U.S. patent application number 13/971873 was filed with the patent office on 2014-07-10 for self-propelled cleaning device.
This patent application is currently assigned to UNI-RING TECH, CO. LTD.. The applicant listed for this patent is UNI-RING TECH, CO. LTD.. Invention is credited to HUI-CHEN CHEN, TANG-HUAI CHEN, HSUAN-FAN WANG.
Application Number | 20140189977 13/971873 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 51034457 |
Filed Date | 2014-07-10 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140189977 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
WANG; HSUAN-FAN ; et
al. |
July 10, 2014 |
SELF-PROPELLED CLEANING DEVICE
Abstract
A self-propelled cleaning device includes a chassis with a
protrusion, such that a side brush mechanism is proximate to the
external periphery of the contour of the chassis, and an elastic
element installed between a driving wheel set and the chassis for
providing buffer and shock absorption. An interval is formed
between the front edge of the chassis and a dust inlet for guiding
dust into a dust collecting case in a chassis containing groove,
and the containing groove has a first spacer apart from a control
unit and a second spacer separating a carrying space from a
negative pressure device. The second spacer has a passage
interconnecting the containing groove and the carrying space, and
the dust collecting case has separated first and second sides. The
first side has a negative pressure outlet, and the negative
pressure device has a negative pressure guide channel and a
negative pressure inlet corresponding to the hollow passage in the
second spacer of the chassis containing groove and a negative
pressure outlet of the dust collecting case respectively to allow
air to flow through.
Inventors: |
WANG; HSUAN-FAN; (TAINAN
CITY, TW) ; CHEN; HUI-CHEN; (KAOHSIUNG CITY, TW)
; CHEN; TANG-HUAI; (TAINAN CITY, TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
UNI-RING TECH, CO. LTD. |
KAOHSIUNG CITY |
|
TW |
|
|
Assignee: |
UNI-RING TECH, CO. LTD.
KAOHSIUNG CITY
TW
|
Family ID: |
51034457 |
Appl. No.: |
13/971873 |
Filed: |
August 21, 2013 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
15/347 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47L 9/0472 20130101;
A47L 2201/00 20130101; A47L 9/0488 20130101; A47L 9/009 20130101;
A47L 9/22 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
15/347 |
International
Class: |
A47L 11/40 20060101
A47L011/40 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jan 8, 2013 |
TW |
102100481 |
Claims
1. A self-propelled cleaning device, comprising: a chassis,
including a side brush mechanism for executing a cleaning function,
a driving wheel set for carrying and moving the chassis, a dust
collecting case for collecting dust, a negative pressure device
having a vent for discharging air to provide a negative pressure
suction, and a control unit for executing a system control;
wherein, the chassis has a protrusion protruded and extended from
the external periphery of the contour of the chassis, and the side
brush mechanism performs a rotational sweeping by a driven bristle,
and the protrusion moves the installation position of the side
brush mechanism closer to the external periphery of the contour of
the chassis.
2. The self-propelled cleaning device of claim 1, wherein the
bristle of the side brush mechanism has a cleaning range with an
outermost tangent deviated by a spacing from the outermost tangent
of the diameter of the chassis.
3. A self-propelled cleaning device, comprising: a chassis,
including a side brush mechanism for executing a cleaning function,
a driving wheel set for carrying and moving the chassis, a dust
collecting case for collecting dust, a negative pressure device
having a vent for discharging air to provide a negative pressure
suction, and a control unit for executing a system control;
wherein, the driving wheel set uses a motor to drive a wheel by a
gear set installed in a housing; and an elastic element is
installed between the housing of the driving wheel set and a
surface of an inner side of the upper casing of the chassis, and
the driving wheel set uses a pivot as the center of rotation, and
the elastic element provides an elastic driving force to maintain
the contact of the wheel with the ground and provides buffer and
shock absorbing effects when a vibration is produced.
4. A self-propelled cleaning device, comprising: a chassis,
including a side brush mechanism for executing a cleaning function,
a driving wheel set for carrying and moving the chassis, a dust
collecting case for collecting dust, a negative pressure device
having a vent for discharging air to provide a negative pressure
suction, and a control unit for executing a system control;
wherein, an upper casing of the chassis has an inwardly and
concavely formed containing groove with an opening for
accommodating the dust collecting case, and the containing groove
has a first spacer apart from the control unit and a second spacer
for separating the containing groove from a carrying space of the
negative pressure device, and an inclined edge is formed at a
position near the top of the second spacer and has a hollow passage
for interconnecting the containing groove and the carrying space
with each other, and the lower casing disposed at the bottom of the
containing groove has a hollow hole.
