Side Brush and Intelligent Cleaning Device

The present application is a continuation application of Ser. No. 17/230,034, which is a continuation application of International Application No. PCT/CN2019/082691, filed on Apr. 15, 2019, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201821672719.X, filed on Oct. 15, 2018, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties for all purposes.

The present application relates to the field of cleaning tool technologies and, more specifically, to a side brush and a smart cleaning device.

Existing smart cleaning devices such as smart cleaning machines are usually provided with side brushes at their bottoms. The side brushes are able to rotate to move debris on a floor surface to the cleaning region under the smart cleaning device.

According to an aspect, this application provides a side brush, including a side brush base for mounting to a smart cleaning device, and a scraper connected to a peripheral side of the side brush base, where the scraper is configured to engage the floor, so as to scrape sundries.

According to another aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a smart cleaning device, including a device body and the foregoing side brush.

The following describes specific details to provide a more thorough understanding of the present application. However, it is obvious to a person skilled in the art that the present application can be implemented without one or more of these details. In other examples, to avoid confusion with the present application, some technical features well known in the art are not described.

To fully understand the present application, the following description provides a detailed structure to illustrate the present application. Clearly, the implementation of the present application is not limited to the specific details well known to a person skilled in the art. The following describes example embodiments of the present application in detail. However, in addition to these detailed descriptions, the present application can have other embodiments, and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments provided herein.

It should be understood that the terms used herein are merely intended to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present application. The singular forms of “a/an” and “one” are also intended to include plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates another manner. The terms “include” and/or “comprise” used in the specification specify the existence of the features, entireties, steps, operations, elements and/or components, but do not exclude the existence or addition of one or more other features, entireties, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or a combination thereof. The terms “upper,” “lower,” “front,” “rear,” “left,” “right” and similar expressions used in the present application are merely intended for illustrative purposes and are not intended to impose a limitation.

The ordinal numbers such as “first” and “second” cited in the present application are merely identifiers and do not have any other meaning, such as a particular order. In addition, for example, the term “first component” does not imply the existence of a “second component” and the term “second component” does not imply the existence of a “first component.”

The following describes in more detail the specific embodiments of the present application with reference to the accompanying drawings. These accompanying drawings illustrate representative embodiments of the present application and are not intended to limit the present application.

Generally, a smart cleaning device mainly includes a device body. The device body can be in an approximate circular shape (both the front and the back are circular) or can be in other shapes. It can be understood that the smart cleaning device shown in the present application may be a sweeping robot, a mopping robot, a sweeping and mopping robot, or the like.

The smart cleaning device includes a cleaning system, a perception system, a control system, a driving system, an energy system, a man-machine interaction system, and the like. Various systems cooperate with each other to make the smart cleaning device autonomously move and implement a cleaning task. Functional elements and the like that constitute the above- mentioned systems in the smart cleaning device are integrated into the device body. The device body includes an upper cover, a chassis, and a middle frame disposed between the upper cover and the chassis. The middle frame serves as a basic frame for disposing various functional elements. The upper cover and the chassis cover a surface of the device body to protect internal parts and improve appearance of the smart cleaning device.

Autonomous movement of the smart cleaning system is implemented by the driving system. The driving system mainly includes a traveling wheel, a driving motor, and a control circuit for controlling the driving motor. To enable the smart cleaning device to move more stably on the floor or to have a stronger motion ability, the smart cleaning device may include one or more driven wheels, and a driven wheel includes but is not limited to a caster.

The perception system is used by the smart cleaning device to perceive an external environment such as topography. The perception system includes sensing apparatuses such as a position determining apparatus, a bumper, a cliff sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, an infrared sensor, a magnetometer, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and an odometer. These sensing apparatuses provide various position information and motion state information of the smart cleaning device for the control system. The position determining apparatus includes but is not limited to an infrared emitter and receiver, a camera, and a laser ranging apparatus (laser distance sensor or LDS). The bumper is configured to relieve a collision between the smart cleaning device and an object during movement. A layer of flexible material is provided on a surface of the bumper, the bumper is mounted to the device body, and the predetermined distance between the bumper and the device body can ensure sufficient time for the device body to decelerate in case of a collision.

