A47L 9/00 20060101
A47L009/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Mar 9, 2006 |
KR |
10-2006-0022325 |
Claims
1. A robot cleaner comprising: a cleaner body which automatically
travels in an area to be cleaned; a suction unit which sucks dust
in the area to be cleaned into a specific space included in the
cleaner body; a microbe contamination sensor which detects a
microbe contamination in the area to be cleaned; and a sterilizing
unit which sterilizes a corresponding portion according to a
microbe contamination measuring signal generated from the microbe
contamination sensor.
2. The robot vacuum cleaner of claim 1, wherein the microbe
contamination sensor comprises a gas sensor which senses a
particular smell component produced by a microbe to be
detected.
3. The robot cleaner of claim 2, wherein the particular smell
component is 1-octen-3-ol.
4. The robot cleaner of claim 2, wherein the gas sensor comprises:
a substrate; a sensing layer which is laminated on the substrate
and reacts with a particular smell component, thereby causing a
resistance variation; an electrode which is buried on the sensing
layer to measure the resistance variation; a heater which heats the
sensing layer to a temperature suitable for measuring the
resistance variation; a filter layer which filters a gas excluding
the particular smell component so as not to be mixed into the
sensing layer; and a mesh cap which prevents dust from mixing into
the sensing layer.
5. The robot cleaner of claim 4, wherein, as a main material, the
sensing layer comprises at least one main material selected from
metal oxide materials of SnO2, In2O3, WO3, and SiO2.
6. The robot vacuum cleaner of claim 5, wherein, in the sensing
material, as for an additive material, at least one component
selected from ZnO, Al2O3, NiO, and TiO2 is added at a ratio of
5.about.15 wt % per unit weight of the main material, and as for a
catalyst, at least one component of noble metals such as Pt, Pd,
and Au is added at a ratio of 0.1.about.1 wt % per unit weight of
the main material.
7. The robot vacuum cleaner of claim 1, wherein the sterilizing
unit comprises an ultraviolet ray lamp and/or a steam generator.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent
Application No. 10-2006-0022325, filed on Mar. 9, 2006, in the
Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is
incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the invention
[0003] The present invention relates to a robot vacuum cleaner that
automatically travels in an area to be cleaned in order to suck and
thereby remove contaminants (i.e. dust) on the floor, and more
particularly, to a robot vacuum cleaner having a microbe sensing
function.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] In general, a robot vacuum cleaner is an autonomous vacuum
cleaner which can remove dust on the floor by suction while finding
its own way around an area to be cleaned without a user's control.
Such robot vacuum cleaner uses a sensor to avoid an obstacle that
exists in the area to be cleaned, so that the robot vacuum cleaner
can travel itself freely while changing directions without hitting
into the obstacle. Thus, the robot vacuum cleaner can be
conveniently used not only in a wide open space, but in a house
filled with furniture, attracting a buyer.
[0006] Meanwhile, with a growing concern of respiratory ailments
stemming from various bacteria and germs, there is a demand for a
vacuum cleaner which can effectively eliminate not only dust but
also microbe. To cope with such demand, a robot vacuum cleaner
having a sterilizing function is disclosed in Korean Patent
Application No. 2005-13866. The robot cleaner includes an
ultraviolet ray lamp used for sterilizing, so that a sterilizing
operation is performed through the ultraviolet ray lamp while a
cleaning operation is carried out.
[0007] In this structure, however, it is difficult to expect that
the sterilizing operation is carried out effectively. This is
because the cleaning operation is carried out when a user
selectively chooses on/off modes of the ultraviolet ray lamp,
regardless of occurrence of a microbe contaminant in practice. The
sterilizing operation can be rapidly and effectively carried out if
an ultraviolet ray is intensively irradiated onto an area
contaminated by a microbe, and as for other areas, the sterilizing
operation is performed in a general manner. Therefore, if the
cleaning operation is performed together with the sterilizing
operation with respect to a whole area irrespective of the microbe
contaminant, efficiency of the sterilizing operation decreases.
Further, the sterilizing operation may be performed improperly
because a sufficient time may not be ensured for an area required
to be sterilized.
[0008] Accordingly, to solve the above mentioned problems, there is
a need for a robot vacuum cleaner capable of detecting a microbe
contamination.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] The present invention provides an improved robot cleaner
which can detect a microbe contamination to perform a sterilizing
operation along with a cleaning operation.
[0010] According to an aspect of the present invention, there is
provided a robot cleaner comprising: a cleaner body which
automatically travels in an area to be cleaned; a suction unit
which sucks dust in the area to be cleaned into a specific space
included in the cleaner body; a microbe contamination sensor which
detects a microbe contamination in the area to be cleaned; and a
sterilizing unit which sterilizes a corresponding portion according
to a microbe contamination measuring signal generated from the
microbe contamination sensor.
[0011] In the aforementioned aspect of the present invention, the
microbe contamination sensor may be a gas sensor which senses a
particular smell component, such as 1-octen-3-ol, produced by a
microbe.