5. The self-propelled cleaning device of claim 4, wherein the dust
collecting case includes a container, and a first side and a second
side formed on both sides of the bottom of the container dust
collecting space respectively and separated with an appropriate
interval apart from each other, and the bottom has a dust inlet,
and an inclined surface is disposed at a position near the top of
the first side, such that an accommodating space is concavely
formed on the first side and disposed at the position, and the
accommodating space has a negative pressure outlet formed
thereon.
6. The self-propelled cleaning device of claim 4, wherein the
negative pressure device includes a fan driven by a motor, a shaft
cover driven by the motor to rotate the fan, and an outer frame
coaxial with the shaft cover and connected to the bottom edge with
an appropriate interval apart from each other, and an annular
airflow passage is formed in a space between the shaft cover and
the outer frame, and the outer frame has a plurality of vanes
formed around the outer frame, and a negative pressure guide
channel with a flat area is formed at the top of the annular
airflow passage, and an end of the negative pressure guide channel
has a negative pressure inlet, and the motor drives the shaft cover
to link and rotate the vanes of the outer frame in order to
discharge the air inside the annular airflow passage to the outside
through the vent, so that a negative pressure is formed inside the
annular airflow passage, and the negative pressure drives the
negative pressure guide channel to suck air from the negative
pressure inlet.
7. A self-propelled cleaning device, comprising: a chassis,
including a side brush mechanism for executing a cleaning function,
a driving wheel set for carrying and moving the chassis, a dust
collecting case for collecting dust, a negative pressure device
having a vent for discharging air to provide a negative pressure
suction, and a control unit for executing a system control; wherein
the dust collecting case includes a container, a first side and a
second side disposed on both sides of the bottom inside the
container dust collecting space respectively and separated with an
appropriate interval apart from each other, and the bottom has a
dust inlet, and an inclined surface is disposed at a position near
the top of the first side, so that an accommodating space is
concavely formed on the first side and at the position, and the
accommodating space has a negative pressure outlet.
8. A self-propelled cleaning device, comprising: a chassis,
including a side brush mechanism for executing a cleaning function,
a driving wheel set for carrying and moving the chassis, a dust
collecting case for collecting dust, a negative pressure device
having a vent for discharging air to provide a negative pressure
suction, and a control unit for executing a system control;
wherein, the chassis has a containing groove for accommodating the
dust collecting case, and the dust collecting case includes a
container, and a first side and a second side disposed on both
sides of the bottom inside the bottom of the container dust
collecting space and separated with an appropriate interval apart
from each other, and the bottom has a dust inlet, and the first
side has a negative pressure outlet, and the containing groove of
the chassis has a first spacer apart from the control unit and a
second spacer apart from a carrying space of the negative pressure
device, and the second spacer has a hollow passage for
interconnecting the containing groove and the carrying space with
each other, and the negative pressure device has a negative
pressure guide channel with a negative pressure inlet aligned with
the hollow passage on the second spacer of the chassis containing
groove and the negative pressure outlet of the dust collecting case
to allow air to flow through.
9. The self-propelled cleaning device of claim 8, wherein the first
side of the dust collecting case has an accommodating space
concavely formed therein, and the second spacer of the chassis has
a concave space formed on a side of the carrying space and a
portion protruded from a side of the containing groove, and the
negative pressure inlet of the negative pressure device is embedded
into the concave space, and the portion protruded from the
containing groove of the second spacer is embedded into the
accommodating space concavely formed on the first side of the dust
collecting case.
10. The self-propelled cleaning device of claim 5, 7 or 8, further
comprising a negative airflow path formed between the dust inlet
and the negative pressure outlet and situated between the first
side and the second side, and a mesh filter vertically installed
and disposed proximate to the first side of the negative pressure
outlet.
11. The self-propelled cleaning device of claim 5, 7 or 8, wherein
the dust inlet is comprised of a strip embedding element installed
at the dust inlet, and a fixing edge is formed and extended from
the top end of the embedding element, and a fastener is provided
for fixing the fixing edge to the bottom of the container.