The control system is provided on the main circuit board in the device body and includes a nontransient memory, a computing processor, and the like. The computing processor may be a central processing unit, an application processor, or the like. The computing processor generates, based on obstacle information provided by the laser ranging apparatus and a positioning algorithm, an instant map of an environment in which the smart cleaning device is located. Based on the distance information and speed information provided by the bumper and the sensing apparatuses, the control system may determine a current working status of the smart cleaning device, such as crossing a threshold, crossing an edge of a carpet, reaching a cliff, getting stuck, having a full dust box, or being picked up. In addition, the control system provides next actions, based on different situations, to make the performance of the smart cleaning device meet a certain requirement and improve user experience.

The man-machine interaction system includes buttons on a panel of the robot, which are employed for a user to select functions. The man-machine interaction system may further include a display screen, an indicator, and/or a speaker, which provide the current status of the machine or function options for the user. The man-machine interaction system may further include a mobile phone application. For a route-navigated smart cleaning device, the mobile phone application can show a map of the environment in which the device is located, as well as the location of the smart cleaning device, to the user, thereby providing the user with abundant and user-friendly function options.

The energy system is configured to supply power to the elements of various systems, and mainly includes a rechargeable battery and a power supply circuit. The rechargeable battery can be an NiMH battery or a lithium battery. When power of the rechargeable battery is less than a predetermined threshold, the rechargeable battery may be charged by contacting a charging device and a charging electrode disposed on a side or the bottom of the device body.

The cleaning system is an important system of the smart cleaning device and is configured to implement a cleaning function. The cleaning system includes a dry-cleaning assembly and a wet-cleaning assembly. The dry-cleaning assembly mainly removes loose particulates from a to-be-cleaned surface by using a cleaning brush and the like. The wet-cleaning assembly mainly mops the to-be-cleaned surface (such as a floor surface) by using a cleaning cloth saturated with cleaning liquid.

The dry-cleaning unit may mainly include a rolling brush, a waste container, and a vacuum. The vacuum is connected to the waste container through an air duct and configured to generate suction force. Specifically, as the smart-cleaning device moves, the rolling brush comes in contact with the floor surface, the debris on the floor surface is agitated and taken to a suction door between the rolling brush and the waste container, and then sucked into the waste container by the suction force generated by the vacuum.

The wet-cleaning assembly may mainly include a liquid reservoir and a cleaning cloth. The liquid reservoir may be configured to contain cleaning liquid, and the detachable cleaning cloth is disposed on the liquid reservoir. After the dry-cleaning unit completes cleaning, the liquid in the liquid reservoir flows to the cleaning cloth, and the cleaning cloth mops the floor surface cleaned by the rolling brush and the like.

The dry-cleaning unit may further include a side brush. The side brush is disposed on the device body with a rotation shaft. Specifically, the side brush may be mounted at the edge of the bottom of the device body. The side brush may rotate about the rotation shaft, so as to move the debris into a cleaning region of the rolling brush.

To resolve the problem of a bristle brush being easily entangled with debris, the embodiments of the present application provide a side brush. The side brush is provided with a scraper, which is configured to rotate to remove debris. The movement of the scrapermainly includes two types: traveling movement, which enables the smart cleaning device and the scraperto reach a specified location; and rotation movement about a rotation shaft. The following provides descriptions with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown into, a side brushincludes a side brush baseand a brush body. The side brush baseis mounted to the device body of the smart cleaning device. The brush bodyextends outward from the side brush basein a radial direction D. At least one brush bodymay be provided. In an embodiment, there are at least two brush bodies, the brush bodiesmay extend in a radial direction, and they may be approximately evenly distributed around the side brush base.

