U.S. patent application number 17/151690 was filed with the patent office on 2021-05-13 for autonomous cleaning device.
The applicant listed for this patent is BEIJING ROCKROBO TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD., BEIJING XIAOMI MOBILE SOFTWARE CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Xing LI, Zhijun LI, Zitao WANG, Yongfeng XIA.
Application Number | 20210137337 17/151690 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005345762 |
Filed Date | 2021-05-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20210137337 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
LI; Xing ; et al. |
May 13, 2021 |
AUTONOMOUS CLEANING DEVICE
Abstract
An autonomous cleaning device is provided. The autonomous
cleaning device includes: a device body; and a drive module, a
cleaning module and a sensing module, wherein the drive module, the
cleaning module and the sensing module are detachably assembled to
the device body, respectively.
Inventors: |
LI; Xing; (Beijing, CN)
; WANG; Zitao; (Beijing, CN) ; LI; Zhijun;
(Beijing, CN) ; XIA; Yongfeng; (Beijing,
CN) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
BEIJING XIAOMI MOBILE SOFTWARE CO., LTD.
BEIJING ROCKROBO TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. |
Beijing
Beijing |
|
CN
CN |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000005345762 |
Appl. No.: |
17/151690 |
Filed: |
January 19, 2021 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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15485237 |
Apr 12, 2017 |
10932636 |
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17151690 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47L 9/009 20130101;
A47L 11/4011 20130101; A47L 2201/06 20130101; A47L 11/4041
20130101; A47L 5/22 20130101; A47L 2201/04 20130101; G05D 2201/0215
20130101; A47L 9/2847 20130101; G05D 1/0238 20130101; G05D 1/0088
20130101; G05D 1/0259 20130101; A47L 9/2889 20130101; A47L 9/2884
20130101; A47L 9/0411 20130101; A47L 9/2831 20130101; A47L 11/4061
20130101; A47L 9/0477 20130101; A47L 9/122 20130101; A47L 9/1409
20130101; A47L 5/30 20130101; A47L 11/4072 20130101; A47L 11/24
20130101; G05D 1/0242 20130101; A47L 9/2852 20130101; A47L 9/2826
20130101; A47L 2201/00 20130101; A47L 9/2857 20130101 |
International
Class: |
A47L 9/28 20060101
A47L009/28; A47L 11/24 20060101 A47L011/24; A47L 5/30 20060101
A47L005/30; A47L 11/40 20060101 A47L011/40; A47L 5/22 20060101
A47L005/22; A47L 9/00 20060101 A47L009/00; A47L 9/04 20060101
A47L009/04; A47L 9/12 20060101 A47L009/12; A47L 9/14 20060101
A47L009/14; G05D 1/00 20060101 G05D001/00; G05D 1/02 20060101
G05D001/02 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Apr 14, 2016 |
CN |
201610232698.9 |
Claims
1. An autonomous cleaning device, comprising: a device body; and a
drive module, a cleaning module and a sensing module, wherein the
drive module, the cleaning module and the sensing module are
detachably assembled to the device body, respectively.
2. The autonomous cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the
device body comprises: a chassis, the drive module being mounted on
the chassis; and an upper housing fixed to the chassis, the sensing
module being assembled to a predetermined position in the upper
housing.
3. The autonomous cleaning device according to claim 2, wherein the
predetermined position in the upper housing comprises an
accommodating chamber matching with the sensing module.
4. The autonomous cleaning device according to claim 3, wherein the
sensing module is fixed to the upper housing through a plurality of
first connecting pieces.
5. The autonomous cleaning device according to claim 3, wherein the
device body further comprises: a protection cover assembled above
the accommodating chamber, a circumferential side of the protection
cover being hollowed out, and the sensing module being located
between the accommodating chamber and the protection cover.
6. The autonomous cleaning device according to claim 5, wherein the
circumferential side of the protection cover comprises at least one
column, and the width of the at least one column is reduced to meet
a strength requirement and a laser beam emission and reception
requirement.
7. The autonomous cleaning device according to claim 5, wherein the
protection cover is fixed to the upper housing through a plurality
of second connecting pieces.
8. The autonomous cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein a
waterproof and dustproof hole is provided in a periphery of the
sensing module, and the upper housing is provided with a through
hole corresponding to the waterproof and dustproof hole.
9. The autonomous cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the
device body further comprises an upper cover, and the sensing
module partially protrudes out of the upper cover.
10. The autonomous cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein
the device body further comprises a control unit located below the
sensing module, and the sensing module comprises a connector
provided at a lower surface of the sensing module and electrically
connected with the control unit.
11. The autonomous cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein
the device body comprises: a forward portion; and a rearward
portion, the sensing module being located at the rearward
portion.
12. The autonomous cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein
the drive module comprises: a drive wheel module comprising a left
drive wheel unit and a right drive wheel unit, the left drive wheel
unit and the right drive wheel unit being opposed to each other
along a transverse axis defined by the device body.
13. The autonomous cleaning device according to claim 12, wherein
the drive module further comprises at least one driven wheel
configured to assist in supporting and moving the device body.
14. The autonomous cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein
the cleaning module comprises: a main brush assembly, a dust box
assembly and a power unit arranged sequentially along an advancing
direction of the autonomous cleaning device; a primary air channel
provided between the main brush assembly and the dust box assembly,
wherein the primary air channel cooperates with the power unit such
that an object to be cleaned by the main brush assembly is conveyed
by the wind generated by the power unit to the dust box assembly;
and a secondary air channel provided between the dust box assembly
and the power unit, wherein the windward side of an inner wall of
the secondary air channel has an arc shape, and the secondary air
channel cooperates with the power unit such that the wind output
from the dust box assembly is guided smoothly to an air intake of
the power unit in a predetermined direction.
15. The autonomous cleaning device according to claim 14, wherein
the primary air channel comprises: a sectional area corresponding
to any position on the primary air channel, the sectional area
being in a negative relationship with a distance between the any
position and the main brush assembly.
16. The autonomous cleaning device according to claim 15, wherein
the secondary air channel comprises: an air outlet connected to the
air intake of the power unit, the power unit being an axial-flow
fan and the air intake of the power unit being oriented in a same
direction as a rotating shaft of the axial-flow fan.
17. The autonomous cleaning device according to claim 14, wherein
the main brush assembly comprises: a main brush chamber; and a main
brush comprising: a rotating shaft; a rubber brush member provided
on the rotating shaft, wherein the rubber brush member has a first
deviation angle along a circumferential direction of the rotating
shaft in a cylindrical surface of the main brush to make a
wind-gathering strength of the rubber brush member reach a preset
strength; a hair brush member provided on the rotating shaft,
wherein the hair brush member has a second deviation angle along
the circumferential direction of the rotating shaft in the
cylindrical surface of the main brush, such that when hair tufts of
the hair brush member are arranged sequentially along the axial
direction of the rotating shaft, a circumferential angle of
coverage over the main brush in the cylindrical surface of the main
brush reaches a preset angle.
18. The autonomous cleaning device according to claim 17, wherein
the rubber brush member is curved at a middle position thereof
along the advancing direction, such that the wind generated by the
power unit collects the object to be cleaned in the middle position
of the rubber brush member, and the middle position of the rubber
brush member reaches the primary air channel later than other
positions thereof when the autonomous cleaning device advances.
19. The autonomous cleaning device according to claim 14, wherein
the dust box assembly comprises: a dust box comprising at least two
side openings, one side opening being an air inlet of the dust box
and the other side opening being an air outlet of the dust box; a
filter screen mounted at the air outlet of the dust box for
covering the air outlet of the dust box.
20. The autonomous cleaning device according to claim 19, wherein
the sensing module is disposed adjacent to the dust box.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a Continuation Application of U.S.
application Ser. No. 15/485,237, which is based on and claims
priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201610232698.9, filed on
Apr. 14, 2016, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein
by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The present disclosure relates to a field of intelligent
cleaning technology, and more particularly, to an autonomous
cleaning device.
BACKGROUND
[0003] With the rapid development of communication technology,
application of intelligent products in daily life becomes
increasingly common, and a variety of autonomous cleaning devices
have emerged, such as autonomous sweeping devices, autonomous
mopping devices and so on. The autonomous cleaning devices may
execute cleaning operations automatically, which brings convenience
to users. However, as the function of an autonomous cleaning device
gradually becomes strong, functional modules of the autonomous
cleaning device increase and an internal structure thereof becomes
more and more complex, such that when the autonomous cleaning
device breaks down and needs repair, disassembling time and
difficulty of a single machine are increased greatly, causing
difficulties to maintenance personnel.
[0004] Since defects of a random sweeping mode become troublesome
and hard to ignore, sweepers capable of navigation sweeping have an
increasing market share, and more and more sweepers with a distance
measuring unit, a photographing unit and a shooting unit appear in
the market, but a modularity issue of these units needs to be
addressed.
SUMMARY
[0005] According to an aspect of the embodiments of the present
disclosure, an autonomous cleaning device is provided. The
autonomous cleaning device includes: a device body, a drive module,
a cleaning module and a sensing module, in which the drive module,
the cleaning module and the sensing module are detachably assembled
to the device body, respectively.
[0006] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general
description and the following detailed description are exemplary
and explanatory only, and cannot be construed to limit the present
disclosure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and
constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments
consistent with the present disclosure and, together with the
description, serve to explain the principles of the present
disclosure.