12. The self-propelled cleaning device of claim 5, 7 or 8, wherein
the dust inlet has a front blocking edge and a rear blocking edge
extended downward from the front and rear sides of the dust inlet
respectively, and the front blocking edge is a component for
passing a negative pressure airflow for vacuuming dust, and the
front blocking edge has a relatively shorter downwardly extended
length and includes a plurality of wedge-shaped airflow channels,
and the rear blocking edge has a relatively longer downwardly
extended length and almost reaches the floor for blocking the
negative pressure airflow from passing through.
13. The self-propelled cleaning device of claim 5, 7 or 8, wherein
the dust inlet is disposed at an outlet end inside the dust
collecting space and covered by a shutter, and the shutter is
pivotally installed to a vertical pivot pin on the bottom adjacent
to the dust inlet.
14. The self-propelled cleaning device of claim 5, 7 or 8, wherein
the dust inlet is disposed at an outlet end inside the dust
collecting space and situated at a position higher than the bottom
of the dust collecting space.
15. A self-propelled cleaning device, comprising: a chassis,
including a side brush mechanism for executing a cleaning function,
a driving wheel set for carrying and moving the chassis, a dust
collecting case for collecting dust, a negative pressure device
having a vent for discharging air to provide a negative pressure
suction, and a control unit for executing a system control;
wherein, the negative pressure device includes a fan driven by a
motor, a shaft cover driven by the motor to rotate the fan, and an
outer frame coaxial with the shaft cover and connected to the
bottom edge with an appropriate interval apart from each other, and
an annular airflow passage is formed between the shaft cover and
the outer frame, and the outer frame has a plurality of vanes
formed around the outer frame, and a negative pressure guide
channel with a flat area is formed at the top of the annular
airflow passage, and an end of the negative pressure guide channel
has a negative pressure inlet, and the motor drives the shaft cover
to link and rotate the vanes of the outer frame in order to
discharge the air inside the annular airflow passage to the outside
through the vent, so that a negative pressure is formed inside the
annular airflow passage, and the negative pressure drives the
negative pressure guide channel to such air from the negative
pressure inlet.
16. The self-propelled cleaning device of claim 6 or 15, wherein
the motor is installed in and covered by a load compartment of a
bottom shell with an opening facing downward, and the bottom shell
has a receiving space disposed around the periphery of the load
compartment and being an opening facing upward, and the receiving
space is provided for receiving the outer frame and the vanes.
17. A self-propelled cleaning device, comprising: a chassis,
including a side brush mechanism for executing a cleaning function,
a driving wheel set for carrying and moving the chassis, a dust
collecting case for guiding and collecting dust from a dust inlet,
a negative pressure device having a vent for discharging air to
provide a negative pressure suction, and a control unit for
executing a system control; wherein, a concave interval with an
airflow guiding effect is extended from the front end of the bottom
of the chassis to the dust inlet, so that the negative pressure
airflow can carry and flow dust easily.
18. The self-propelled cleaning device of claim 4 or 8, wherein the
negative pressure device is installed in a positioning interval
formed precisely at a positioning frame of the lower casing under
the carrying space.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a cleaning device, and more
particularly to a self-propelled cleaning device capable of moving
autonomously to perform a cleaning job.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] In general, a conventional self-propelled cleaning device
performs a cleaning job mainly by its circular external periphery
and the cleaning device comprises a rod-shaped sweeper installed at
the bottom of a chassis or a vacuum port disposed at the bottom of
the chassis and facing towards the floor provided for a sweeping or
vacuuming operation. To extend the cleaning range, particularly for
edges and corners, some cleansing apparatuses install an additional
side brush module on the chassis, such that a side brush of the
side brush module will sweep the dust of the sweeper along the
moving path of the self-propelled cleaning device or the dust
outside the vacuum port that faces towards the floor, and then the
dust is swept by the sweeper or sucked into a dust collecting case
inside the chassis through the vacuum port. In the meantime, the
dust collecting case is often disposed in the chassis and connected
to a negative pressure device in series, and the negative pressure
device is comprised of a motor and a fan horizontally connected to
the motor in series. In addition, a driving wheel set for driving
the wheels under the chassis comes with a design that adopts an
integral mechanism of a motor and wheels, and is connected to a
tension spring between shell covers of the wheels, and the tension
spring serves as a buffer when the self-propelled cleaning device
is moving on a rough surface, so as to improve the stability of the
movements and protect internal components from being damaged by
shocks or vibrations.