[0012] In addition, the gas sensor may comprise: a substrate; a
sensing layer which is laminated on the substrate and reacts with a
particular smell component, thereby causing a resistance variation;
an electrode which is buried on the sensing layer to measure the
resistance variation; a heater which heats the sensing layer to a
temperature suitable for measuring the resistance variation; a
filter layer which filters a gas excluding the particular smell
component so as not to be mixed into the sensing layer; and a mesh
cap which prevents dust from mixing into the sensing layer.
[0013] In addition, as a main material, the sensing layer may
comprise at least one main material selected from metal oxide
materials of SnO2, In2O3, WO3, and SiO2, and in the sensing
material, as for an additive material, at least one component
selected from ZnO, Al2O3, NiO, and TiO2 may be added at the ratio
of 5.about.15 wt % per unit weight of the main material, and as for
a catalyst, at least one component of noble metals such as Pt, Pd,
and Au may be added at the ratio of 0.1.about.1 wt % per unit
weight of the main material.
[0014] In addition, the sterilizing unit may comprise an
ultraviolet ray lamp and/or a steam generator.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] The above and other features and advantages of the present
invention will become more apparent by describing in detail
exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached
drawings in which:
[0016] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a robot cleaner according to
an embodiment of the present invention;
[0017] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a microbe contamination
sensor used in the robot cleaner of FIG. 1; and
[0018] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of an alternative sterilizing
unit used in the robot cleaner of FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0019] FIG. 1 illustrates a robot cleaner 100 according to an
embodiment of the present invention.
[0020] Referring to FIG. 1, the robot cleaner 100 has a structure
in which traveling, cleaning, and sterilizing operations are
automatically carried out by a controller 120 included in a cleaner
body 110. Specifically, a position of the robot cleaner 100 and a
position of an obstacle are detected by an obstacle sensor 130, a
front camera 141, and an upper camera 142, and then based on
information obtained from the detection, the controller 120 allows
the cleaner body 110 to automatically travel in an area to be
cleaned. In this process, a suction unit 150 sucks dust, and a
sterilizing unit 160 including an ultraviolet ray lamp 161 performs
a sterilizing operation. The description so far is similar to that
of a conventional robot cleaner disclosed in
[0021] Further, the robot cleaner 100 of the present invention
includes a microbe contamination sensor 170 which detects a microbe
contamination in an area to be cleaned. Specifically, unlike the
conventional robot cleaner which performs a sterilizing operation
using a uniform pattern in general according to on/off modes
thereof, in the present invention, a feedback control is achieved
in which the microbe contamination sensor 170 detects the microbe
contamination, and based on the result thereof, the sterilizing
operation is distinctively performed.
[0022] The microbe contamination sensor 170 is installed in a
bypass pipe 172, which is divided from the suction unit 150 so that
a portion of air absorbed from the suction unit 150 can be
collected and measured, and includes a gas sensor 171 which can
detect a particular smell component of a microbe included in the
absorbed air. If contamination occurs due to the microbe, a
particular smell is produced. Here, although it is slightly
different according to a microbe type, there is a common component
producing the smell. The microbe contamination sensor 170 is
composed of the gas sensor 171 which can sense the level of microbe
contamination by sensing the particular common smell component.
Thus, if a large portion of the particular smell component is
sensed from an air that enters through the suction unit 150, a
signal indicating the fact is transmitted to the controller 120,
and the controller 120 then performs a distinctive sterilizing
operation, for example, more time is spent to perform the
sterilizing operation by using the ultraviolet ray lamp 161 for a
portion that deems to be contaminated severely. The common smell
component included in most microbes may be 1-octen-3-ol. Although
not all strains contain such component, since a microbe found in
everyday life exists in a multi-type form, it is expected that the
component will be found commonly in an environment contaminated by
several types of microbes.
[0023] The gas sensor 171 which senses the 1-octen-3-ol may be a
semiconductor type of FIG. 2. To measure variation in electrical
resistance of a sensing layer 171c in response to the 1-octen-3-ol,
the sensing layer 171c has a structure in which an electrode 171b
and the sensing layer 171c are laminated on an alumina substrate
171a, and the variation in electrical resistance of the sensing
layer 171c can be measured from the electrode 171b. A heater 171d
heats the sensing layer 171c to a temperature suitable for
measurement. A mesh cap 171f filters dust sucked from the air. A
filter layer 171e filters other smell components except for the
1-octen-3-ol.
[0024] The semiconductor type gas sensor 171 operates by the
following principles.
