Supply and/or disposal system for autonomous floor cleaner

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11224326-B2
Application number	US-202016922615-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 7, 2020
Priority date	Jun 27, 2017
Publication date	Jan 18, 2022
Grant date	Jan 18, 2022

Abstract

A system for refilling, emptying and/or recharging of an autonomous floor cleaner includes a docking station adapted to be coupled with a household plumbing infrastructure. The docking station can be provided on a household appliance, which may be a toilet, a dishwasher, or another appliance coupled with the plumbing infrastructure.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cleaning system, comprising:
an autonomous floor cleaner, comprising:
an autonomously moveable housing;
a fluid delivery system comprising a supply tank and a receiver coupling in fluid communication with the supply tank;
a fluid recovery system comprising a recovery tank and a waste disposal coupling in fluid communication with the recovery tank wherein the fluid delivery and the fluid recovery systems are carried on the autonomously moveable housing; and
a controller operably coupled to at least one component or system of the autonomous floor cleaner and configured to operate the at least one component or system according to an operation cycle; and

a docking station for docking an autonomous floor cleaner, the docking station comprising:
a liquid supply system configured to fill a supply tank onboard the autonomous floor cleaner and comprising a supply conduit and a supply coupling configured to couple with a corresponding receiver coupling on the autonomous floor cleaner; and
a disposal system configured to empty a recovery tank onboard the autonomous floor cleaner and comprising a waste receiver coupling configured to couple with a corresponding waste disposal coupling on the autonomous floor cleaner wherein the docking station is configured to be fluidly coupled to a plumbing infrastructure, and to fill the supply tank and to empty the recovery tank via the plumbing infrastructure.

2. The cleaning system of claim 1 , wherein the docking station further comprises a shut-off valve for closing a fluid pathway through the supply conduit when the autonomous floor cleaner is not docked with the docking station, and wherein the shut-off valve is configured to automatically open when the autonomous floor cleaner docks with the docking station.

3. The cleaning system of claim 1 , wherein the disposal system comprises a disposal conduit and a disposal pump having an outlet side coupled with the disposal conduit and an inlet side coupled with the waste receiver coupling.

4. The cleaning system of claim 1 , wherein the docking station comprises a power cord, and the docking station is configured to be connected to a power supply by the power cord.

5. The cleaning system of claim 1 , wherein the docking station comprises a converter for converting AC voltage into DC voltage.

6. The cleaning system of claim 1 , wherein the autonomous floor cleaner further comprises a navigation system provided with the controller, the navigation system adapted for guiding movement of the autonomous floor cleaner over a surface to be cleaned and generating and storing maps of the surface to be cleaned.

7. The cleaning system of claim 6 , wherein the autonomous floor cleaner further comprises a drive system provided with the controller, the controller configured to operate the drive system to move the autonomous floor cleaner based on inputs from the navigation system.

8. The cleaning system of claim 7 , wherein the autonomous floor cleaner further comprising a battery management system comprising at least one of a rechargeable battery or battery pack and the docking station further comprises a charging system configured to recharge the autonomous floor cleaner.

9. The cleaning system of claim 7 , wherein the autonomous floor cleaner further comprises a brushroll provided within the autonomously moveable housing, the brushroll mounted for rotation about a substantially horizontal axis, relative to the surface over which the autonomous floor cleaner moves.

10. The cleaning system of claim 1 , wherein the autonomous floor cleaner further comprises at least one sensor operably coupled to the controller and wherein the controller is configured to utilize output from the at least one sensor to control operation of the autonomous floor cleaner.

11. The cleaning system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one sensor is selected from a group including: a bump sensor adapted for outputting a signal related to impacts to the autonomously moveable housing, an obstacle sensor adapted for outputting a signal related to distance of a detected object, a side wall sensor, a lift-up sensor, and a cliff sensor.

12. The cleaning system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one sensor is a floor condition sensor adapted for detecting a condition of a surface to be cleaned.

13. The cleaning system of claim 12 , wherein the controller is adapted to modify the operation cycle or select the operation cycle based on the condition of the surface to be cleaned.

14. The cleaning system of claim 10 , wherein the docking station includes various sensors and emitters for at least one of monitoring robot status, enabling auto-docking functionality, or communicating with the autonomous floor cleaner.

15. The cleaning system of claim 1 , further comprising an appliance having a door and the docking station is provided below the door.

16. The cleaning system of claim 15 , wherein the appliance comprises one of a dishwasher, a refrigerator, a washing machine, a humidifier, or a clothes dryer.

17. The cleaning system of claim 15 , further comprising an autonomous floor cleaner comprising an autonomously moveable housing and a trim piece on the autonomously moveable housing that matches a portion of the appliance surrounding the docking station for an integrated appearance.

18. The cleaning system of claim 1 , further comprising an artificial barrier system adapted for emitting signals to establish boundaries for containing the autonomous floor cleaner within a user-determined boundary.

19. The cleaning system of claim 18 , wherein the autonomous floor cleaner further comprises a plurality of transceivers operably coupled to the controller, the plurality of transceivers configured to sense the signals from the artificial barrier system, the controller configured to operate the autonomous floor cleaner to avoid the user-determined boundary.

20. A cleaning system, comprising:
an appliance having a front side and a door with a docking station provided at the front side below the door, the docking station adapted for docking an autonomous floor cleaner, the docking station comprising:
a liquid supply system configured to fill a supply tank onboard the autonomous floor cleaner and comprising a supply conduit and a supply coupling configured to couple with a corresponding receiver coupling on the autonomous floor cleaner;
a disposal system configured to empty a recovery tank onboard the autonomous floor cleaner and comprising a waste receiver coupling configured to couple with a corresponding waste disposal coupling on the autonomous floor cleaner; and
a charging system configured to recharge the autonomous floor cleaner;

wherein the docking station is configured to be fluidly coupled to a plumbing infrastructure, and to fill the supply tank and to empty the recovery tank via the plumbing infrastructure.

Assignees

• Bissell Inc

Inventors

• Buehler Eric Daniel
• Scholten Jeffrey A
• Brown Adam

Classifications

• A47L11/4088 Primary

  Supply pumps; Spraying devices; Supply conduits · CPC title

• A47L11/4083

  Liquid supply reservoirs; Preparation of the agents, e.g. mixing devices · CPC title

• A47L11/4061

  Steering means; Means for avoiding obstacles; Details related to the place where the driver is accommodated · CPC title

• A47L11/4016 Primary

  specially adapted for collecting fluids · CPC title

• A47L11/28

  Floor-scrubbing machines, motor-driven (A47L11/29 takes precedence) · CPC title