It should be noted that the direction terms such as “downward,” “faces upward,” and “upward” that are used to describe the side brushin this specification are relative to a horizontal mounting status of the side brush. It can be understood that “radial direction D” is a radial direction Drelative to a rotation shaft of the side brush, “circumferential direction D” is a circumferential direction Drelative to the rotation shaft of the side brush, and “axial direction D” is a direction extending along the rotation shaft. “Outward from the side brush base” refers to a direction that is away from the side brush base. Further, for example, “downward” refers to a direction in which the axial direction Dextends toward a free end of the brush body; and “upward” refers to a direction in which the axial direction Dextends toward the side brush base.

The brush bodyincludes a brush body mounting partand a brush body extension part. The brush body mounting partis configured to connect to the side brush base. The brush body extension partextends outward in the radial direction Dfrom the brush body mounting partto clean debris. The brush body mounting partand the brush body extension partmay be integrally formed. Or the brush body extension partmay be assembled into the brush body mounting partby buckling or clamping. In an embodiment, the side brushmay be effectively prevented from being entangled with debris such as hair during cleaning, thereby improving the cleaning effect and ensuring cleaning operation. Optionally, the brush bodymay be formed through glue material injection molding, so that the brush body extension partmay have a property of flexibility, which plays a role in buffering. Therefore, while cleaning, the brush body extension partcan efficiently clean debris, thereby implementing high dust pickup efficiency of the smart cleaning device.

In the illustrated embodiments, the brush body extension partis connected to the brush body mounting part, and the present application is not limited thereto. In another embodiment, the brush body extension partmay be directly connected to a brush body base, and, in this case, the brush body mounting partmay be omitted.

The side brushfurther includes the brush body basethat couples to the side brush base. The brush body mounting partmay be connected to the side brush basethrough the brush body base. Referring to, the brush body baseand the brush bodymay be integrally formed. Specifically, the brush bodymay be connected to the brush body base, or the radial brush body and the brush body basemay be formed as an integral part. The integral part and the side brush basemay be separate members. In another embodiment, the brush body baseand the side brush basemay be integrally formed. The side brushand the side brush basemay be integrally formed, or the side brushcan be assembled into the side brush base. The brush body basemay be made of a plastic material. Therefore, the side brushcan closely couple to the rotation shaft for mounting.

The brush bodymay have at least one scraper. As shown in, the scraperincludes a connecting partconnected to the brush body mounting part, and a scraping partextending from the connecting partto the floor surface. The scraping partis in contact with the floor surface to scrape debris, which increases the surface of the scraperthat comes in contact with debris and improves cleaning performance. During the cleaning process, the scrapermoves the debris to the cleaning region under the smart cleaning device. In an embodiment, there are at least two scrapers; the scrapersclean the debris in the rotational direction of the side brushsequentially. The front scrapercleans the debris first, and the debris that are not initially removed are further cleaned by the rear scraper, thereby improving the cleaning efficiency and cleaning effect.

In the illustrated embodiments, the scraperincludes a scraping partextending from the connecting partto the floor surface. During the performance of a cleaning task, the scraping partcomes in contact with the floor surface to remove debris. In another embodiment, the connecting partcan serve as a scraping part, and the connecting partcomes in contact with the floor to remove debris. The scraping part extending to the floor surface may be omitted, which makes the structure simpler.

In an embodiment, the scraperand the brush body extension partare integrally formed, so that the brush bodymay be formed as an integrally formed member. In another embodiment, the scrapermay be coupled to the brush body mounting partby buckling or clamping.

Further, with combined reference toand, in an embodiment there are at least two scrapers, and the brush body extension partmay be provided with an openingthat extends in a radial direction Dand penetrates the free end of the brush body. That is, the free brush body extension partis separated by the opening. The openingmay be disposed between at least two adjacent scrapers. The openingextends in the radial direction Dfrom the middle of the brush body extension partand penetrates the free end of the brush body. In an embodiment, the scrapersdo not interfere with each other during cleaning, and elasticity of the scrapersincreases. Optionally, the size of the openingin the radial direction Dcan be greater than or equal to the size of the scraperin the radial direction D.