[0003] In view of the aforementioned shortcomings of the
conventional self-propelled cleaning device, the inventor of the
present invention based on years of experience in the related
industry to conduct extensive researches and experiments, and
finally designed and developed a novel practical self-propelled
cleaning device to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] Although the conventional self-propelled cleaning device
installs an additional side brush module to assist the sweeper and
the vacuum port for the cleaning function, yet the side brush
module is driven by the components including the motor and gears
inside the chassis, so that the cleaning range of bristles of the
side brush is limited since the area of installing the side brush
is limited within the external periphery of the circular contour.
Particularly, the cleaning range of the bristles of the side brush
is affected by the circular chassis easily when the cleaning job is
carried out along edges. When the chassis travels towards the
front, left or right according to the traveling path, the cleaning
range of the bristles of the side brush hardly goes beyond the
diameter of the circular chassis, so that a blind spot is formed
between edges of a wall and the cleaning range of the bristles of
the side brush, and the motor axle of a conventional negative
pressure device includes an additional fan installed horizontally
and connected in series with the motor axle, and after the dust
collecting case is connected, the total length occupies a large
portion of the chassis and thus causing a waste of space,
particularly for some mini low-end models, which is not conductive
to a thin, light, short, and compact design. In addition, the
buffer and shock absorption design of the driving wheel set further
requires a shell cover installed on the chassis for covering the
wheels, and thus further wasting more space which is also not
conductive to the design of the mini low-end models with small
space.
[0005] Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present
invention to provide a self-propelled cleaning device can shift the
cleaning range of the side brush towards an external side of the
chassis, so that the cleaning effect will not be limited by the
contour of the chassis.
[0006] Another objective of the present invention is to provide a
self-propelled cleaning device capable of simplifying the buffer
and shock absorption assembly of the driving wheel set to improve
the convenience of the assembling process and saving space.
[0007] A further objective of the present invention is to provide a
self-propelled cleaning device capable of saving space by planning
the chassis space.
[0008] Another further objective of the present invention is to
provide a self-propelled cleaning device with a dust collecting
case capable of collecting dust in a limited chassis space.
[0009] Another further objective of the present invention is to
provide a self-propelled cleaning device capable of accommodating a
dust collecting case under the arrangement of the limited space of
a containing groove of a chassis.
[0010] Another further objective of the present invention is to
provide a self-propelled cleaning device with a negative pressure
device for generating a negative pressure within a limited chassis
space.
[0011] Another further objective of the present invention is to
provide a self-propelled cleaning device with a chassis having an
airflow guiding effect.
[0012] To achieve the aforementioned objectives, the present
invention provides a self-propelled cleaning device, comprising: a
chassis including a side brush mechanism for executing a cleaning
function, a driving wheel set for carrying and moving the chassis,
a dust collecting case for collecting dust, a negative pressure
device having a vent for discharging air to provide a negative
pressure suction, and a control unit for executing a system
control, and the chassis includes a protrusion protruded outwardly
from the external periphery of the contour of the chassis, and the
side brush mechanism rotates and sweeps the bristles, and the
protrusion makes the installation position of the side brush
mechanism closer to the external periphery of the contour of the
chassis.
[0013] To achieve the aforementioned objectives, the present
invention further provides a self-propelled cleaning device,
comprising: a chassis including a side brush mechanism for
executing a cleaning function, a driving wheel set for carrying and
moving the chassis, a dust collecting case for collecting dust, a
negative pressure device having a vent for discharging air to
provide a negative pressure suction, and a control unit for
executing a system control, and the driving wheel set being
provided for driving the wheel by a motor through a gear set in a
housing; an elastic element installed between the housing of the
driving wheel set and the internal surface of an upper casing of
the chassis, such that the driving wheel set can use a pivot as the
center of rotation to provide an elastic driving force to maintain
the wheel to be in contact with the ground and provide the buffer
and shock absorption effects when a vibration is produced.