[0008] FIGS. 1-4 are schematic views of an autonomous cleaning
device according to an illustrative embodiment;
[0009] FIG. 5 is a sectional view of an autonomous cleaning device
according to an illustrative embodiment;
[0010] FIG. 6 is a planar exploded view of module structures of an
autonomous cleaning device according to an illustrative
embodiment;
[0011] FIG. 7 is a perspective exploded view of module structures
of an autonomous cleaning device according to an illustrative
embodiment;
[0012] FIG. 8 is an exploded view of a device body of an autonomous
cleaning device according to an illustrative embodiment;
[0013] FIG. 9 is a schematic view of an upper housing of an
autonomous cleaning device according to an illustrative
embodiment;
[0014] FIG. 10 is a schematic view of a part of an upper housing
for assembling a sensing module according to an illustrative
embodiment;
[0015] FIG. 11 is a schematic view of an upper housing assembled
with a sensing module according to an illustrative embodiment;
[0016] FIG. 12 is a schematic view of an upper housing assembled
with a protection cover according to an illustrative
embodiment;
[0017] FIG. 13 is an exploded schematic view showing a sensing
module according to an illustrative embodiment;
[0018] FIG. 14 is a bottom view of a sensing module according to an
illustrative embodiment;
[0019] FIG. 15 is an exploded view of a left drive wheel unit
according to an illustrative embodiment;
[0020] FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a main brush module in a
main brush assembly according to an illustrative embodiment;
[0021] FIG. 17 is an exploded view of the main brush module shown
in FIG. 16;
[0022] FIG. 18 is a schematic view of a main brush of the main
brush module shown in FIG. 16;
[0023] FIG. 19 is a perspective view of a main brush casing of the
main brush module shown in FIG. 16;
[0024] FIG. 20 is an exploded view of a floating system holder of
the main brush module shown in FIG. 16;
[0025] FIG. 21 is a sectional view of a cleaning module of an
autonomous cleaning device according to an illustrative
embodiment;
[0026] FIG. 22 is a perspective view of a primary air channel
fitted with a main brush according to an illustrative
embodiment;
[0027] FIG. 23 is a sectional view of a primary air channel fitted
with a main brush chamber according to an illustrative
embodiment;
[0028] FIG. 24 is an exploded view of an autonomous cleaning device
according to an illustrative embodiment;
[0029] FIG. 25 is an exploded view of another dust box assembly
according to an illustrative embodiment;
[0030] FIG. 26 is an exploded view of another dust box assembly
according to an illustrative embodiment;
[0031] FIG. 27 is a top view of the cleaning module shown in FIG.
21;
[0032] FIG. 28 is a sectional view of a secondary air channel
fitted with a power unit according to an illustrative embodiment;
and
[0033] FIG. 29 is a right view of the cleaning module shown in FIG.
21.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0034] The present disclosure will be described in detail with
reference to specific embodiments shown in the accompanying
drawings. However, these embodiments cannot be construed to limit
the present disclosure, and changes in terms of structure, method
or function, made by those skilled in the art, are contained in the
protection scope of the present disclosure.
[0035] Terms used herein in the description of the present
disclosure are only for the purpose of describing specific
embodiments, but should not be construed to limit the present
disclosure. As used in the description of the present disclosure
and the appended claims, "a" and "the" in singular forms mean
including plural forms, unless clearly indicated in the context
otherwise. It should also be understood that, as used herein, the
term "and/or" represents and contains any one and all possible
combinations of one or more associated listed items.
[0036] As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, FIGS. 1-4 are schematic views of
an autonomous cleaning device according to an illustrative
embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view of an autonomous
cleaning device according to an illustrative embodiment.
[0037] The autonomous cleaning device 100 may be an autonomous
sweeping device, an autonomous mopping device and so on. The
autonomous cleaning device 100 may include a device body 110, a
sensing system 120, a control system 130, a drive module 140, a
cleaning system 150, an energy system 160, and a human-device
interaction system 170.
[0038] The device body 110 includes a forward portion 1101 and a
rearward portion 1102 in an advancing direction thereof, and has an
approximately round shape (both front and rear ends being round).
The device body 110 may have other shapes, for example including
but not limited to an approximate D shape which has a square front
end and a round rear end.
[0039] The sensing system 120 includes a sensing module 121 located
above the device body 110, a buffer 122 located at the forward
portion 1101 of the device body 110, a cliff sensor 123, an
ultrasonic sensor (not shown), an infrared sensor (not shown), a
magnetometer (not shown), an accelerometer (not shown), a gyroscope
(not shown), an odometer (not shown) and other sensing components,
so as to provide the control system 130 with various position
information and motion state information of the device. The sensing
module 121 of the present disclosure includes a camera and a laser
distance sensor (LDS), but is not limited thereto. The laser
distance sensor using triangulation ranging is taken as an example
for describing how to determine a position. The basic principle of
triangulation ranging is based on a geometric relationship of
similar triangles, which will not be described in detail.
[0040] The laser distance sensor includes a light emitting unit
(not shown) and a light receiving unit (not shown). The light
emitting unit may include a light source for emitting light, and
the light source may include a light emitting element, such as an
infrared light emitting diode (LED) for emitting infrared light or
a visible light emitting diode (LED) for emitting visible light. In
some embodiments, the light source may be a light emitting element
capable of emitting a laser beam. This embodiment describes an
example where a laser diode (LD) is used as the light source.
Specifically, the light source using the laser beam may make
measurement more accurate than other light sources, due to
monochromatic, directional and collimating properties of the laser
beam. For example, compared with the laser beam, the infrared light
or the visible light emitted by the LED is affected by the
surrounding environment (e.g. a color or texture of an object),
thereby degrading measurement accuracy. The LD may emit a point
laser to measure two-dimensional position information of an
obstacle, or a line laser to measure three-dimensional position
information within a certain range of the obstacle.
[0041] The light receiving unit may include an image sensor, on
which a light spot reflected or scattered by the obstacle is
formed. The image sensor may be a set of unit pixels in a single
row or multiple rows. These light receiving elements may convert an
optical signal into an electrical signal. The image sensor may be a
complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensor or a
charge-coupled device (CCD) sensor. Moreover, the light receiving
unit may include a light receiving lens assembly. The light
reflected or scattered by the obstacle may travel through the light
receiving lens assembly to form an image on the image sensor. The
light receiving lens assembly may include a single lens or a
plurality of lenses.
[0042] A base (not shown) may be configured to support the light
emitting unit and the light receiving unit that are arranged on the
base and spaced apart from each other by a particular distance. In
order to measure obstacles in all directions (i.e. 360 degrees) of
the autonomous cleaning device, the base may be rotatably arranged
to the device body 110, or the base itself does not rotate, and
instead the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit are
rotated by providing a rotating element. A rotational angular
velocity of the rotating element may be obtained by providing an
optical coupler and a coded disk. The optical coupler senses tooth
absences of the coded disk, and an instantaneous angular velocity
is obtained through dividing a distance between the tooth absences
by a time period of sliding across the distance between the tooth
absences. The larger the density of the tooth absences of the coded
disk is, the higher the accuracy and precision of the measurement
is, but the structure is more precise and the calculation amount
also becomes greater. Conversely, the smaller the density of the
tooth absences is, the lower the accuracy and precision of the
measurement is, but the structure is relatively simple and the
calculation amount becomes less, thus reducing the cost to some
extent.
[0043] A data processing means (not shown) connected with the light
receiving unit, for example a digital signal processor (DSP),
records distance values of obstacles at all angles in a zero-angle
direction relative to the autonomous cleaning device, and sends the
values to a data processing unit of the control system 130, such as
an application processor (AP) having a CPU. The CPU runs a
positioning algorithm based on a particle filter to obtain a
current position of the autonomous cleaning device, and hence a map
is drawn based on the position and further used for navigation. In
some embodiments, the positioning algorithm employs simultaneous
localization and mapping (SLAM).
[0044] The laser distance sensor based on the triangulation ranging
may measure a distance value at an infinitely distant place beyond
a certain distance in principle, but it is actually difficult to
implement the long distance measurement, for example, over six
meters, mainly due to a size limit of the pixel unit on the sensor
of the light receiving unit, and also due to influences of a
photoelectric conversion speed of the sensor, a data transmission
speed between the sensor and the DSP connected thereto, and a
calculation speed of the DSP. The measurement value obtained by the
laser distance sensor in the presence of a temperature influence
will encounter a change unbearable by the system, mainly because
thermal expansion of a structure between the light emitting unit
and the light receiving unit causes an angle change between the
incident light and the emergent light, and the light emitting unit
and the light receiving unit themselves have a temperature drift.
The accumulation of deformations caused by temperature changes,
vibration and other factors will affect the measurement result
severely after a long-term use of the laser distance sensor. The
accuracy of the measurement result directly determines the accuracy
of mapping, which is the basis for further strategy implementation
of the autonomous cleaning device and hence is particularly
important.
[0045] The forward portion 1101 of the device body 110 may carry
the buffer 122. When a drive wheel module 141 pushes the autonomous
cleaning device to walk on the ground in a cleaning process, the
buffer 122 detects one or more events (or objects) in a travel path
of the autonomous cleaning device 100, via the sensing system, for
example the infrared sensor. The autonomous cleaning device 100 may
control the drive wheel module 141 so as to respond to the events
(or objects), for example, keeping away from the obstacles, based
on the events (or objects) detected by the buffer 122, such as the
obstacles, walls, etc.