With combined reference toand, the openingcompletely separates the connecting partsof adjacent scrapers, and the present application is not limited thereto. In another embodiment, the openingcan partially separate the connecting partsof adjacent scrapers. In the illustrated embodiment, the brush bodyis provided with the openingto separate the connecting partsof the front scraperand the rear scraperThe present application is not limited thereto. In another embodiment, the opening may be omitted, and the connecting partsof the front scraperand the rear scraperare connected to each other, that is, the scraperincludes the connecting part, and the secondary scraping partand the scraping partthat are formed through extension downward from two opposite sides of the connecting part.

In the illustrated embodiments, the brush bodyincludes two scrapers, which are defined as the front scraperand the rear scraperin this specification. In the rotational direction of the side brush, the front scraperis located in front of the rear scraperDuring the operation of the side brush, the front scraperis first in contact with debris. The front scraperfirst removes the sundries, and the sundries that are not removed by the front scrapermay be further removed by the rear scraperthereby improving cleaning efficiency. Specifically, the brush body extension partis a plate-like part extending in the circumferential direction D. In the illustrated embodiments, the brush body extension partgradually becomes narrower in the radial direction D. The brush body extension partis provided with the openingbetween the front scraperand the rear scraperThe openingseparates a portion of the brush body extension partnear the free end into two smaller portions. The front scraperand the rear scraperare close to the edge of the brush body extension partin the axial direction D, so that there is a specific distance between the front scraperand the rear scraper

As shown in, the connecting partcan be coupled to the brush body extension part, or the connecting partand the brush body extension partcan be integrally formed. The connecting partmay be directly connected to the brush body base, in which case the brush body mounting partis omitted.

The rear scraperincludes a secondary scraping part. In the rotational direction of the side brush, the secondary scraping partis located on a rear side of the scraping part. The openingseparates the scraping partfrom the secondary scraping partcompletely or partially. In the illustrated embodiment, overall widths of the secondary scraping partsare the same, and the present application is not limited thereto. In another embodiment, the secondary scraping partgradually becomes smaller in a direction toward the floor, so as to prevent the secondary scraping partfrom being lifted away from the floor surface due to upwarping during sundries scraping. In this way, the debris may be removed thoroughly, a friction force with the floor may be reduced, a driving force of the smart cleaning device for driving the side brushto rotate may be reduced, and smooth movement of the smart cleaning device may be effectively ensured while saving power. In another embodiment, one scrapermay include a plurality of rear scrapersthat is, one scraper may include a plurality of secondary scraping parts.

With combined reference toand, in the illustrated embodiments the secondary scraping partis disposed vertically relative to the floor. In the rotational direction of the side brush, the scraping partincludes a front-end face Pand a rear-end face Pthat are disposed from front to back. The scraping partis inclined as a whole in the circumferential direction Drelative to the rotational direction of the connecting parttoward the side brush, so that the front-end face Pof the scraping partaway from the secondary scraping partmay be formed as a bevel that is inclined outward in the circumferential direction Drelative to the connecting part, and a lower end (free end) of the front-end face Pis further forward than an upper end of the front-end face P. Therefore, during cleaning, the scraping partmay scrape the debris more easily, especially the debris at an included angle of walls (the included angle between the floor and the wall), or the debris at an included angle between another object and the floor. The secondary scraping partmay extend in the axial direction D, so that the second surface Pof the secondary scraping partfacing the scraping partmay be formed as an axial surface that extends in the axial direction D. That is, when the side brushis horizontally mounted, the second surface Pof the secondary scraping partfacing the scraping partis a plane that extends vertically. The scraping partfurther includes a tipthat is located at the free end of the scraping partand that extends in the movement direction, so that the sundries can be scraped thoroughly.

In the illustrated embodiments, the scraping partis disposed as a whole in an inclined manner relative to the floor surface, so that in the rotational direction of the side brush, the front-end face Pis disposed in an inclined manner relative to the floor, and the present application is not limited thereto. In another embodiment, only the front-end face Pis disposed in an inclined manner relative to the floor, and a lower end (free end) of the front-end face Pis further forward than an upper end of the front-end face P.