[0014] To achieve the aforementioned objectives, the present
invention further provides a self-propelled cleaning device,
comprising: a chassis including a side brush mechanism for
executing a cleaning function, a driving wheel set for carrying and
moving the chassis, a dust collecting case for collecting dust, a
negative pressure device having a vent for discharging air to
provide a negative pressure suction, and a control unit for
executing a system control, wherein an upper casing of the chassis
has a containing groove with an opening for accommodating the dust
collecting case, and the containing groove has a first spacer apart
from the control unit and a second spacer for separating a carrying
space from the negative pressure device and apart from the
containing groove, and an inclined edge is disposed proximate to
the top of the second spacer and has a hollow passage for
interconnecting the containing groove and the carrying space, and a
lower casing disposed under the containing groove has a hollow
hole.
[0015] To achieve the aforementioned objectives, the present
invention further provides a self-propelled cleaning device,
comprising: a chassis including a side brush mechanism for
executing a cleaning function, a driving wheel set for carrying and
moving the chassis, a dust collecting case for collecting dust, a
negative pressure device having a vent for discharging air to
provide a negative pressure suction, and a control unit for
executing a system control, wherein the dust collecting case
includes a container, a first side and a second side disposed on
both sides of the bottom of the collecting space of the container
dust respectively and separated with an appropriate interval apart
from each other, and the bottom has a dust inlet, and the first
side proximate to the top has an inclined surface, so that the
first side has an accommodating space concavely formed thereon, and
a negative pressure outlet is formed in the accommodating
space.
[0016] To achieve the aforementioned objectives, the present
invention further provides a self-propelled cleaning device,
comprising: a chassis including a side brush mechanism for
executing a cleaning function, a driving wheel set for carrying and
moving the chassis, a dust collecting case for collecting dust, a
negative pressure device having a vent for discharging air to
provide a negative pressure suction, and a control unit for
executing a system control, wherein the chassis includes a
containing groove for accommodating the dust collecting case, and
the dust collecting case includes a container, a first side and a
second side disposed on both sides of the bottom of the collecting
space of the container dust respectively and separated with an
appropriate interval apart from each other, and the bottom has a
dust inlet, and the first side has a negative pressure outlet;
wherein the containing groove of the chassis has a first spacer
apart from the control unit and a second spacer for separating a
carrying space from the negative pressure device and has a hollow
passage for interconnecting the containing groove and the carrying
space with each other, and the negative pressure device has a
negative pressure guide channel with a negative pressure inlet
corresponding to the hollow passage on the second spacer of the
chassis containing groove and the negative pressure outlet on the
dust collecting case to allow air to flow through.
[0017] To achieve the aforementioned objectives, the present
invention further provides a self-propelled cleaning device,
comprising: a chassis including a side brush mechanism for
executing a cleaning function, a driving wheel set for carrying and
moving the chassis, a dust collecting case for collecting dust, a
negative pressure device having a vent for discharging air to
provide a negative pressure suction, and a control unit for
executing a system control, wherein the negative pressure device is
comprised of a fan driven by a motor, a shaft cover of the fan
rotated and driven by the motor, and an outer frame coaxial with
the shaft cover and connected to a bottom edge with an appropriate
interval apart, and the space between the shaft cover and the outer
frame defines an annular airflow passage, and the outer frame has a
plurality of vanes disposed around the outer frame; and the annular
airflow passage includes a negative pressure guide channel with a
flat interval at the top, and a negative pressure inlet formed at
an end of the negative pressure guide channel, and the motor drives
the shaft cover to link and rotate the vanes of the outer frame, so
as to discharge the air in the annular airflow passage to the
outside from the vent. As a result, a negative pressure is formed
inside the annular airflow passage, and the negative pressure
drives the negative pressure guide channel to suck air from the
negative pressure inlet.
[0018] To achieve the aforementioned objectives, the present
invention further provides a self-propelled cleaning device,
comprising: a chassis including a side brush mechanism for
executing a cleaning function, a driving wheel set for carrying and
moving the chassis, a dust collecting case for collecting dust, a
negative pressure device having a vent for discharging air to
provide a negative pressure suction, and a control unit for
executing a system control, wherein the chassis has a concave
interval with an airflow guiding effect from the front edge of the
chassis to the dust inlet, so that the negative pressure airflow
can carry and flow the dust easily.