[0046] The control system 130 is provided on a circuit mainboard
inside the device body 110, and includes a computing processor
communicated with a non-transitory memory (e.g. a hard disk, a
flash memory or a RAM), such as a central processing unit and an
application processor, in which the application processor utilizes
a positioning algorithm, for example SLAM, to draw a real-time map
of the environment where the autonomous cleaning device is, based
on the obstacle information fed back by the LDS. Moreover, the
control system 130 comprehensively determines a current working
state of the autonomous cleaning device in combination with
distance information and speed information fed back by the buffer
122, the cliff sensor 123, the ultrasonic sensor, the infrared
sensor, the magnetometer, the accelerometer, the gyroscope, the
odometer and the like. For instance, the autonomous cleaning device
is going across a doorsill, going onto a carpet, or located at the
cliff; or an upper portion or a lower portion of the autonomous
cleaning device is stuck; or a dust box thereof is full; or the
autonomous cleaning device is lifted. The control system 130 may
further give the next specific action strategy in the light of
above different situations, to make the working of the autonomous
cleaning device more in line with the requirements of the owner and
thus ensure a better user experience. Further, the control system
130 may plan the most efficient and reasonable sweeping path and
sweeping mode based on information of the real-time map drawn
through SLAM, thus improving a sweeping efficiency of the
autonomous cleaning device greatly.
[0047] The drive module 140 may manipulate the autonomous cleaning
device 100 to travel across the ground based on a drive instruction
having distance and angle information, for example x, y and .theta.
components. The drive module 140 includes the drive wheel module
141, and the drive wheel module 141 may control a left wheel and a
right wheel simultaneously. In some embodiments, the drive wheel
module 141 includes a left drive wheel unit 1411 and a right drive
wheel unit 1412 for more precise control over the motion of the
autonomous cleaning device. The left drive wheel unit 1411 and the
right drive wheel unit 1412 are opposed to each other along a
transverse axis defined by the device body 110. To enable the
autonomous cleaning device to move on the ground more stably or
have a stronger moving ability, the autonomous cleaning device may
include one or more driven wheels 142 which include but are not
limited to universal wheels. The drive wheel module 141 includes a
travel wheel, a drive motor, and a control circuit for controlling
the drive motor, and may be connected with a circuit for measuring
a drive current and an odometer. The drive wheel module 141 may be
detachably connected to the device body 110, thus facilitating
assembling, disassembling and maintenance thereof. The drive wheel
module 141 may have an offset drop-type suspension system, and may
be fastened in a movable manner, for example, attached to the
device body 110 in a rotatable manner, and receive a spring offset
biased downwards and away from the device body 110. The spring
offset allows the drive wheel to maintain contact and traction with
the ground by a certain ground adhesive force, and meanwhile, a
cleaning element of the autonomous cleaning device 100 also touches
the ground with a certain pressure.
[0048] The cleaning system 150 may be configured as a dry cleaning
system and/or a wet cleaning system. As the dry cleaning system,
the main cleaning function comes from a sweeping system 150
including a main brush structure, a dust box structure, a fan
structure, an air outlet, and connecting members among the four
parts. The main brush structure that has certain interference with
the ground sweeps up rubbish on the ground and carries it to a dust
suction port between the main brush structure and the dust box
structure, and then the rubbish is sucked into the dust box
structure by a suction gas generated by the fan structure and
passing through the dust box structure. A dedusting capability of
the autonomous cleaning device may be represented by a dust pick up
(DPU) efficiency, and the DPU efficiency is influenced by a
structure and materials of a main brush, by a wind power
utilization rate of air channels constituted by the dust suction
port, the dust box structure, the fan structure, the air outlet and
the connecting members among the four parts, and by a type and a
power of a fan, and thus the DPU efficiency is a complex system
design issue. Compared with an ordinary plug-in cleaner,
enhancement of the dedusting capability is more significant for a
cleaning robot with limited energy. Because the enhancement of the
dedusting capability lowers an energy requirement effectively,
i.e., the autonomous cleaning device, which originally sweeps 80
square meters of ground on one charge, may sweep 100 square meters
of ground or even more on one charge now. Moreover, a service life
of a battery will be extended greatly due to the reduced number of
charge cycles, such that the frequency of replacing the battery by
a user will be decreased. More intuitively and importantly, the
enhancement of the dedusting capability brings the prominent and
significant user experience, and the user may directly draw a
conclusion whether the autonomous cleaning device sweeps or wipes
cleanly. The dry cleaning system may further include a side brush
152 having a rotating shaft, and the rotating shaft has a certain
angle relative to the ground, so as to move debris into a main
brush region of the cleaning system 150.
[0049] The energy system 160 includes a rechargeable battery, such
as a Ni-MH battery or a lithium battery. The rechargeable battery
may be connected with a charge control circuit, a circuit for
detecting a charging temperature of a battery pack, and a circuit
for monitoring battery under-voltage, and then these three circuits
are connected to a single-chip control circuit. A main machine is
charged by connecting a charging electrode with a charging post, in
which the charging electrode is provided at a side of the main
machine or below the main machine. If the exposed charging
electrode is adhered with dust, an accumulative effect of charge
will cause melting and deformation of a plastic body around the
electrode in a charging process, and even lead to deformation of
the electrode per se, thus failing to continue normal charging.
[0050] The human-device interaction system 170 includes keys
provided on a panel of the main machine and configured for function
selection by the user. The human-device interaction system 170 may
further include a display screen and/or an indicator light and/or a
speaker that are configured to show the user the current state of
the autonomous cleaning device or function options. Moreover, the
human-device interaction system 170 may further include a mobile
client program. For a cleaning device of a path-navigation type, a
mobile client may show the user a map of an environment where the
device is located, and a location of the autonomous cleaning
device, so as to provide the user with richer and user-friendlier
function options.
[0051] To describe behaviors of the robot (i.e., the autonomous
cleaning device) more clearly, directions are defined as follows.
The autonomous cleaning device 100 may travel on the ground through
various combinations of movements relative to three mutually
perpendicular axes, namely, a transverse axis x, a front-rear axis
y and a central vertical axis z, which are defined by the device
body 110. A forward driving direction along the front-rear axis y
is denoted as "forward", and a rearward driving direction along the
front-rear axis y is denoted as "rearward". The transverse axis x
substantially extends between the right wheel and the left wheel of
the robot while passing through an axis center defined by a central
point of the drive wheel module 141, in which the autonomous
cleaning device 100 may rotate around the axis x. When the forward
portion of the autonomous cleaning device 100 inclines upwards and
the rear portion thereof inclines downwards, the autonomous
cleaning device "pitches up"; when the forward portion of the
autonomous cleaning device 100 inclines downwards and the rear
portion thereof inclines upwards, the autonomous cleaning device
"pitches down". Moreover, the autonomous cleaning device 100 may
rotate around the axis z. In a forward direction of the robot, when
the autonomous cleaning device 100 inclines towards a right side of
the axis y, the autonomous cleaning device "turns right"; when the
autonomous cleaning device 100 inclines towards a left side of the
axis y, the autonomous cleaning device 100 "turns left".
[0052] In the present disclosure, the sensing module serves as eyes
of the autonomous cleaning device 100, is a sensing element of such
autonomous cleaning device 100, and thus requires high precision of
installation. In an existing autonomous cleaning device, the
sensing module (e.g. LDS) is integrated onto the control mainboard
within the device body, or is fixed to a chassis and further
connected to the control mainboard by a flexible cable, but these
solutions are faced with the following issues.
[0053] (1) A dimensional chain in above solutions is long and may
easily result in a bigger error of the LDS measurement data. If the
LDS is installed to the mainboard or the chassis, an outer frame of
the LDS further needs to be fitted with an upper housing for fixing
various components, and even with a decorative upper cover, in
addition to being fitted with the control mainboard or the chassis,
which thus makes the dimensional chain longer and causes a bigger
error of being fitted with the outer frame of the LDS. The upper
and lower housings and other parts have a big machining deformation
due to their large sizes, which may make an installation position
of the LDS inaccurate, i.e. the position of the LDS relative to a
center of the whole device is not accurate, such that distance data
fed back to the processor cannot go through coordinate conversion
accurately, and hence the distance data of the robot has a great
error. The LDS has a high requirement in precision and is
susceptible to temperature, stress, vibration and other factors,
and the temperature drift may appear over time, so an influence of
the error, introduced in the assembling process, on the measurement
data cannot be ignored.
[0054] (2) The LDS is difficult to be assembled or disassembled for
replacement and maintenance. Once the sensing module is damaged,
the whole device needs to be disassembled for maintenance or
replacement of components. The user has to send the whole device
back to a processor or a designated repair point for maintenance,
which not only causes maintenance difficulties for maintenance
personnel, but also leads to a long maintenance cycle, thus
bringing much inconvenience to the user.
[0055] Thus, the present disclosure proposes a modular scheme of
the sensing module, a main brush assembly, a dust box assembly and
the drive module. Descriptions will be made with reference to FIGS.
5 to 11 in the following.
[0056] As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, FIG. 6 is a planar exploded view
of a chassis of an autonomous cleaning device according to an
illustrative embodiment; FIG. 7 is a perspective exploded view of
module structures of an autonomous cleaning device according to an
illustrative embodiment; FIG. 8 is an exploded view of a device
body of an autonomous cleaning device according to an illustrative
embodiment.
[0057] As shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, the autonomous cleaning device 100
includes: the device body 110, the sensing module 121, the drive
module 140, a cleaning module 150 and a battery module 1601. In the
present disclosure, the drive module 140, the cleaning module and
the sensing module 121 may be assembled to the device body 110 in a
detachable manner respectively, such that each module may be
separately assembled to or detached from the device body 110.