As shown inand, the side brush may include a plurality of scrapers, and the scrapersare configured to move in a rotational manner to scrape debris. As shown in, the side brush includes five scrapers, and the five scrapersare evenly distributed along a circumference of the side brush base. Each scraperincludes one scraping partand one secondary scraping part. In other embodiments, each scrapermay include a plurality of secondary scraping parts. The present application is not limited thereto. In another embodiment, all the scraping partsand secondary scraping partsmay be in the same shape or different shapes, or some of them can be in different shapes. The quantity of the scrapersis not limited in the present application, and may be set depending on actual needs.

In an embodiment not shown, if desired and/or expected, the scraping partmay extend in the axial direction D, and the front-end face Pis an axial surface in the axial direction D. The secondary scraping partmay be slightly inclined toward the scraping part, and the second surface Pis a bevel that is slightly inclined toward the scraping part, so that the secondary scraping partcan scrape the debris more easily.

It can be understood that the directional term “outward in a circumferential direction D” used herein to describe the front scraperrefers to a direction of the front scraperaway from the rear scraperin the circumferential direction D.

As shown in, optionally, a thickness of the scraping partis greater than a thickness of the secondary scraping part. It can be understood that the scraper in the present application is a platelike part, and the thickness of the scraping partrefers to a size in the circumferential direction D. That is, the size Lof the scraping partin the circumferential direction Dis greater than the size Lof the secondary scraping partin the circumferential direction D.

Further, as shown inand, the side brush baseis a separate member. The side brush baseincludes a side brush base bodyand a bossfor mounting a rotation shaft. The side brush base bodyis provided with a receiving part whose openingfaces upward. The bossis located at the center of the side brush base bodyand extends upward from the bottom of the receiving part. The brush body baseis accommodated in the receiving part, and is located between the bossand the side brush base body(refer to). The shape of the brush body baseadapts to the shape of the side brush base body. Specifically, the side brush base bodyis an approximate semisphere that has a receiving part, the brush body baseis an approximate ring (refer to), and the bossmay be accommodated in a center holeof the brush body base. In the illustrated embodiments, the center of the bossmay be provided with a mounting holefor mounting the rotation shaft. The mounting holeis coaxial with the center holeof the brush body base.

The side brush base bodyis provided with a side brush base openingthat corresponds to the brush body mounting part, and the brush bodypenetrates the side brush base openingand extends outward in the radial direction D(refer to). The shape of the brush body mounting partadapts to the side brush base opening. Specifically, a protrusionfor abutting against the brush body baseis disposed between adjacent side brush base openings, and the protrusionextends upward from the side brush base body. An upper surface Pof the protrusionis formed as an arc-shaped surface. The brush body baseis provided with a recessthat corresponds to the protrusion. The recessis recessed upward from a bottom surface Pof the brush body baseand includes a side opening. The protrusioncan be confined to the recess. An upper surface Pof the recessis formed as an arc-shaped surface that corresponds to and abuts against the upper surface Pof the protrusion.

Unless otherwise defined, the technical and scientific terms used in this specification have the same meanings as those commonly understood by a person skilled in the art of this application. The terms used in this specification are merely used for the purpose of describing specific implementations and are not intended to limit this application. Terms such as “member” and “part” that appear in this specification can represent either a single part or a combination of a plurality of parts. Terms such as “mount” and “dispose” that appear in this specification may indicate that one part is attached directly to another part, or may indicate that one part is attached to another part by using an intermediate part. In this specification, a feature described in one embodiment can be applied to another embodiment individually or in combination with other features, unless the feature is not applicable or otherwise stated in another embodiment.

This application has been described by using the foregoing embodiments, but it should be understood that the foregoing embodiments are used only for the purposes of illustration and description, and are not intended to limit this application to the scope of the described embodiments. In addition, a person skilled in the art can understand that this application is not limited to the foregoing embodiments, and further variations and modifications can be made according to the teachings of this application. These variations and modifications fall within the protection scope of this application. The protection scope of this application shall be subject to the appended claims and their equivalent range.