[0019] In an apparatus in accordance with a preferred embodiment of
the present invention, the protrusion extended outwardly from the
external periphery of the chassis can make the installation
position of the side brush mechanism closer to the external
periphery of the circular contour of the chassis or the side brush
mechanism is installed directly on the protrusion. In the meantime,
when the bristles carry out the cleaning operation along wall
edges, the cleaning range will not be affected by the circular
chassis. The bristles can be in contact with the wall edges to
sweep dust from corners and edges easily. The design of the elastic
element at the top of the housing of the driving wheel set provides
an elastic driving force for maintaining the wheels to be in
contact with the floor and also provides the buffer and shock
absorption effects. Obviously, the invention can improve the
convenience of the installation and save spaces. In addition, the
design of the dust collecting case connected with the negative
pressure device and the design of the negative pressure dust inlet
formed directly on the dust collecting case to skip the sweepers
can reduce the space of the chassis significantly, so that the
overall design can better fit the thin, light, short, and compact
requirements of the mini low-end models.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0020] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of
the present invention;
[0021] FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the internal mechanism of a
chassis with its upper casing removed in accordance with a
preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0022] FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the relation of bristles of a
side brush with the external periphery of a circular contour of a
chassis in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present
invention;
[0023] FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a driving wheel set propped
and abutted by an elastic element in accordance with a preferred
embodiment of the present invention;
[0024] FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the internal space of a
chassis in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present
invention;
[0025] FIG. 6 is an exploded view of a dust collecting case in
accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present
invention;
[0026] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a dust collecting case
in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present
invention;
[0027] FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the bottom of a dust
collecting case in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the
present invention;
[0028] FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a negative pressure
device in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present
invention; and
[0029] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a dust collecting case
and a negative pressure device which are installed in a chassis in
accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present
invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0030] The technical characteristics, contents, advantages and
effects of the present invention will be apparent with the detailed
description of a preferred embodiment accompanied with related
drawings as follows.
[0031] With reference to FIG. 1 for a perspective view of a
self-propelled cleaning device in accordance with a preferred
embodiment of the present invention, the self-propelled cleaning
device comprises a chassis 1 in a shape substantially being a
circular contour, and formed by engaging an upper casing 11 and a
lower casing 12, and the upper casing 11 has a cover 111 that can
be opened and separated from the upper casing 11, and the front end
of the lower casing 12 at the bottom of the chassis 1 is a concave
interval 121 with a section of an upwardly concave width, so that
the front edge of the chassis 1 has an airflow guiding effect, and
the negative pressure airflow can carry and flow the dust
easily.
[0032] In FIG. 2, the chassis 1 includes a side brush mechanism 2
for executing a cleaning function, a driving wheel set 3 for
carrying and moving the chassis 1, a dust collecting case 4 for
collecting dust, a negative pressure device 5 with a vent 51 for
discharging air to provide a negative pressure suction, and a
control unit 6 for executing a system control. For simplicity, a
schematic view of the electronic components installed on the PC
board is provided in the figure.
[0033] In FIGS. 2 and 3, the chassis 1 has a protrusion 13
protruded from a right front side (or a left front side) of a
circular contour on a side towards the front of a travelling path A
and provided for installing the side brush mechanism 2, and the
side brush mechanism 2 is driven by a motor 21 and has a plurality
of radially arranged bristles 22 provided for a rotational
sweeping, and the protrusion 13 makes the installation position of
the side brush mechanism 2 closer to the external periphery of the
circular contour of the chassis 1, or the side brush mechanism 2
can be installed directly on the protrusion 13. In this design,
when the chassis 1 is moving forward along the travelling path A,
the outermost tangent B of the cleaning range the bristle 22 of the
side brush mechanism 2 is shifted by a spacing D towards the outer
tangent C of the diameter of the circular chassis 1, so that when
the chassis 1 carries out the cleaning operation along wall edges,
the cleaning range of the bristles 22 of the side brush mechanism 2
will not be affected by the circular chassis. The bristles 22 are
in full contact with the wall edges, and the invention can sweep
and clean corners and wall edges.