[0058] As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the device body 110 includes the
chassis 102, a bottom housing 101 fixed below the chassis 102, an
upper housing 103 fixed above the chassis 102, and an upper cover
104 fixed above the upper housing 103. The bottom housing 101 is
located under the chassis 102, such that on one hand water and dust
on the ground may be prevented from entering an accommodating space
of the chassis 102 and polluting interfaces of various modules,
i.e. waterproof and dustproof, on the other hand various modules
and the chassis 102 may be protected from being damaged by foreign
impact, and finally a decorative role may be played. The chassis
102 serves as a primary carrier on which various modules are
carried, so it has high requirements on various aspects of material
properties, such as hardness and toughness, and machining
precision. Besides the accommodating space for accommodating
various modules, the chassis 102 also includes interfaces for
electrical connection and mechanical connection provided in the
accommodating space. The interface for electrical connection is
provided at a corner of the accommodating space close to an inner
side of the device body, where the interface is not susceptible to
interference. The interface for mechanical connection is provided
at a corner of the accommodating space close to an outer side of
the device body, for example screws arranged in a triangular form,
so as to ensure strong structural stability. The upper housing 103
is located above the chassis 102, such that an accommodating space
is provided for carrying the LDS, in which the accommodating space
satisfies a requirement of positioning the LDS accurately, protects
the LDS from damages by external forces, and enables the LDS to be
detached with no need to disassemble the whole device, but only to
open the upper cover 104 and the upper housing 103. Furthermore,
the upper housing 103 may also serve as a protection against water,
dust and external forces. The upper housing 103 may be perforated
to allow the dust box, the indicator light and an interaction panel
to pass, and provide an accommodating space for the cliff sensor.
The upper cover 104 mainly plays a decorative role and makes little
contribution to the structural hardness. The protective upper cover
104 of the LDS protects the LDS from damages by external forces and
allows emitted light and reflected light of the laser beam to
pass.
[0059] The sensing module 121 is configured as a LDS module. The
drive module includes the drive wheel module and at least one
driven wheel, and the drive wheel module further includes the left
and right drive wheel units (1411, 1412). The present disclosure
includes one driven wheel 142 for cooperating with the left and
right drive wheel units (1411, 1412) to drive the device body 110
to move. The cleaning module includes a floating main brush
assembly 1 and a side brush 152. The sensing module 121 is
assembled upwards to the upper housing 103, the drive module, the
cleaning module and the battery module 1601 are assembled downwards
to the chassis 102, and the dust box assembly is assembled upwards
to the chassis 102. The upper housing 103 and the chassis 102 both
reserve spaces used for corresponding modules and matched with the
modules in shape, and side walls of the spaces are sufficiently
rigid and perpendicular to the upper housing 103 and the chassis
102, thus providing secure and solid spaces for various modules and
protecting the modules from being squeezed by external forces in an
extreme environment. The accommodating space is further provided
with interfaces for electrical connection, e.g. connecting fingers,
to allow various modules to be electrically connected with the
circuit mainboard, so as to receive control signals and feed back
measurement values. The accommodating space is further provided
with components for mechanical connection, such as screws and
bayonets, to allow interference fit and tight connection between
the modules and the upper housing.
[0060] As shown in FIG. 9, FIG. 9 is a schematic view of an upper
housing of an autonomous cleaning device according to an
illustrative embodiment. The sensing module 121 is assembled to a
predetermined position in the upper housing 103, and the
predetermined position refers to an accommodating chamber 1031
fitted with the sensing module 121, i.e. the upper housing 103
reserves an accommodating space for allowing the sensing module 121
to be assembled thereto. The predetermined position not only
satisfies the requirement of positioning the sensing module 121
accurately, but also protects the sensing module 121 from damages
by external forces. The predetermined position is located at the
rearward portion of the device body 110, so the sensing module 121
is located at the rearward portion of the device body 110.
[0061] Further, as shown in FIGS. 9 to 13, in order to protect the
sensing module 121, the device body 110 further includes a
protection cover 1032, and the sensing module 121 is located
between the accommodating chamber 1031 and the protection cover
1032. Specifically, after the sensing module 121 is assembled into
the accommodating chamber 1031, the protection cover 1032 is
further fixed to the upper housing 103 to cover the sensing module
121. The sensing module 121 is fixed to the upper housing 103 by a
first connecting piece, and the protection cover 1032 is fixed to
the upper housing 103 by a second connecting piece, thus
facilitating removal of the sensing module 121 from the device body
110 and realizing a purpose of modularity. Optionally, the first
connecting piece and the second connecting piece may be selected as
screws, and certainly other connecting pieces are contained in the
present disclosure as long as they facilitate assembling and
disassembling.
[0062] In an optional embodiment, the protection cover 1032 is made
of combinational materials of high-strength nylon and glass fiber,
such that the protection cover 1032 has strong hardness to
withstand external forces from all directions, thereby providing
better protection for the sensing module 121. In the present
disclosure, a circumferential side of the protection cover 1032 is
hollowed out so as not to affect detection of surrounding obstacles
by the sensing module 121. The circumferential side of the
protection cover 1032 includes at least one column, which should
meet a strength requirement and not be too wide to block emission
and reception of the laser beam. In some embodiments, three columns
are provided, and a width of each column is reduced as much as
possible on the premise of selecting high-strength materials. Since
the protection cover 1032 of the LDS and the upper housing 103 are
separate, the protection cover 1032 may be separately designed with
the high-strength materials, so as to reduce the width of the
column. Typically, the sensing assembly is provided on the chassis,
the protection cover and the upper housing are integrated, and an
overall design with the high-strength materials will cause a
substantial increase in cost, so the width of the column is
relatively large, thus blocking emission and reception of the laser
beam for ranging.
[0063] After the protection cover 1032 is assembled, the upper
cover 104 is assembled to the upper housing 103. The upper cover
104 is provided with a clearance hole 1041 at a position
corresponding to the sensing module 121, the sensing module 121
partially protrudes out of the upper cover 104 through the
clearance hole 1041, and a part of the protection cover 1032 also
protrudes out of the upper cover 104 because the protection cover
1032 covers the sensing module 121. Further, the upper cover 104
includes a main cover body connected pivotably. In embodiments of
the present disclosure, the sensing module 121 is arranged adjacent
to the dust box assembly.
[0064] In a process of assembling the sensing module 121, it is
unnecessary to disassemble the upper housing 103 and the bottom
housing 101, only the upper cover 104 needs to be opened, and then,
the sensing module 121 is fixed to the upper housing 103 by screws
1212, in which a plurality of connection holes 1033 corresponding
to the upper housing 103 are provided at a periphery of the sensing
module 121. Alternatively, the sensing module 121 is fixed to the
upper cover 104 by four screws 1212 in the present disclosure.
After the sensing module 121 is fixed, the protection cover 1032 is
fixed to the upper housing 103 by a plurality of screws 1213, and
covers the sensing module 121. Further, the upper housing 103
further includes a plurality of support columns 1034, and the
plurality of support columns 1034 are correspondingly located at a
periphery of the protection cover 1032 to support the protection
cover 1032, such that a certain safety gap exists between the
protection cover 1032 and the sensing module 121, thus preventing
the protection cover 1032 from directly transmitting an external
force to the sensing module 121 when the external force is exerted
on the protection cover 1032.
[0065] In a process of detaching the sensing module 121, it is
unnecessary to disassemble the upper housing 103 and the chassis102
beforehand, and the sensing module 121 may be directly detached
after the upper cover 104 is opened. Specifically, the protection
cover 1032 is detached in advance by unscrewing the screws 1213
with a screwdriver, and then the screws 1212 are removed from the
sensing module 121, such that the sensing module 121 may be
detached or replaced directly.
[0066] In the present disclosure, the accommodating chamber 1031
for the LDS and the LDS itself both have a water drain hole, and if
water enters this space, the water will flow out from the drain
hole without causing failure of the LDS. Specifically, a waterproof
and dustproof hole 1214 is provided at the periphery of the sensing
module 121, and a through hole (not shown) corresponding to the
waterproof and dustproof hole 1214 is provided in the upper housing
103, such that the water flowing on the LDS flows downwards through
the waterproof and dustproof hole 1214, and further flows out of
the device body via the through hole in the upper housing 103.
Further, the upper housing 103 may be provided with a through hole
in a position below a motor of the LDS, and a guide groove may be
provided under the through hole to prevent water droplets from
flowing over to other positions at a lower surface.
[0067] In the present disclosure, as shown in FIG. 14 which is a
bottom view of a sensing module according to an illustrative
embodiment, the sensing module 121 further includes a connector
1211 provided to a lower surface of the sensing module 121, so as
to facilitate the detaching of the sensing module 121. The
connector 1211 is electrically connected to a control component
(i.e. the circuit mainboard) in the device body 110 in a hot-plug
manner. The control component is located below the sensing module
121, and may be fixed to the chassis 102. The connector 1211 is
configured as a vertical plug-in connector and has a certain
tolerance capability, so as to make it convenient to detach the
sensing module 121 and avoid a cable-organizing difficulty and a
cable-crimping due to the use of cables.
[0068] As shown in FIG. 15, the left drive wheel unit and the right
drive wheel unit each include a wheel body 14111, a motor 14112, a
spring 14113 and a Hall sensor 14114. When the main machine of the
autonomous cleaning device is placed on the ground, most part of
the wheel is retracted into the device body under gravity, and the
spring 14113 is stretched. When the main machine is lifted from the
ground, an elastic force of the spring 14113 pulls the wheel out of
the device body, and the Hall sensor 14114 is triggered to inform
the mainboard that the device is lifted. The left drive wheel unit
has a substantially same functional structure as the right drive
wheel unit, and part of shape structures of the left and right
drive wheel units are adjusted due to different assembling
locations of the left and right drive wheel units. The left drive
wheel unit 1411 is taken as an example for description. The left
drive wheel unit 1411 includes an upper casing 14115, a lower
casing 14116 and a drive body fixed between the upper casing 14115
and the lower casing 14116. The drive body includes the wheel body
14111, the motor 14112, the spring 14113 and the Hall sensor 14114.