[0025] First, the sensing layer 171c includes a metal oxide
material (i.e. SnO2, In2O3, WO3, or SiO2) as a main material. As
for an additive material, ZnO, Al2O3, NiO, or TiO2 is added at the
ratio of 5.about.15 wt % per unit weight of the main material. As
for a catalyst, a noble metal (i.e. Pt, Pd, or Au) is added at the
ratio of 0.1.about.1 wt % per unit weight of the main material. The
metal oxide material, that is, the main material of the sensing
layer 171c, shows absorption characteristics of oxygen when it is
heated to a specific temperature in the air. The absorbed oxygen
forms a potential barrier in a grain boundary of the metal oxide
material, thereby hindering a carrier such as an electron from
freely moving. In other words, the absorbed oxygen functions as an
electrical resistance. When a reductive gas of 1-octen-3-ol comes
in contact therewith, the absorbed oxygen reacts with the
1-octen-3-ol, and thus density decreases and resistance varies. The
resistance variation is measured through the electrode 171b, and a
quantity of contained 1-octen-3-ol is calculated therefrom. When
the quantity of contained 1-octen-3-ol is large, it means that a
microbe contaminant is severe. Whereas, when the quantity of
contained 1-octen-3-ol is small, it means that a microbe
contaminant is not severe.
[0026] The robot cleaner 100 including the microbe contamination
sensor 170 having the above structure operates as follows.
[0027] First, when a cleaning operation begins, the cleaner body
110 travels in an area to be cleaned under the control of the
controller 120. Next, the suction unit 150 and the sterilizing unit
160 perform cleaning and sterilizing operations under the control
of the controller 120. Here, unlike the conventional case, the
sterilizing operation of the sterilizing unit 160 is not performed
unilaterally in the whole area to be cleaned. Instead, the
sterilizing operation is selectively performed in response to a
sensing signal from the microbe contamination sensor 170. For this,
the gas sensor 171 of the microbe contamination sensor 170
recognizes a quantity of contained microbe from the air entering
into the bypass tube 172, that is, a quantity of contained
1-octen-3-ol, through the following processes.
[0028] Referring to FIG. 2, an air that enters through the bypass
pipe 172 enters inside the gas sensor 171 via a mesh cap 171f.
Here, dust in the air is filtered through the mesh cap 171f. The
mesh cap 171f may include a Teflon net having a hole with a
diameter of 2 .mu.m suitable for filtering a tiny dust.
[0029] Besides the 1-octen-3-ol to be detected, ammonia and
hydrogen sulfide series gases, which can function as a noise, are
filtered through the filter layer 171e inside the mesh cap 171f.
The filter layer 171e has to be non-reactive with the 1-octen-3-ol
but reactive with the aforementioned ammonia and hydrogen sulfide
series gases. For this reason, an active carbon or a zeolite-series
material may be used.
[0030] After being filtered through the filter layer 171e, the
gases come in contact with the sensing layer 171c, with the
1-octen-3-ol component being left, in general. Here, the sensing
layer 171c is heated by the heater 171d to about
200.about.300.degree. C., and thus a large amount of oxygen is
absorbed in the grain boundary. In this state, when the oxygen
reacts with the 1-octen-3-ol, an oxygen density drops, causing a
resistance variation. The resistance variation is delivered to the
controller 120 as an electrical signal through the electrode 171b.
According to the signal, if it is determined that a microbe
contamination occurs severely, the controller 120 controls a motion
speed so that the ultraviolet ray lamp 161 of the sterilizing unit
160 can irradiate light onto a corresponding area. In some cases,
intensity of the ultraviolet ray may be increased so as to enforce
a sterilizing power. As for an area where the 1-octen-3-ol is
rarely detected, since the microbe contamination is low, the
sterilizing operation is performed in a general manner, thereby
achieving fast cleaning.
[0031] Accordingly, in an area severely contaminated by the
microbe, the sterilizing operation is sufficiently carried out for
a longer time. Whereas, in an area rarely contaminated by the
microbe, the sterilizing and cleaning operations can be both
effectively carried out.
[0032] For example, the sensing layer 171c of the gas sensor 171
may be formed through patterning and baking by using a powder in
which the aforementioned main material, additive material, and
catalyst are mixed. Specifically, the electrode 171b and the heater
171d are respectively subject to patterning on the alumina
substrate 171a which is cleaned and dried, the powder mentioned
above is then subject to the patterning, and the sensing layer 171c
is then baked. Thereafter, as described above, a sensor capable of
measuring resistance is formed. When the mesh cap 171f including
the filter layer 171e is covered on the sensor, the gas sensor 171
of FIG. 2 is obtained. This is only example of forming the gas
sensor 171, and various methods thereof may be used.
[0033] In addition, although the ultraviolet ray lamp 161 is used
as the sterilizing unit 160 in the present embodiment, the
sterilizing operation may be carried out using stream generated
from a stream generator 162 shown in FIG. 3.
[0034] Accordingly, in the present invention, a robot cleaner
directly measures a level of microbe contamination to perform a
sterilizing operation according to the result obtained from
measurement. By doing so, the sterilizing operation is performed
sufficiently in a severely contaminated area, the sterilizing
operation is performed in a general manner in other areas, and thus
a cleaning operation can be rapidly carried out. Therefore,
efficiency of the cleaning and sterilizing operations are both
improved.
* * * * *