[0034] In FIGS. 2 and 4, the driving wheel sets 3 are symmetrically
and respectively installed on both left and right sides of the
bottom of the chassis 1, and each driving wheel set 3 drives a
wheel 33 by a motor 31 through a gear set 32, and the motor 31 and
the gear set 32 of the driving wheel set 3 are installed in and
covered by a housing 34, so that the overall mechanism is disposed
in a chamber 14 between the upper casing 11 and the lower casing
12, and the wheels 33 are exposed from the bottom of the lower
casing 12. The gear set 32 includes a first gear 322 driven by the
motor 31 and installed on a first axle 321 pivotally connected to
the lower casing 12, and a third gear 324 installed on a same
second axle 323 of the wheel 33, wherein a latch portion 341 is
disposed at the top of the housing 3 of the driving wheel set 3,
such that an end of an elastic element 35 constituted of a spring
can be sheathed on the latch portion 341, and the other end of the
elastic element 35 can be abutted against the internal surface of
the upper casing 11 of the chassis 1, and the elastic element 35 is
disposed between the housing 34 and the internal surface of the
upper casing 11 of the chassis 1 for providing an elastic driving
force to rotate the housing 34 with respect to a pivot 36 (which is
used as the axis of rotation) and abut one side to link the wheel
33 on the second axle 323 to maintain the wheel 33 to be in contact
with the floor, and provide the buffer and shock absorption effects
when the wheel 33 rolls on a rough road to produce vibrations.
[0035] In FIGS. 2 and 5, the upper casing 11 has a movably
detachable cover 111 and a containing groove 112 with an opening
concavely formed under the cover 111, and the containing groove 112
has a first spacer 114 apart from the control unit 6 and second
spacer 116 separating the containing groove 112 and a carrying
space 115 apart, and an inclined edge 117 is disposed at a position
near the top of the second spacer 116 and has a hollow passage 118
formed thereon and provided for interconnecting the containing
groove 112 and the carrying space 115, and a positioning interval
123 is disposed on the lower casing 12 at the bottom of the
carrying space 115 and formed by the positioning frame edge 122
with a section of an appropriate height; and the lower casing 12
disposed at the bottom of the containing groove 113 has a hollow
hole 124.
[0036] In FIG. 6, the dust collecting case 4 includes a case cover
41 and a container 42 with a dust collecting space 421 formed
therein, and the container 42 has an opening 422 and a bottom 423
disposed opposite to the opening 422.
[0037] In FIGS. 7 and 8, a first side 424 and a second side 425 are
disposed on both sides of the bottom 423 in the dust collecting
space 421 of the container 42 respectively and separated with an
appropriate interval apart from each other. The bottom 423 has a
dust inlet 426, and the first side 424 at a position near the top
has an inclined surface 427, so that the first side 424 has an
accommodating space 43 formed at that position and a negative
pressure outlet 428 formed thereon. A negative pressure airflow
path is formed between the dust inlet 426 and the negative pressure
outlet 428, and a mesh filter 44 is installed between the first
side 424 and the second side 425 and vertically disposed proximate
to the first side 424 with the negative pressure outlet 428.
[0038] The dust inlet 426 is formed by a strip embedding element 45
installed at the dust inlet 426, and a fixing edge 451 is formed at
the top end of the embedding element 45 and extended outwardly, and
a fastener 452 is provided for fixing the fixing edge 451 to the
bottom of the bottom 423 of the container 42, and the bottom of the
embedding element 45 has a dust inlet 426 whose front and rear
sides become downwardly extended front blocking edges 453 and rear
blocking edge 454 respectively, wherein the front blocking edge 453
is an element for passing the negative pressure airflow to vacuum
the dust, and its downwardly extending length is relatively shorter
and it has a plurality of wedge-shaped airflow channels 455. On the
other hand, the downwardly extending length of the rear blocking
edge 454 is relatively longer and the rear blocking edge 454 almost
touches the floor for blocking the negative pressure airflow. A
concave interval 429 is formed at the bottom of the bottom 423 of
the container 42 at the front side of the front blocking edge 453,
so that the negative pressure airflow can carry and flow the dust
through easily.
[0039] The dust inlet 426 is disposed at the other end inside the
dust collecting space 421 and covered by a light and thin shutter
46, and the shutter 46 is pivotally installed to a vertical pivot
pin 47 at the bottom 423 next to the dust inlet 426 and can be
floated by the negative pressure airflow, so that the dust inlet
426 and the dust collecting space 421 can be interconnected with
each other. When the negative pressure airflow stops, the shutter
46 drops to cover the other outlet end 430 of the dust inlet 426
disposed inside the dust collecting space 421. The position of the
outlet end 430 is higher than the bottom 423 of the dust collecting
space 421, so that the dust entered into the dust collecting space
421 will not fall out from the dust inlet 426.