A connector (not shown) of the left drive wheel unit 1411 is
provided to the lower casing 14116, the drive body is electrically
connected to the connector through a connecting finger 14117, and
the connector is further connected to a corresponding position on
the device body, so as to realize control over the left drive wheel
unit 1411. The drive body is fixed between the upper casing 14115
and the lower casing 14116 by screws.
[0069] In the present disclosure, the cleaning module in an optimum
configuration may be obtained by improving the corresponding
cleaning system 150 of the above-described autonomous cleaning
device 100, such that it is possible to reduce airflow loss in the
cleaning module and improve a dust-collection efficiency under same
power conditions. The present disclosure will be described below
with reference to embodiments.
[0070] FIG. 16 is a sectional view of a cleaning module of an
autonomous cleaning device according to an illustrative embodiment.
When an autonomous cleaning device shown in FIG. 17 is the
autonomous cleaning device 100 shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 or other
similar devices, the cleaning module of the autonomous cleaning
device 100 may correspond to the cleaning system 150 of the
above-described autonomous cleaning device 100. For ease of
description, FIG. 16 show direction information of the autonomous
cleaning device in an illustrative embodiment, including the
advancing direction along the axis y (in which a left direction of
the axis y is assumed as a forward drive direction, denoted as "+",
and a right direction of the axis y is assumed as a backward drive
direction, denoted as "-") and a vertical direction along the axis
z.
[0071] As shown in FIG. 16, the cleaning module is distributed
within the device body, an air inlet of the cleaning module is
provided in the bottom housing, and an air outlet of the cleaning
module is provided in a side of the device body. The cleaning
module of the present disclosure may include: the main brush
assembly 1, the dust box assembly 2, a power unit 3, a primary air
channel 4 and a secondary air channel 5, as shown in FIG. 21.
[0072] The main brush assembly 1, the dust box assembly 2 and the
power unit 3 are arranged sequentially along the advancing
direction (i.e. the axis y) of the autonomous cleaning device, and
the primary air channel 4 is located between the main brush
assembly 1 and the dust box assembly 2, while the secondary air
channel 5 is located between the dust box assembly 2 and the power
unit 3. Thus, the cleaning module shown in FIG. 16 may form an air
path from the main brush assembly 1 to the drive unit 3
sequentially through the primary air channel 4, the dust box
assembly 2 and the secondary air channel 5, such that wind
generated by the power unit 3 may flow from the main brush assembly
1 to the drive unit 3 via the above air path, and a flow direction
thereof is indicated by arrows shown in FIG. 21. When the wind
generated by the power unit 3 is flowing among the main brush
assembly 1, the primary air channel 4 and the dust box assembly 2,
the objects to be cleaned, such as dust, granular rubbish, etc.,
which are swept by the main brush assembly 1, may be conveyed to
the dust box assembly 2 to realize a cleaning operation.
[0073] The DPU efficiency is an accurate representation of a
cleaning capability of the autonomous cleaning device, and
determined by a suction efficiency and a main brush sweeping
efficiency together. The discussion herein focuses on the suction
efficiency. The suction efficiency is an accurate representation of
a dust-collection capability and reflects an efficiency of
converting electrical energy into mechanical energy. The suction
efficiency equals a ratio of a suction power to an input power, in
which the input power refers to electrical energy input by a fan
motor, and the suction power equals a product of an air volume and
a vacuum degree. After the input power increases to a certain
value, the air volume inhaled is generated. As the input power
increases, the air volume increases and the vacuum degree
decreases, but the suction power first increases and then
decreases, so the input power works in a range to keep the suction
power relatively high.
[0074] For the same input power, the greater the air volume and the
vacuum degree are, the higher the suction efficiency may become.
The reduction in loss of the vacuum degree mainly depends on the
avoidance of air leakage, i.e. a sealing process. The reduction in
loss of the air volume mainly depends on a smooth air path
structure without abrupt changes, specifically depending on whether
air from a lower end of the main brush enters the air channel
without loss, the number of times of reflecting the air by great
angles in a process of the air being blown from the lower end of
the main brush towards the dust box and then into the fan, and
whether a great deal of turbulence is generated when a sectional
area of the air channel changes. The overall structure of the air
path is designed as an organic whole, and a structure change of one
component will lead to a huge change in the dust-collection
efficiency of the whole device.
[0075] As the main brush is used as the main brush assembly 1, the
larger its width is, the greater the width of a single clean-up is.
However, the dust box is used as the dust box assembly 2, it is
disposed within the housing along with the travel wheel and other
components, so its width is restricted and cannot be too large.
Furthermore, in order to improve a vacuum net pressure to suck the
rubbish into the dust box, an inlet of the dust box cannot be too
wide, and hence the first air channel exists between the main brush
and the dust box and has a tapered section. An outlet of the dust
box is provided with a filter screen for filtering air, and a
section of the outlet of the dust box is usually large to prevent
blockage of the filter screen from affecting smoothness of the air
channel, while a diameter of an inlet of the fan which is used as
the power unit 3 is much smaller than that of the outlet of the
dust box, such that the second air channel exists between the dust
box and the fan and also has a tapered section. These two air
channels are adopted in the air path of some autonomous cleaning
devices at present, but an optimal air path where the two air
channels are optimized is not employed.
[0076] Actually, the air path includes the main brush, the dust
box, the fan and even two air channels with tapered sections, but
the difference in the shape of the air channel makes the suction
efficiency quite different.
[0077] The air path structure in the present disclosure allows air
to enter the air channel from the floating lower end of the main
brush. Since the floating main brush may be tightly fitted with the
ground in areas to be cleaned and having different heights, the
loss of the air volume is little. The floating main brush is
realized by a soft material property of the primary air channel and
a structural design which enables the main brush to extend and
retract up and down as the landform varies.
[0078] The wind enters the primary air channel through a main brush
accommodating chamber, and a shape of the primary air channel
allows a net pressure value of the wind to increase smoothly, thus
obliquely moving the rubbish upwards into the dust box. An
inclination degree of the primary air channel enables the air to be
reflected by a large reflection angle at a top of the dust box and
to further leave the dust box, after the air enters the dust box.
The rubbish entering the dust box falls to a bottom of the dust box
under gravity, and the air that is obliquely moving upwards and
reflected by the large reflection angle at the top of the dust box
is blown out of the filer screen and then enters the secondary air
channel. A design purpose of the secondary air channel is to make
the air blown out of the filter screen enter a fan port in a
certain direction with as little loss as possible.
[0079] Various structures in the cleaning module are described in
detail.
[0080] 1. Structure of Main Brush Assembly 1
[0081] FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a main brush module in the
main brush assembly, and FIG. 17 is an exploded view of the main
brush module shown in FIG. 16 (FIG. 17 is observed in a view angle
from the bottom up along the axis z). As shown in FIGS. 16-19, the
main brush module includes a main brush 11 and a main brush chamber
13, and the main brush chamber 13 further includes a floating
system holder 131 and a main brush casing 132.
[0082] 1) Main Brush 11
[0083] FIG. 18 is a schematic view of the main brush 11. As shown
in FIG. 18, the main brush 11 in the main brush assembly may be a
rubber and hair integrated brush, i.e. a rotating shaft 111 of the
main brush 11 is provided with a rubber brush member 112 and a hair
brush member 113 simultaneously, so as to be suitable for various
cleaning environments, such as floors and blankets. Growing
directions of rubber pieces of the rubber brush member 112 and
growing directions of hair tufts of the hair brush member 113 are
substantially consistent with radial directions of the rotating
shaft 111. An entire width of the rubber pieces of the rubber brush
member 112 and an entire width of the hair tufts of the hair brush
member 113 are substantially consistent with a width of an inlet
end 41 of the primary air channel 4. In FIG. 18, a row with its
middle part curved upwards slightly represents one rubber brush
member 112, a row in a wavy shape represents one hair brush member
113, and each main brush 11 may include at least one rubber brush
member 112 and at least one hair brush member 113.
[0084] The rubber brush member 112 and the hair brush member 113
are not arranged in a parallel manner or an approximately parallel
manner. Instead, a relatively large included angle is formed
between the rubber brush member 112 and the hair brush member 113
to enable them to realize their own application functions.
[0085] (1) Rubber Brush Member 112
[0086] Since relatively large gaps exist among hair tufts 113A of
the hair brush member 113, the wind is easily lost from the gaps,
thereby resulting in less contribution to formation of a vacuum
environment. Thus, by providing the rubber brush member 112, an
wind-gathering effect may be generated, to assist in sweeping the
objects to be cleaned when an wind-gathering strength reaches a
preset strength, such that the objects to be cleaned may be
transmitted to the dust box assembly 2 more conveniently under the
sweeping of the main brush 11 and the blowing of the wind.
[0087] For example, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 18, the rubber
brush member 112 is arranged in such a manner that the rubber brush
member 112 is arranged along an approximately straight line in a
cylindrical surface of the main brush 11 and is curved, at its
middle position, in a direction opposite to a rolling direction of
the main brush 11, i.e., the rubber brush member 112 has a first
deviation angle, which is relatively small, along a circumferential
direction of the rotating shaft 111 in the cylindrical surface of
the main brush 11, such that the wind generated by the power unit 3
gathers in the middle position where the rubber brush member 112 is
curved, so as to enable the rubber brush member 112 to collect the
objects to be cleaned. Additionally, as shown in FIG. 17, the
floating system holder 131 has an arc-shaped structure 1311 for
guiding the air path and extending from an air intake position
(i.e. a lower end in FIG. 17) to the primary air channel 4, and the
arc-shaped structure 1311 has a same curvature as an arc-shape
portion 40 of the primary air channel 4, such that the arc-shaped
structure 1311 improves the efficiency of the wind entering the air
channel, and reduces the loss of air volume.
