Vehicle cleaning system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11608034-B2
Application number	US-201916433448-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 6, 2019
Priority date	Jun 6, 2019
Publication date	Mar 21, 2023
Grant date	Mar 21, 2023

Abstract

A vehicle cleaning system for cleaning a vehicle including a processor and a memory including computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations. The operations include determining that a passenger compartment of the vehicle requires cleaning and identifying a type of cleaning required. The operations also include that at least one of a fragrance system, a dry particulate removal system, and a wet particulate removal system is activated in response to the type of cleaning required.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle cleaning system for cleaning a vehicle, the system including a controller comprising:
a processor; and
a memory comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
determining that a passenger compartment of the vehicle requires cleaning; and
identifying a type of cleaning required; and
activating at least one of a fragrance system, a dry particulate removal system, and a wet particulate removal system in response to the type of cleaning required;

wherein the operations further comprise:
autonomously driving the vehicle to a cleaning solution tank;
fluidly connecting a sprinkler of the wet particulate removal system to the cleaning solution tank; autonomously driving the vehicle to a cleaning solution tank; and fluidly connecting a sprinkler of the wet particulate removal system to the cleaning solution tank 15 .

2. The vehicle cleaning system of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
receiving a cleanliness report from a passenger device indicating that the passenger compartment of the vehicle requires cleaning.

3. The vehicle cleaning system of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
detecting a cleanliness of the interior of the vehicle using a vehicle cleanliness monitoring sensor, wherein the vehicle cleanliness monitoring sensor is configured to detect the cleanliness using at least one of odor detection and image recognition.

4. The vehicle cleaning system of claim 1 , further comprising:
activating the sprinkler to spray a cleaning solution from the cleaning solution tank into the passenger compartment when the wet particulate removal system is activated.

5. The vehicle cleaning system of claim 4 , wherein the operations further comprise:
prior to activating the sprinkler closing at least one of a vacuum inlet port and a vent for a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system of the vehicle, the vacuum inlet port and vent being fluidly connected to the passenger compartment.

6. The vehicle cleaning system of claim 5 , wherein the operations further comprise:
opening the vacuum inlet port when the sprinkler has finished activating.

7. The vehicle cleaning system of claim 6 , wherein the operations further comprise:
activating a vacuum pump of the dry particulate removal system when the vacuum inlet port has opened, wherein the vacuum pump is configured to apply a suction to the vacuum inlet port to remove particulates and the cleaning solution from the passenger compartment.

8. The vehicle cleaning system of claim 5 , wherein the operations further comprise:
opening the vent for the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system of the vehicle when the sprinkler has finished activating; and
activating the air-conditioning system when the vent has opened.

9. The vehicle cleaning system of claim 5 , wherein the operations further comprise:
lowering a window of the vehicle when the sprinkler has finished activating.

10. The vehicle cleaning system of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
activating a fragrance emitting device to emit a selected fragrance into the passenger compartment when the fragrance system is activated.

11. The vehicle cleaning system of claim 5 , wherein the operations further comprise:
activating a fragrance emitting device to emit a selected fragrance into the passenger compartment when the sprinkler has finished activating.

12. The vehicle cleaning system of claim 1 , wherein the operations further include:
activating a vacuum pump of the dry particulate removal system when the dry particulate removal system is activated, the dry particulate system further comprising a vacuum inlet port fluidly connected to the passenger compartment, wherein the vacuum pump is configured to apply a suction to the vacuum inlet port to remove particulates from the passenger compartment.

13. The vehicle cleaning system of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
activating an agitation brush of the dry particulate removal system when the dry particulate removal system is activated, the agitation brush being configured to agitate a surface of the passenger compartment to remove particulates on the surface.

14. The vehicle cleaning system of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
activating an air jet of the dry particulate removal system when the dry particulate removal system is activated, the air jet being configured to direct a concentrated jet of air at various components within the passenger compartment.

15. A vehicle cleaning system for cleaning a vehicle, the system including a controller comprising:
a processor; and
a memory comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
determining that a passenger compartment of the vehicle requires cleaning; and
identifying a type of cleaning required; and

activating at least one of a fragrance system, a dry particulate removal system, and a wet particulate removal system in response to the type of cleaning required;
wherein the operations further comprise:
receiving a passenger preference from a passenger device or a remote database, indicating that the passenger desires the cleaning of the vehicle prior to the passenger entering the vehicle.

16. A vehicle cleaning system for cleaning a vehicle, the vehicle cleaning system comprising:
a fragrance system configured to emit a selected fragrance into a passenger compartment of the vehicle;
a dry particulate removal system configured to remove particulate from the passenger compartment;
a wet particulate removal system configured to wash the passenger compartment; and
a controller configured to activate at least one of the fragrance system, the dry particulate removal system, and the wet particulate removal system, the controller including:
a processor; and
a memory comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
determining that a passenger compartment of the vehicle requires cleaning; and
identifying a type of cleaning required; and
activating at least one of the fragrance system, the dry particulate removal system, and the wet particulate removal system in response to the type of cleaning required.

17. The vehicle cleaning system of claim 16 , wherein the dry particulate removal system further comprises:
an agitation brush configured to agitate a surface of the passenger compartment to remove particulates on the surface;
a vacuum inlet port fluidly connect to the passenger compartment; and
a vacuum pump fluidly connected to the vacuum inlet port, the vacuum pump being configured to apply a suction to the vacuum inlet port.

18. The vehicle cleaning system of claim 16 , wherein the dry particulate removal system further comprises:
an air jet configured to direct a concentrated jet of air at various components within the passenger compartment.

19. The vehicle cleaning system of claim 16 , wherein the wet particulate removal system further comprises:
a sprinkler configured to spray a cleaning solution into the passenger compartment.

20. The vehicle cleaning system of claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise:
detecting a cleanliness of the interior of the vehicle using a vehicle cleanliness monitoring sensor, wherein the vehicl

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Zhou Chen
• Peranandam Prakash Mohan
• Wang Jianfeng

Classifications

• B08B1/34

  rotating about an axis parallel to the surface · CPC title

• B60S3/008 Primary

  for interiors of land vehicles · CPC title

• B60S1/64 Primary

  for cleaning vehicle interiors, e.g. built-in vacuum cleaners · CPC title

• B08B5/04

  Cleaning by suction, with or without auxiliary action · CPC title

• B60H3/0035

  characterised by the control methods for adding the substance · CPC title