Cordless vacuum cleaner and method of controlling operation of cordless vacuum cleaner

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2024298859-A1
Application number	US-202418589433-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 28, 2024
Priority date	Mar 9, 2023
Publication date	Sep 12, 2024
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method of controlling an operation of a cordless vacuum cleaner includes storing information about predefined movement patterns corresponding to a plurality of control commands in a memory of the cordless vacuum cleaner, in response to detecting that docking or charging of the cordless vacuum cleaner on a station device is terminated, detecting at least one movement pattern among the predefined movement patterns by analyzing movement information obtained via at least one motion sensor, identifying at least one control command corresponding to the detected at least one movement pattern, and controlling an operation of the cordless vacuum cleaner based on the identified at least one control command.

First claim

1 . A cordless vacuum cleaner comprising:
at least one motion sensor which obtains movement information of the cordless vacuum cleaner; a memory which stores information about predefined movement patterns corresponding to a plurality of control commands; and at least one processor which:
in response to detecting that docking or charging of the cordless vacuum cleaner on a station device is terminated, detects at least one movement pattern among the predefined movement patterns by analyzing the movement information obtained via the at least one motion sensor,
identifies at least one control command corresponding to the detected at least one movement pattern, and
controls an operation of the cordless vacuum cleaner based on the identified at least one control command.

2 . The cordless vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor further:
activates a gesture detection mode to detect the at least one movement pattern for a predetermined time period after the detecting that the docking or charging of the cordless vacuum cleaner on the station device is terminated, and deactivates the gesture detection mode when the at least one movement pattern is not detected for the predetermined time period.

3 . The cordless vacuum cleaner of claim 2 , wherein the at least one processor further:
reactivates the gesture detection mode when receiving a user input for turning on power of the cordless vacuum cleaner while the gesture detection mode is deactivated, and detects at least one movement pattern among the predefined movement patterns by analyzing the movement information of the cordless vacuum cleaner.

4 . The cordless vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the at least one control command comprises at least one of a control command for turning power on or off, a control command for adjusting a strength of a suction power, a control command for adjusting revolutions per minute of a rotating brush in a brush device, or a control command for setting an operation mode.

5 . The cordless vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor further:
obtains, from a battery of the cordless vacuum cleaner, information about whether there is contact between a charging terminal of the cordless vacuum cleaner and a charging terminal of the station device, and detects that the docking or charging of the cordless vacuum cleaner on the station device is terminated, based on the information about whether there is contact between the charging terminal of the cordless vacuum cleaner and the charging terminal of the station device.

6 . The cordless vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor further:
measures a voltage at the charging terminal of the cordless vacuum cleaner, and detects, based on the measured voltage, that the docking or charging of the cordless vacuum cleaner on the station device is terminated.

7 . The cordless vacuum cleaner of claim 2 , wherein the at least one processor further:
when a manual mode is set with respect to the gesture detection mode, receives a user input for activating the gesture detection mode, activates the gesture detection mode in response to receiving the user input, when detecting a first movement pattern among the predefined movement patterns by analyzing the movement information obtained via the at least one motion sensor, identifies a first control command corresponding to the first movement pattern, and controls an operation of the cordless vacuum cleaner based on the first control command.

8 . The cordless vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor further:
when detecting a second movement pattern among the predefined movement patterns by analyzing the movement information obtained via the at least one motion sensor, identifies a self-diagnostic command, from among the plurality of control commands, as a second control command corresponding to the second movement pattern, performs self-diagnosis on the cordless vacuum cleaner based on the self-diagnostic command, and outputs a result of the self-diagnosis performed on the cordless vacuum cleaner via a display or a speaker of the cordless vacuum cleaner.

9 . The cordless vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor further:
when detecting a third movement pattern among the predefined movement patterns by analyzing the movement information obtained via the at least one motion sensor, identifies a command for setting an energy saving mode, from among the plurality of control commands, as a third control command corresponding to the third movement pattern, and in response to the command for setting the energy saving mode, adjusts a strength of suction power or revolutions per minute of a rotating brush in a brush device to a lowest level, and adjusts a sensing interval of at least one sensor included in the cordless vacuum cleaner to be longer than a current sensing interval.

10 . The cordless vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , further comprising a communication interface which receives the information about the predefined movement patterns corresponding to the plurality of control commands from a server device via the station device.

11 . The cordless vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor further receives a user input for selecting, from among functions of the cordless vacuum cleaner, at least one function to be controlled via a movement using the cordless vacuum cleaner.

12 . The cordless vacuum cleaner of claim 11 , wherein the at least one processor further activates detection of at least one movement pattern associated with the selected at least one function from among the predefined movement patterns and deactivates detection of movement patterns associated with remaining functions other than the selected at least one function from among the predefined movement patterns.

13 . The cordless vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor further deactivates some of the plurality of control commands based on a current operating state of the cordless vacuum cleaner.

14 . The cordless vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the at least one motion sensor comprises at least one of a gyro sensor, an acceleration sensor, a magnetic sensor, a depth sensor, or an ultrasonic sensor.

15 . A method of controlling an operation of a cordless vacuum cleaner, the method comprising:
storing information about predefined movement patterns corresponding to a plurality of control commands in a memory of the cordless vacuum cleaner; in response to detecting that docking or charging of the cordless vacuum cleaner on a station device is terminated, detecting at least one movement pattern among the predefined movement patterns by analyzing movement information obtained via at least one motion sensor; identifying at least one control command corresponding to the detected at least one movement pattern; and controlling an operation of the cordless vacuum cleaner based on the identified at least one control command.

16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
activating a gesture detection mode to detect the at least one movement pattern for a predetermined time period after the detecting that the docking or charging of the cordless vacuum cleaner on the station device is terminated; and deactivating the gesture detection mode when the at least one movement pattern is not detected for the predetermined time period.

17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the at least one control command comprises at least one of a control command for turning power on or off, a control c

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Lee Seongu
• Kim Hyunwoo
• Song Mijeong
• Baek Kunwoo
• Lee Yeongju
• Jeong Jaeshik

Classifications

• H02J7/685

  using connection detecting circuits (H02J7/68 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01C19/56

  Turn-sensitive devices using vibrating masses, e.g. vibratory angular rate sensors based on Coriolis forces · CPC title

• A47L9/2894

  Details related to signal transmission in suction cleaners · CPC title

• A47L9/2873 Primary

  Docking units or charging stations (for autonomous or robotic vacuum cleaners A47L2201/02) · CPC title

• A47L9/2857

  User input or output elements for control, e.g. buttons, switches or displays · CPC title