[0088] (2) Hair Brush Member 13
[0089] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the hair brush
member 113 (i.e., adjacent hair tufts 113A) has a second deviation
angle, which is relatively large, along the circumferential
direction of the rotating shaft 111 in the cylindrical surface of
the main brush 11. For each hair brush member 113, by providing the
relatively large deviation angle, when hair tufts 113A of the hair
brush member 113 are arranged sequentially along the axial
direction of the rotating shaft, a greater angle of coverage over
the main brush 11 is achieved in the circumferential direction. For
example, the circumferential angle of coverage over the main brush
11 reaches a preset angle.
[0090] On one hand, by enlarging the circumferential angle of
coverage over the main brush 11, a cleaning degree and a cleaning
efficiency may be improved. The main brush 11 cleans the ground in
a rolling process thereof, however only when the circumferential
angle of coverage over the main brush 11 by the hair brush member
113 reaches 360 degrees, can it be ensured that the main brush 11
implements the cleaning operation throughout the rolling
process.
[0091] On the other hand, the hair brush member 113 needs to touch
the ground for sweeping in the cleaning process, in which the hair
brush member 113 has a certain deformation due to its soft
characteristics and hence generates a "support" effect on the whole
autonomous cleaning device. If the circumferential angle of
coverage over the main brush 11 by the hair brush member 113 is not
sufficient, a height difference is formed between an area within
the circumferential coverage and an area out of the circumferential
coverage, thus leading to jolt and shake of the autonomous cleaning
device in the axis z and affecting the implementation of the
cleaning operation. Therefore, when the hair brush member 113 is
able to achieve a 360-degree circumferential coverage over the main
brush 11, the jolt and shake of the main brush 11 may be
eliminated, which ensures that the autonomous cleaning device
maintains a continuous and stable output, reduces noises generated
by the autonomous cleaning device, avoids impact to the motor, and
prolongs a service life of the autonomous cleaning device.
[0092] 2) Main Brush Casing 122
[0093] FIG. 19 shows a perspective view of the main brush casing
132 in such main brush assembly. This main brush casing 132 may
include an anti-winding guard 1321 and a flexible rubber wiping
strip 1322 located behind the anti-winding guard 1321 in the
advancing direction. On one hand, the anti-winding guard 1321 may
block the objects having big sizes from entering the air channel
and blocking the air channel, and on the other hand, the
anti-winding guard 1321 may also block elongated objects, such as
wires, from entering the main brush chamber 13 and resulting in
winding.
[0094] With reference to FIG. 16, it can be known that the main
brush casing 132 is located below the main brush 11 along the axis
z, and blocks the oversized objects from being carried into the
main brush assembly and affecting the normal cleaning operation.
The flexible rubber wiping strip 1322 is located below the
anti-winding guard 1321 in the axis z and at a tail end of the main
brush casing 132 along the advancing direction, such that the
flexible rubber wiping strip 1322 maintains a certain distance
(like 1.5 to 3 mm) away from the main brush 11. Moreover, the
flexible rubber wiping strip 1322 is closely fitted with the ground
to intercept and collect a small number of objects to be cleaned
that have not been directly swept up by the main brush 11, such
that the small number of objects may be carried along between the
main brush 11 and the main brush chamber 13, and thus enter the
primary air channel 4, under the sweeping of the main brush 11 and
the blowing of the wind. The position and angle of the flexible
rubber wiping strip 1322 are selected in such a manner that the
objects to be cleaned are always located at optimal cleaning and
suction positions, thereby preventing any rubbish from being left
after the cleaning of the flexible rubber wiping strip 1322.
[0095] As shown in FIG. 19, at a tail end of the anti-winding guard
1321 along the advancing direction, i.e. a right end of the
anti-winding guard 1321, the anti-winding guard 1321 may be
provided with an obstacle-crossing assisting member 1321A in
cooperation with the advancing direction of the autonomous cleaning
device. On one hand, the obstacle-crossing assisting member 1321A
may assist the autonomous cleaning device in surmounting obstacles,
and on the other hand, the obstacle-crossing assisting member 1321A
may abut against an upper surface of the flexible rubber wiping
strip 1322, so as to make a bottom edge of the flexible rubber
wiping strip 1322 always closely fitted with a surface to be
cleaned (such as the ground, a table top, etc.) when the autonomous
cleaning device is in the working state, and further to prevent the
flexible rubber wiping strip 1322 from being rolled up by the
obstacles (like rubbish) on the surface to be cleaned, thereby
guaranteeing a subsequent cleaning effect.
[0096] In an embodiment, the obstacle-crossing assisting member
1321A may be configured as a protrusion protruding downwards (i.e.
along a negative direction of the axis z, shown as "up" in FIG. 19)
from the tail end of the anti-winding guard 1321 along the
advancing direction.
[0097] 3) Floating System Holder 131
[0098] As shown in FIG. 20, the floating system holder 131 may
include a fixed holder portion 1312 and a floating holder portion
1313, and is further provided with the primary air channel 4 and a
main brush motor 1314. Two mounting holes 1312A are provided in the
fixed holder portion 1312 in a left-and-right direction, and two
mounting shafts 1313A are provided to the floating holder portion
1313 in the left-and-right direction, such that the floating holder
portion 1313 can "float" along the up-and-down direction by
position limitation and rotation fit between each mounting shaft
1313A and the corresponding mounting hole 1312A.
[0099] Therefore, when the autonomous cleaning device is in a
normal sweeping process, the floating holder portion 1313 rotates
to the lowest position under gravity, and regardless of the floor,
the blanket or other unsmooth surfaces to be cleaned, the main
brush 11 mounted in the floating system holder 131 may be closely
fitted with the surface to be cleaned within a floating path range
of the main brush 11, thus realizing the most efficient sweeping in
a ground-close-fit manner (i.e., being closely fitted with the
ground during sweeping). That is, the main brush 11 has a great
ground-close-fit effect regarding different types of surfaces to be
cleaned, and hence makes significant contribution to airtightness
of the air channel.
[0100] When an obstacle 6 exists on the surface to be cleaned,
through the upward and downward "floating" of the floating holder
portion 1313, mutual interaction between the main brush 11 and the
obstacle 6 may be reduced, so as to assist the autonomous cleaning
device in surmounting the obstacle easily. The primary air channel
4 is located between the fixed holder portion 1312 and the floating
holder portion 1313, so the floating main brush 11 proposes a
requirement for flexibility of the primary air channel 4, because a
rigid air channel cannot absorb floating changes of the main brush
11, and the requirement is realized by soft materials of the
primary air channel 4. Thus, when the primary air channel 4 is made
of the soft materials (e.g. soft rubber), in an obstacle-crossing
process, the floating holder portion 1313 extrudes the primary air
channel 4 and cause deformation of the primary air channel 4, so as
to realize the upward "floating" smoothly.
[0101] Additionally, in the normal sweeping process, as for a rough
surface to be cleaned, like the blanket, the "floating" function of
the floating holder portion 1313 may reduce mutual interference
between the main brush 11 and the blanket, thus reducing resistance
against the main brush motor 1314, so as to decrease power
consumption of the main brush motor 1314 and prolong a service life
thereof.
[0102] 2. Structure of Primary Air Channel 4
[0103] In the present disclosure, through guidance of the primary
air channel 4, the wind generated by the power unit 3 may transmit
the objects to be cleaned, such as dust swept up by the main brush
assembly 1, into the dust box assembly 2.
[0104] In terms of the overall structure, as shown in FIG. 21, the
primary air channel 4 may be configured to have a flared shape, and
a sectional area of the primary air channel 4 corresponding to any
position on the primary air channel 4 is in a negative relationship
with a distance between the any position and the main brush
assembly 1. In other words, a relatively large side of the "flared"
shape faces the main brush assembly 1, while a relatively small
side thereof faces the dust box assembly 2.
[0105] In this embodiment, the sectional area of the primary air
channel 4 gradually decreases from the main brush assembly 1 to the
dust box assembly 2, a static pressure at the corresponding
position along the primary air channel 4 is gradually increased
therewith, i.e. the suction force becomes greater and greater from
the main brush assembly 1 to the dust box assembly 2. Thus, after
the objects to be cleaned, such as dust and rubbish, are swept up
and brought to the primary air channel 4 by the main brush assembly
1, the objects to be cleaned gradually depart from the main brush
assembly 1 and approach to the dust box assembly 2 (similarly
approaching to the power unit 3 gradually). Although a sweeping
force exerted on the objects to be cleaned by the main brush
assembly 1 decreases gradually, the suction force exerted on the
objects to be cleaned by the power unit 3 increases gradually, such
that it is ensured that the objects to be cleaned can be sucked and
transmitted into the dust box assembly 2.
[0106] Further, as shown in FIG. 21, the inlet end 41 of the
primary air channel 4 faces the main brush 11 of the main brush
assembly, and a width of the inlet end 41 in a horizontal plane
along a direction (i.e. the axis x) perpendicular to the advancing
direction is increased gradually from up to down. For ease of
understanding, regarding the fit relationship between the primary
air channel 4 and the main brush 11 shown in FIG. 21, FIG. 22 shows
a perspective view of the primary air channel 4 fitted with the
main brush 11. As shown in FIG. 22, the inlet end 41 of the primary
air channel 4 close to the main brush 11 has a larger sectional
area, while an outlet end 42 thereof away from the main brush 11
has a smaller sectional area. Based on the above "gradually
increased" width of the inlet end 41, a section of the inlet end 41
may have a trapezoid shape, a narrower second edge 412 of the inlet
end 41 is an upper bottom edge of the trapezoid, and a wider first
edge 411 of the inlet end 41 is a lower bottom edge of the
trapezoid. Certainly, the section of the inlet end 41 may have
other shapes as well, as long as the above "gradually increased"
width is satisfied, which is not limited in the present
disclosure.
