Filtering devices for evacuation stations

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11812918-B2
Application number	US-202017101734-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 23, 2020
Priority date	May 4, 2018
Publication date	Nov 14, 2023
Grant date	Nov 14, 2023

Abstract

A bag-based filtering device for collecting debris from a cleaning robot via a debris evacuation station includes a filter bag configured to separate at least the portion of the evacuated debris from a flow of air generated by the evacuation station. The filtering device includes a conduit extending inward from an opening of the filter bag into the receptacle. The conduit is configured to pneumatically connect a receptacle of the filtering device with an inlet of the filtering device to direct the flow of air generated by the evacuation station through the filter bag to separate at least the portion of the evacuated debris from the flow of air.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An evacuation station for an autonomous cleaning robot, the evacuation station comprising:
a receptacle;
an intake configured to pneumatically connect with a debris bin of the autonomous cleaning robot;
an air mover to generate a negative pressure to produce an airflow to draw debris from the debris bin through the intake and into the receptacle during an evacuation process;
a sensor to receive data indicative of a parameter associated with a portion of a pathway for the airflow within the evacuation station as the air mover produces the airflow during the evacuation process; and
one or more processors configured to:
determine, based on the received data indicative of the parameter, a condition associated with the portion of the pathway, the condition comprising at least one of a clog, an obstruction, or an improper sealed engagement; and
cause a user notification indicative of the determined condition to be provided in response to detection of the condition.

2. The evacuation station of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to transmit, to a remote computing device, data indicative of the determined condition to cause the remote computing device to provide the user notification indicative of the determined condition.

3. The evacuation station of claim 1 , wherein the portion of the pathway for the airflow corresponds to a portion of the pathway between the intake of the evacuation station and an inlet of the receptacle.

4. The evacuation station of claim 1 , further comprising one or more conduits pneumatically connecting the intake to the receptacle, wherein the portion of the pathway for the airflow corresponds to a portion of the pathway through the one or more conduits.

5. The evacuation station of claim 1 , further comprising one or more conduits connected to the intake, wherein the one or more conduits is configured to pneumatically connect the intake to the receptacle, and when the determined condition is the improper sealed engagement, the determined condition corresponds to an improper sealed engagement between the one or more conduits and the receptacle.

6. The evacuation station of claim 1 , wherein when the determined condition is the clog or the obstruction, the determined condition corresponds to a clog or an obstruction in the portion of the pathway for the airflow.

7. The evacuation station of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is a force sensor or, when the determined condition is the clog or the obstruction, an optical sensor.

8. The evacuation station of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is a pressure sensor.

9. The evacuation station of claim 8 , wherein the parameter comprises an air pressure within the pathway, and the one or more processors are configured to determine the condition by determining that the air pressure within the pathway is outside of an expected range.

10. The evacuation station of claim 9 , wherein the expected range is computed based on data indicative of one or more air pressures received by the sensor during one or more successful evacuation processes performed by the evacuation station.

11. The evacuation station of claim 9 , wherein the data indicative of the air pressure corresponds to a steady-state air pressure within the pathway.

12. The evacuation station of claim 1 , wherein the receptacle is configured to receive a filtering device to store the debris drawn into the receptacle.

13. The evacuation station of claim 12 , wherein the determined condition is a first condition and the one or more processors are configured to determine a second condition corresponding to a full state of the filtering device received by the receptacle.

14. The evacuation station of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to cease operation of the air mover in response to detection of the condition.

15. The evacuation station of claim 1 , wherein the determined condition is a first condition associated with a first portion of the pathway and the one or more processors are configured to determine a second condition associated with a second portion of the pathway.

16. The evacuation station of claim 15 , wherein at least one of the first portion of the pathway and the second portion of the pathway corresponds to a portion of the pathway between the intake of the evacuation station and an inlet of the receptacle.

17. The evacuation station of claim 15 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine the first condition based on a first measured pressure of the sensor being less than a minimum of an expected range and determine the second condition based on a second measured pressure of the sensor being greater than a maximum of the expected range.

18. The evacuation station of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine at least two conditions, the at least two conditions comprising (i) the clog or the obstruction and (ii) the improper sealed engagement.

19. A computing device comprising:
a display;
a wireless communicator configured to communicate with an evacuation station for storing debris drawn by the evacuation station from an autonomous cleaning robot; and
one or more processors configured to execute instructions to perform operations comprising:
receiving, using the wireless communicator, an identification of a condition that was determined by one or more processors of the evacuation station based on data received from a sensor of the evacuation station, the received data being indicative of a parameter associated with a pathway in the evacuation station for airflow when the evacuation station draws the debris into the evacuation station, the condition comprising at least one of a clog, an obstruction, or an improper sealed engagement, and
presenting a user notification indicative of the condition and a user instruction to address the determined condition.

20. The computing device of claim 19 , wherein when the condition is the obstruction, the determined condition corresponds to an obstruction along the pathway for the airflow generated by the evacuation station, and the user instruction corresponds to an instruction to inspect one or more conduits of the evacuation station.

21. The computing device of claim 19 , wherein when the determined condition is the improper sealed engagement, the determined condition corresponds to an improper sealed engagement between one or more conduits of the evacuation station and a removable filtering device received by the evacuation station, and the user instruction corresponds to an instruction to inspect an interface between the removable filtering device and the one or more conduits.

22. The computing device of claim 19 , wherein the determined condition is a first condition, the user notification is a first user notification, the user instruction is a first user instruction, and the operations comprise:
receiving, using the wireless communicator, data indicative of a second condition associated with the pathway, the second condition having been determined by the one or more processors of the evacuation station based on data received from the sensor, the second determined condition corresponding to a full state of a removable filtering device received by the evacuation station, and
presenting a second user notification indicative of the second determined condition and a second user instruction to address the second determined condition, the second user instruction corresponding to an instruction to replace

Assignees

• Irobot Corp

Inventors

• Wolff Andrew Vincent
• Cargill Ellen B
• Dell'Accio Douglas
• Suchman Jason Jeffrey
• Pastore Flavia

Classifications

• A47L9/2821 Primary

  Pressure, vacuum level or airflow · CPC title

• A47L9/0063

  External storing devices; Stands, casings or the like for the storage of suction cleaners · CPC title

• A47L9/1418

  Impermeable dust collecting bags · CPC title

• A47L9/2815

  using optical detectors · CPC title

• A47L2201/024

  Emptying dust or waste liquid containers · CPC title