Autonomous floor cleaning with removable pad

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9320409-B1
Application number	US-201514936236-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Nov 9, 2015
Priority date	Mar 16, 2015
Publication date	Apr 26, 2016
Grant date	Apr 26, 2016

Abstract

An autonomous floor cleaning robot includes a body, a controller supported by the body, a drive supporting the body to maneuver the robot across a floor surface in response to commands from the controller, and a pad holder attached to an underside of the body to hold a removable cleaning pad during operation of the robot. The pad includes a mounting plate and a mounting surface. The mounting plate is attached to the mounting surface. The robot includes a pad sensor to sense a feature on the pad and to generate a signal based on the feature, which is defined in part by a cutout on the card backing. The mounting plate enables the pad sensor to detect the feature. The controller is responsive to the signal to perform operations including selecting a cleaning mode based on the signal, and controlling the robot according to a selected cleaning mode.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A set of autonomous robot cleaning pads of different types, each of the cleaning pads comprising:
a pad body having opposite broad surfaces, including a cleaning surface and a mounting surface;
a pad type identification feature indicative of a type of a cleaning pad; and
a mounting plate secured across the mounting surface of the pad body and comprising a cutout that defines at least in part the pad type identification feature, the mounting plate enabling a pad sensor of a robot, when the cleaning pad is mounted to the robot, to detect the pad type identification feature.

2. The set of claim 1 , wherein:
the pad body comprises a wrap layer wrapped around absorptive layers that absorb fluid,
the wrap layer defines the mounting surface, and
the pad type identification feature is further defined by a marking on the wrap layer, the marking occupying an area greater than an area of the cutout, and the cutout enabling the pad sensor to detect the marking.

3. The set of claim 2 , wherein the pad type identification feature comprises identification elements defined at least in part by the marking and the cutout, each identification element having a first region and a second region, and wherein a first reflectivity of the first region and a second reflectivity of the second region are configured for independent detection by the pad sensor.

4. The set of claim 3 , wherein at least one of the first reflectivity and second reflectivity is defined by a reflectivity of the mounting plate, and at least one of the first reflectivity and second reflectivity is defined by a reflectivity of the marking.

5. The set of claim 3 , wherein the identification elements define a perimeter, and the marking occupies an area that extends beyond the perimeter.

6. The set of claim 3 , wherein at least a portion of the cutout is positioned within one of the first region and the second region.

7. The set of claim 3 , wherein the mounting plate comprises a transparent portion covering the cutout.

8. The set of claim 2 , wherein the marking comprises a colored ink having a spectral response that is detectable by the pad sensor.

9. The set of claim 1 , wherein a position of the cutout relative to an outer perimeter of the mounting plate is indicative of the type of the cleaning pad.

10. The set of claim 1 , wherein the pad type identification featured is defined at least in part by a plurality of cutouts on the mounting plate.

11. The set of claim 1 , wherein:
the mounting plate is a first mounting plate for a first cleaning pad, and the cleaning pads comprise a second mounting plate for a second cleaning pad;
a shape and a size of an outer perimeter of the first mounting plate are substantially identical to a shape and a size of an outer perimeter of the second mounting plate; and
an absorptivity of absorptive layers of the first cleaning pad is greater than an absorptivity of absorptive layers of the second cleaning pad.

12. The set of claim 11 , wherein the first cleaning pad is a dry cleaning pad and the second cleaning pad is a wet cleaning pad.

13. The set of claim 1 , wherein:
the pad body comprises a wrap layer wrapped around absorptive layers that absorb fluid, and
the absorptive layers are exposed at a longitudinal end of the pad body.

14. The set of claim 1 , wherein the mounting plate comprises a water resistant coating.

15. The set of claim 1 , wherein the mounting plate comprises a protruding portion that protrudes over a longitudinal edge of the pad body, the protruding portion being attachable to the robot.

16. The set of claim 1 , wherein the mounting plate comprises a plurality of alignment cutouts configured to engage with corresponding protrusions of the robot.

17. The set of claim 16 , wherein:
a first alignment cutout of the plurality of alignment cutouts is positioned on a longitudinal center axis of the mounting plate; and
an alignment cutout of the plurality of alignment cutouts is positioned on a lateral center axis of the mounting plate.

18. The set of claim 1 , wherein the type of the cleaning pad is indicative of a spraying schedule and navigational behavior of the robot.

19. The set of claim 1 , wherein the mounting plate comprises a thickness substantially between 0.5 and 0.8 millimeters.

20. The set of claim 1 , wherein the pad type identification feature is a first pad type identification feature, and each of the cleaning pads further comprises a second pad type identification feature indicative of the type of the cleaning pad, the first and second pad type identification features being positioned on the mounting plate such that the first and second pad type identification features are symmetric about a longitudinal center axis of the mounting plate and a lateral center axis of the mounting plate.

Assignees

• Irobot Corp

Inventors

• Lu Ping-Hong
• Johnson Joseph M
• Foran Daniel
• Williams Marcus
• Graziani Andrew

Classifications

• Y10S901/01

  Mobile robot · CPC title

• A47L11/4066

  Propulsion of the whole machine · CPC title

• A47L13/16

  Cloths; Pads; Sponges (metal scraping sponges A47L13/07) · CPC title

• A47L11/4036 Primary

  Parts or details of the surface treating tools · CPC title

• A47L11/28

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