[0040] In FIGS. 2 and 9, the negative pressure device 5 includes a
fan 53 driven by a motor 52, a shaft cover 531 driven by the motor
52 for rotating the fan 53, and an outer frame 533 coaxially with
the shaft cover 531 and connected to the bottom edge 532 with an
appropriate interval apart from each other, and an annular airflow
passage 534 is formed in a space between the shaft cover 531 and
the outer frame 533, and the outer frame 533 includes a plurality
of vanes 535 disposed around the outer frame 533, and the motor 52
is installed in a load compartment 542 of a bottom shell 54 with an
opening 541 facing downward, and the bottom shell 54 includes a
receiving space 544 disposed around the periphery of the load
compartment 542 and being an opening 543 facing upward, and the
receiving space 544 is provided for receiving the outer frame 533
and the vanes 535. A negative pressure guide channel 536 being a
flat area is disposed at the top of the annular airflow passage
534, and an end of the negative pressure guide channel 536 has a
negative pressure inlet 537. The motor 52 drives the shaft cover
531 to link and rotate the vane 535 of the outer frame 533 in order
to discharge air in the annular airflow passage 534 to the outside
from the vent 51 as shown in FIG. 2, so that a negative pressure is
formed inside the annular airflow passage 534, and the negative
pressure drives the negative pressure guide channel 536 to suck air
from the negative pressure inlet 537.
[0041] In FIG. 10, when the dust collecting case 4 and the negative
pressure device 5 are installed into the containing groove 112 and
the carrying space 115 of the chassis 1 respectively, the negative
pressure inlet 537 at the front end of the negative pressure guide
channel 536 of the negative pressure device 5 is embedded into a
concave space 119 of the second spacer 116 formed on a side of
carrying space 115, and the portion of the second spacer 116
protruded from a side of the containing groove 112 is embedded into
the accommodating space 43 concavely formed on the first side 424
of the dust collecting case 4, and the negative pressure inlet 537
of the negative pressure device 5 is aligned with the hollow
passage 118 on the inclined edge 117 of the second spacer 116 and
the negative pressure outlet 428 on the inclined surface 427 of the
dust collecting case 4 to allow air to flow through. The negative
pressure device 5 is installed precisely in the positioning
interval 123 formed by the positioning frame edge 122 of the lower
casing 12 at the bottom of the carrying space 115, and concave
interval 121 concavely formed at the front end of the bottom of the
chassis 1 is extended to the dust inlet 426, so that the front edge
of the chassis 1 has an airflow guiding effect, and the negative
pressure airflow can carry and flow the dust through the dust inlet
426 and guide the dust into the dust collecting case 4.
[0042] In the design of a preferred embodiment of the present
invention, the design of the protrusion extended outwardly from the
external periphery of the chassis 1 can make the installation of
the side brush mechanism 2 closer to the external periphery of the
circular contour of the chassis 1 or the side brush mechanism 2 can
be installed directly on the protrusion 13. These designs can keep
the bristles 22 in full contact with the wall edges, so that when
the cleaning operation is carried out along wall edges or corner,
the cleaning range will not be affected by the circular chassis and
dust at corners or edges can be cleaned. The design of the elastic
element 35 at the top of the housing 34 of the driving wheel set 3
not only provides an elastic driving force to maintain the wheels
33 to be in contact with the floor, but also provides the buffer
and shock absorption effects. The invention improves the
convenience of the installation and save spaces. In addition, the
design of the dust collecting case 4 connected to the negative
pressure device 5 and the design of waiving the sweeper by forming
the negative pressure dust inlet 426 on the dust collecting case 4
directly can reduce the space of the chassis 1 significantly, so
that the overall design better fits the thin, light, short, and
compact requirements of the mini low-end models.
[0043] While the invention is described in some detail hereinbelow
with reference to certain illustrated embodiments, it is to be
understood that there is no intent to limit it to those
embodiments. On the contrary, the aim is to cover all
modifications, alternatives and equivalents falling within the
spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended
claims.
[0044] In summation of the above description, the present invention
herein enhances the performance than the conventional structure and
further complies with the patent application requirements and is
submitted to the Patent and Trademark Office for review and
granting of the commensurate patent rights.
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