Autonomous surface cleaning robot for wet and dry cleaning

Abstract

An autonomous floor cleaning robot includes a transport drive and control system arranged for autonomous movement of the robot over a floor for performing cleaning operations. The robot chassis carries a first cleaning zone comprising cleaning elements arranged to suction loose particulates up from the cleaning surface and a second cleaning zone comprising cleaning elements arraigned to apply a cleaning fluid onto the surface and to thereafter collect the cleaning fluid up from the surface after it has been used to clean the surface. The robot chassis carries a supply of cleaning fluid and a waste container for storing waste materials collected up from the cleaning surface.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60 / 654,838, the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference it its entirety. This application also claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to U.S. application Ser. No. 11 / 134,212, U.S. application Ser. No. 11 / 134,213, and U.S. application Ser. No. 11 / 133,796, the entire disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties. This application relates to and herein incorporates by reference in their entireties the disclosures of the application entitled “Autonomous Surface Cleaning Robot for Dry Cleaning,” by Gilbert et al., filed on even date herewith, and identified by attorney docket no. IRO-017CP2; and the application entitled “Autonomous Surface Cleaning Robot for Wet Cleaning,” by Ziegler et al., filed on even date herewith, and identified by attorney docket no. IRO-017CP3.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTI...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides an autonomous cleaning robot that is affordable for home use and can clean floors effectively. The robot has a chassis that can move over a cleaning surface and has a first cleaning zone to collect loose particles, a liquid applicator to apply cleaning fluid, and a second cleaning zone to collect the cleaning fluid. The robot has a motive drive system and a master control module to control its movement. The arrangement of the cleaning zones allows for efficient cleaning. The robot also has a smearing element to spread the cleaning fluid evenly, a scrubbing element to remove any contaminants, and a second collecting apparatus to collect the waste liquid. The robot can store the loose particles and waste liquid in separate containers for easy disposal. The cleaning fluid can be water mixed with other substances like soap, solvent, fragrance, disinfectant, emulsifier, drying agent, abrasive particulate, or other substances. The integrated liquid storage container can be removable by a user and emptied or filled by the user.

Problems solved by technology

While each of the above examples provide affordable autonomous floor clearing robots for collecting loose particulates, there is heretofore no teaching of an affordable autonomous floor cleaning robot for applying a cleaning fluid onto the floor to wet clean floors in the home.

The cleaning fluid interacts with contaminants on the surface and may dissolve or otherwise emulsify contaminants into the cleaning fluid.

One problem with the manual floor cleaning methods of the prior art is that after cleaning an area of the floor surface, the waste liquid must be rinsed from the mop or sponge, and this usually done by dipping the mop or sponge back into the container filled with cleaning fluid.

The rinsing step contaminates the cleaning fluid with waste liquid and the cleaning fluid becomes more contaminated each time the mop or sponge is rinsed.

As a result, the effectiveness of the cleaning fluid deteriorates as more of the floor surface area is cleaned.

While the traditional manual method is effective for floor cleaning, it is labor intensive and time consuming.

Moreover, its cleaning effectiveness decreases as the cleaning fluid becomes contaminated.

While the device disclosed by Betker et al. is usable to autonomously wet clean large floor areas, it is not suitable for the home market, and further, lacks many features, capabilities, and functionality of the present invention as described further herein.

In particular, the industrial autonomous cleaning device disclosed by Betker et al. is too large, costly and complex for use in the home and consumes too much electrical power to provide a practical solution for the home wet floor cleaning market.

While Wright et al. describes a self contained wet cleaning device as well as an improved wet cleaning method that separates waste liquid from cleaning fluid the device is manually operated and lacks robotic functionality and other benefits and features identified in the present disclosure.

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