[0107] In the embodiment, the inlet end 41 of the primary air
channel 4 adopts the trapezoid shape or similar shapes that meet
the above "gradually increased" width, such that the static
pressure at the corresponding position in the inlet end 41
increases accordingly. Hence, when the objects to be cleaned, such
as dust and rubbish, are swept up and brought to the inlet end 41
by the main brush 11, the wind generated by the power unit 3 may
provide sufficient suction force, such that the objects swept to
the inlet end 41 may be sucked into the dust box assembly 2 as much
as possible, which is conductive to improving the cleaning
efficiency.
[0108] As shown in FIG. 21, the inlet end 41 of the primary air
channel 4 may be connected to the main brush chamber 13 of the main
brush assembly 1. As shown in FIG. 23, the primary air channel 4
includes two side walls in a rolling direction of the main brush
11, i.e. a first side wall 43 located at a rear side in the
advancing direction, and a second side wall 44 located at a front
side in the advancing direction, and the two side walls may be
configured as follows.
[0109] 1) First Side Wall 43
[0110] In an embodiment, the first side wall 43 may be provided
along a tangential direction of a circular section region of the
main brush chamber 13. For example, as shown in FIG. 23, the main
brush chamber 13 may include multiple portions in section, such as
a left arc-shaped structure and a right L-shaped structure, in
which an arc portion of the left arc-shaped structure corresponds
to a circular dotted region shown in FIG. 23, so the circular
dotted region corresponding to the arc portion may be equivalent to
the above circular section region. Correspondingly, the first side
wall 43 of the primary air channel 4 may be provided along a
tangential direction of the circular dotted region. For example, in
a relative position relationship shown in FIG. 23, since the
primary air channel 4 is located obliquely above the main brush
assembly and leans to a rear side of the main brush 11 in the
advancing direction, the first side wall 43 may be disposed along a
vertical direction.
[0111] In this embodiment, after the main brush 11 sweeps up the
objects to be cleaned from the ground, the objects to be cleaned
first move along a gap between the main brush 11 and the main brush
chamber 13. As the objects to be cleaned move from the main brush
structure to the primary air channel 4, by disposing the first side
wall 43 along the above tangential direction, a movement track of
the objects to be cleaned and an air flow are not blocked by the
first side wall 43, thus ensuring that the objects to be cleaned
can smoothly enter the dust box assembly 2 through the primary air
channel 4.
[0112] 2) Second Side Wall 44
[0113] In an embodiment, combining FIG. 21 with FIG. 23, the
primary air channel 4 leans to the rear side of the main brush 11
in the advancing direction, the inlet end 41 of the primary air
channel 4 faces the main brush 11 located obliquely below the front
side (e.g. a left side in FIG. 21) of the advancing direction, the
outlet end 42 thereof is connected to an air inlet 211 of the dust
box assembly 2 located obliquely above the rear side (e.g. a right
side in FIG. 21) of the advancing direction, and an air outlet 212
of the dust box assembly 2 is located at a non-top side (i.e. the
air outlet 212 is not located at the dust box top 214, and for
example, the air outlet 212 is located at a right side wall in FIG.
21).
[0114] The second side wall 44 of the primary air channel 4
inclines obliquely rearwards towards the horizontal plane (i.e.
approaching the horizontal plane as close as possible), i.e. the
second side wall 44 forms an included angle as large as possible
with the vertical direction in the axis z. Actually, due to a
limited internal space within the autonomous cleaning device, the
main brush structure, the primary air channel 4 and the dust box
assembly 2 are arranged in a very compact manner, and the most
space-saving way is to arrange the primary air channel 4 completely
along the axis z, but the air volume will be lost considerably,
thereby reducing the suction efficiency greatly. However, in the
embodiment of the present disclosure, in the case of limited
internal space, by increasing the included angle between the second
side wall 44 and the axis z, the wind may be obliquely guided
upwards, such that the wind is reflected by the large angle at the
dust box top 214 after entering the dust box assembly 2, and is
further discharged out in an approximately horizontal direction
through the filter screen 22 at the air outlet 212. Such air path
design with one large-angle reflection reduces the loss of air
volume.
[0115] Furthermore, since the inlet end 41 of the primary air
channel 4 faces the main brush 11 at a left lower side, and the
outlet end 42 thereof is connected to the air inlet 211 of the dust
box assembly 2, the wind and entrained objects to be cleaned may be
blown directly to the dust box top 214 of the dust box assembly 2
when the primary air channel 4 guides the wind into the dust box
assembly 2. Since the air outlet 212 of the dust box assembly 2 is
not located at the dust box top 214, when the wind is blown
directly towards the dust box top 214, the wind needs to be
reflected with a large incident angle at the dust box top 214, and
further enters the secondary air channel 5 through the air outlet
212 after an wind direction change. After the wind enters the dust
box assembly 2, the sectional area becomes large, so a wind speed
is lowered, and the objects to be cleaned fall from the dust box
top 214 due to the decrease in the wind speed and remain in the
dust box assembly 2. Meanwhile, due to the reduction of the wind
speed and the change of the wind direction, the wind cannot
continue blowing the objects to be cleaned to the air outlet 212,
although the wind itself may be blown to the air outlet 212 and
enters the secondary air channel 5, so when the air outlet 212 of
the dust box assembly 2 is provided with the filter screen 22, it
is possible to prevent the objects to be cleaned from being
directly blown to the filter screen 22 and blocking the filter
screen 22, thus improving a utilization rate of the air volume.
[0116] 3. Dust Box Assembly 2
[0117] As shown in FIG. 24, a dust-box accommodating chamber 14 is
provided in a top of the device body 110, and the dust box assembly
2 may be placed into the dust-box accommodating chamber 14 to be
mounted to the device body 110. Certainly, the dust-box
accommodating chamber 14 may be located at other positions of the
device body 110, for example, at a side edge in the rear of the
device body 110 (referring to a rear side of the axis y shown in
FIG. 4), which is limited in the present disclosure.
[0118] As shown in FIG. 24, to achieve an in-position detection of
the dust box assembly 2, the dust box assembly 2 may be provided
with a non-contact inductive element 31, and the device body 110
may be provided with a non-contact inductive cooperating element
32. The non-contact inductive element 31 and the non-contact
inductive cooperating element 32 may achieve a non-contact
cooperative induction in a certain range, so there is no need of
complex mechanical structure and assembling relationship, as long
as it is ensured that the non-contact inductive element 31 is in a
sensible distance from the non-contact inductive cooperating
element 32, the cooperative induction between the both may be
realized, thereby realizing the in-position detection of the dust
box assembly 2.
[0119] Therefore, by configuring the sensible distance between the
non-contact inductive element 31 and the non-contact inductive
cooperating element 32 in advance, when the dust box assembly 2 is
mounted to the device body 110, the non-contact inductive element
31 may cooperate with the non-contact inductive cooperating element
32, and the non-contact inductive cooperating element 32 may sense
the non-contact inductive element 31. As a result of a non-contact
induction adopted between the both, it is possible to avoid
squeezing, breaking, material aging and other unexpected
circumstances caused in the assembling process and hence to improve
reliability in an application process, compared with a mechanical
structure that needs mutual assembling each time.
[0120] In an illustrative embodiment, the non-contact inductive
element 31 may be a magnetic sheet, and the non-contact inductive
cooperating element 32 may be a Hall sensor. By configuring a
cooperative relationship between the magnetic field strength of the
magnetic sheet and the inductive sensitivity of the Hall sensor,
when the dust box assembly 2 is mounted to the device body 110, the
Hall sensor may exactly sense the magnetic sheet, so as to realize
the in-position detection of the dust box assembly 2 by the
magnetic sheet.
[0121] Certainly, as said above, the present disclosure does not
limit an inductive direction between the non-contact inductive
element 31 and the non-contact inductive cooperating element 32, so
similar to the above embodiment, the Hall sensor may serve as the
non-contact inductive element 31 and be mounted in the dust box
assembly 2, and the magnetic sheet may serve as the non-contact
inductive cooperating element 32 and be mounted to the device body
110, which may realize the above in-position detection as well and
will not be illustrated again.
[0122] In the present disclosure, the non-contact inductive element
31 may be mounted at any position in the dust box assembly 2, which
is not limited in the present disclosure. Similarly, the
non-contact inductive cooperating element 32 may be mounted at any
position in the device body 110, which is not limited in the
present disclosure, either. However, for the non-contact inductive
element 31, by changing its installation position in the dust box
assembly 2, different in-position detection effects may be
achieved.
[0123] As shown in FIG. 25, the dust box assembly 2 includes the
dust box 21 and the filter screen 22, and the filter screen 22 is
detachably mounted to the dust box 21, so there are two ways of
mounting the non-contact inductive element 31, i.e. being mounted
in the dust box 21 or being mounted to the filter screen 22.
[0124] Supposing that the non-contact inductive element 31 is
mounted to the filter screen 22, it is impossible for the user to
separately mount the filter screen 22 to the device body 110 and
overlook the dust box 22, because sizes and shapes of the filter
screen 22 and the dust box 21 are greatly different. Thus, there
are two installation situations: (1) the user separately mounts the
dust box 21 to the device body 110 without mounting the filter
screen 22 to the dust box 21, in which case the autonomous cleaning
device cannot detect the dust box assembly 2 because the
non-contact inductive element 31 is located on the filter screen
22, and hence a detection result is that the dust box assembly 2 is
not in position; (2) the user mounts the filer screen 22 to the
dust box 21, and the autonomous cleaning device may determine that
the dust box assembly 2 is in position after the user mounts the
complete dust box assembly 2 to the device body 110.
[0125] Therefore, by mounting the non-contact inductive element 31
to the filter screen 22, it is possible to carry out the
in-position detection of the whole dust box assembly 2, and also
detect the filter screen 22, so as to ensure that the dust box
assembly 2 indeed includes the dust box 21 and the filter screen 22
when the autonomous cleaning device obtains a detection result
reading that "the dust box assembly 2 is in position", thereby
preventing the wind from being blown into the fan structure without
being filtered by the filter screen 22, and further preventing
dust, granular rubbish and the like from being blown into the fan
structure and causing damages to the fan structure. Since the
accumulation of dust on the filter screen 22 greatly reduces the
air volume and hence affects the dust-collection efficiency, the
filter screen 22 often needs to be cleaned by the user to keep a
clean air path unobstructed. After cleaning the filter screen 22,
the user is most likely to forget to put it back and directly place
the dust box 21 into the device body 110, in which case the dust
and rubbish may enter the fan structure and cause damages to the
fan structure once the autonomous cleaning device is started to
sweep. In fact, it is not rare for the autonomous cleaning device,
such as a sweeping robot, that the fan therein is ruined just
because the filter screen 22 is forgotten to be mounted. Due to a
sheet-like structure of the filter screen 22, it is difficult to
provide a mechanical element on the filter screen 22 for
in-position identification.
[0126] Optionally, the non-contact inductive element 31 may be
mounted at any position on a frame of the filter screen 22. For
example, the magnetic sheet is embedded in a plastic frame of the
filter screen 22.
[0127] In the present disclosure, two side openings may be formed
in the dust box 21, one side opening is configured as the air inlet
211 in the dust box 21, and the other side opening is configured as
the air outlet 212 in the dust box 21, as shown in FIG. 26. The
filter screen 22 may be mounted at the air outlet 212, and by
covering the air outlet 212 with the filter screen 22, it is
ensured that the objects to be cleaned, such as dust, remain in the
dust box 21, thus preventing the objects to be cleaned from being
blown through the air outlet 212 to the subsequent fan
structure.
[0128] In an illustrative embodiment, as shown in FIG. 26, the dust
box 21 may be further split into a dust box body 21A and a side
wall 21B provided with the air inlet 211. Since the air inlet 211
is provided in the side wall 21B, a size of the side wall 21B is
necessarily larger than that of the air inlet 211, and thus, after
the side wall 21B is removed, a dumping port 213 larger than the
air inlet 211 in size may be formed to make it convenient for the
user to dump the objects to be cleaned (such as dust) collected in
the dust box 21.
[0129] 4. Smooth Guidance of Secondary Air Channel 5
[0130] FIG. 27 is a top view of the air path structure shown in
FIG. 21. As shown in FIG. 27, the main brush assembly 1, the dust
box assembly 2 and the power unit 3 are arranged sequentially along
the advancing direction (i.e. the axis y) of the autonomous
cleaning device, and also, the dust box assembly 2 and the power
unit 3 are offset from each other in the axis x (i.e. the
left-and-right direction of the autonomous cleaning device), such
that when the wind is blown from the dust box assembly 2 to the
power unit 3, the wind moves in the axis y (i.e. "from left to
right" in FIG. 17) and in the axis x (i.e. "from down to up" in
FIG. 17) simultaneously, that is, the wind makes a turn in a
flowing process thereof. The dust box assembly 2 and the power unit
3 may not be offset from each other in the axis x, which is not
limited in the present disclosure.
[0131] As shown in FIG. 27, the secondary air channel 5 has a
flared shape (a sectional area of the secondary air channel 5 close
to the dust box assembly 2 is relatively large, and a sectional
area of the secondary air channel 5 close to the power unit 3 is
relatively small) to gather the wind to the air inlet of the power
unit 3. When the wind is blown from the dust box assembly 2 to the
secondary air channel 5, the wind is directly blown to an inner
wall of a windward side 51 of the secondary air channel 5 due to
the decrease of the sectional area. Thus, in the present
disclosure, the inner wall of the windward side 51 of the secondary
air channel 5 is configured to have an arc shape, which on one hand
may guide the wind output from the dust box assembly 2 in the axis
x to allow the wind to be blown to the air inlet of the power unit
3, and on the other hand cooperate with the wind flow to avoid
blocking or interfering the wind flow and resulting in turbulence,
thus reducing the airflow loss and improving the utilization rate
of the air volume.
[0132] Meanwhile, combining FIG. 21 with FIG. 27, after being swept
up by the main brush assembly 1, the objects to be cleaned are
transmitted to the dust box assembly 2 by the wind generated by the
power unit 3 (as well as cooperation of the structure of the
primary air channel 4), and hence by improving the utilization rate
of the air volume of the air path structure and reducing the
airflow loss, a capability of transmitting the objects to be
cleaned by the wind may be enhanced, so as to improve the cleaning
degree and the cleaning efficiency of the autonomous cleaning
device.
[0133] 5. Oblique Configuration of Power Unit 3
[0134] FIG. 28 is a sectional view of a secondary air channel and a
power unit according to an illustrative embodiment. As shown in
FIG. 28, an end of the secondary air channel 5 away from the dust
box assembly 2 (not shown) has an air outlet 52, and the air outlet
52 is fitted with and connected to an air intake 311 of the power
unit 3. A plane where the air outlet 52 is located intersects with
the horizontal plane, i.e. the air outlet 52 is inclined with
respect to the horizontal plane. Thus, when the power unit 3 is
configured as an axial-flow fan, and the air intake 311 is oriented
in the same direction as a rotating shaft (an axial direction of
the rotating shaft may refer to a direction indicated by a dotted
line in FIG. 28) of the axial-flow fan, it is actually embodied
that the axial-flow fan is inclined with respect to the horizontal
plane.
[0135] When a plane where the air outlet 52 and the air intake 311
are located is perpendicular to the horizontal plane, in a process
that the wind flows inside the secondary air channel 5 and flows
from the secondary air channel 5 into the power unit 3, the wind
mainly flows in the horizontal plane, such that when the wind is
blown from the secondary air channel 5 into the axial-flow fan, the
wind direction is substantially parallel to the axial direction of
the rotating shaft, and thus the axial-flow fan used as the power
unit 3 may achieve a maximum conversion efficiency (e.g. an
efficiency of converting electrical energy into wind energy). When
the plane where the air outlet 52 and the air intake 311 are
located is parallel to the horizontal plane, the wind flows
substantially along the horizontal plane inside the secondary air
channel 5, but the wind turns to flow along the vertical direction
when entering the power unit 3 from the secondary air channel 5,
such that the axial-flow fan used as the power unit 3 has a minimum
conversion efficiency.
[0136] However, due to the limited internal space in the autonomous
cleaning device, it is impossible to realize that the plane where
the air outlet 52 and the air intake 311 are located is
perpendicular to the horizontal plane, so in the present
disclosure, by increasing an included angle between the axial-flow
fan used as the power unit 3 and the horizontal plane, on one hand,
the internal space in the autonomous cleaning device may be
utilized reasonably, and on the other hand, the conversion
efficiency of the axial-flow fan may be maximized as much as
possible.
[0137] In the present disclosure, regarding a process that the wind
flows in the secondary air channel 5, a side all of the secondary
air channel 5 facing the air outlet 52 may protrude outwards to
increase a capacity of an inner chamber of the secondary air
channel 5 at the air outlet 52, such that an energy loss of the
wind generated by the power unit 3 at the air outlet 52 is less
than a predetermined loss. For example, FIG. 29 is a right view of
the air path structure shown in FIG. 21. As shown in FIG. 29, when
the air outlet 52 is located at a top side of the secondary air
channel 5, the side wall of the secondary air channel 5 facing the
air outlet 52 is a bottom wall and thus may protrude downwards to
form a convex structure 53 as shown in FIG. 29, thereby increasing
the capacity of the inner chamber of the secondary air channel 5 at
the air outlet 52. Thus, when the wind direction is changed at the
air outlet 52 (in the condition that the plane where the air outlet
is located is not perpendicular to the horizontal plane) and the
wind is blown into the power unit 3, a larger buffer space is
provided to reduce the energy loss of the wind at the air outlet
52.
[0138] 6. Fully Sealed Air Channels of the Whole Device
[0139] It can be known from the foregoing analysis that the vacuum
degree and the air volume both contribute significantly to a high
suction efficiency. In the present disclosure, a sealing treatment
is applied to all the gaps at joints of various parts in the air
path structure, for example, filling the gaps with flexible glue to
avoid air leakage, thus reducing the loss of the vacuum degree.
Furthermore, a soft rubber piece is used at the air outlet of the
fan to guide the wind completely out of the main machine. The soft
rubber piece 3132 avoids the air leakage (i.e. lowering the vacuum
degree), and further prevents dust from entering the motor in the
autonomous cleaning device, thus extending the service life of the
autonomous cleaning device.
[0140] Various functional modules of the autonomous cleaning device
in the present disclosure are respectively mounted in accommodating
spaces reserved in the device body, and may be removed separately
from the device body, such that it is convenient to separately
remove a damaged functional module to repair it or replace it with
a new one, which improves a maintenance efficiency of the
autonomous cleaning device greatly.
[0141] Other embodiments of the present disclosure will be apparent
to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification
and practice of the disclosure disclosed here. This application is
intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the
disclosure following the general principles thereof and including
such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or
customary practice in the art. It is intended that the
specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a
true scope and spirit of the present disclosure being indicated by
the following claims.
[0142] It will be appreciated that the present disclosure is not
limited to the exact construction that has been described above and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and that various
modifications and changes can be made without departing from the
scope thereof. It is intended that the scope of the disclosure only
be limited by the appended claims.
* * * * *