Mobile floor cleaning robot

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9615712-B2
Application number	US-201414538349-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 11, 2014
Priority date	Nov 12, 2013
Publication date	Apr 11, 2017
Grant date	Apr 11, 2017

Abstract

A pad particularly adapted for surface cleaning. The pad includes an absorbent core having the ability to absorb and retain liquid material, and a liner layer in contact with and covering at least one side of the absorbent core. The liner layer has the ability to retain and wick liquid material through the liner layer. Cleaning apparatus containing such pads and methods of using such pads are also described.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A mobile floor cleaning robot comprising:
a robot body defining a forward drive direction;
a drive supporting the robot body to maneuver the robot across a floor surface the drive comprising right and left drive wheels disposed on corresponding right and left portions of the robot body; and
a cleaning assembly disposed on the robot body, the cleaning assembly comprising:
a pad holder disposed forward of the drive wheels and having a top portion and a bottom portion, the bottom portion having a bottom surface to receive a cleaning pad, the bottom surface of the pad holder comprising at least 40% of a surface area of a footprint of the robot, and the bottom portion having raised protrusions extending therefrom; and
an orbital oscillator having less than 1 cm of orbital range disposed on the top portion of the pad holder;

wherein the pad holder is configured to permit more than 80 percent of the orbital range of the orbital oscillator to be transmitted from a top of the received cleaning pad to a bottom surface of the received cleaning pad and wherein the pad holder has a release mechanism configured to eject the received cleaning pad from the bottom surface of the pad holder upon actuation of the release mechanism.

2. The robot of claim 1 , wherein the cleaning assembly further comprises:
a reservoir to hold a volume of fluid; and
a fluid applicator in fluid communication with the reservoir, the fluid applicator configured to apply the fluid along the forward drive direction and forward of the pad holder.

3. The robot of claim 2 , wherein the cleaning pad is configured to absorb about 90% of the volume held in the reservoir.

4. The robot of claim 1 , further comprising a backing layer on the cleaning pad for engaging with the pad holder.

5. The robot of claim 4 , wherein at least one raised protrusion on the bottom portion of the pad holder is positioned for aligning to and engaging with a shaped slot cut out of the backing layer.

6. The robot of claim 2 , wherein the fluid applicator comprises at least two nozzles to apply the fluid in two strips across the floor surface in the forward drive direction.

7. The robot of claim 6 , wherein the at least two nozzles are vertically stacked in a recess in the fluid applicator and angled relative to a horizontal plane to spray fluid forward and downward.

8. The robot of claim 7 , wherein a first of the at least two nozzles is angled relative to the horizontal plane to spray fluid to cover a first area on the floor surface, a second of the at least two nozzles is angled relative to the horizontal plane to spray fluid to cover a second area of the floor surface, and the first of the at least two nozzles and the second of the at least two nozzles are spaced apart from one another such that the first area is forward of the second area.

9. The robot of claim 2 , wherein the fluid applicator is configured to apply fluid in an area pattern on the floor surface, the area pattern extending at least one robot width and extending at least one robot length.

10. The robot of claim 2 , wherein the fluid applicator is configured to apply fluid in an area pattern on the floor surface, the area pattern extending less than a robot width.

11. The robot of claim 4 , wherein the backing layer is a stiff backing layer, and the pad holder is configured to receive longitudinal edges of the stiff backing layer that extend beyond longitudinal edges of the cleaning pad.

12. The robot of claim 11 , wherein the release mechanism comprises a retainer to grasp a first of the longitudinal edges of the stiff backing layer, and a movable retention clip to grasp a second of the longitudinal edges of the stiff backing layer.

13. The robot of claim 1 , wherein an overall weight of the robot without retaining any fluid is between about 1 kg and about 1.5 kg and with retaining fluid is between about 1.5 kg to 4.5 kg.

14. The robot of claim 1 , wherein the robot applies fluid to the floor surface at an initial volumetric flow rate to moisten the cleaning pad, the initial volumetric flow rate being relatively higher than a subsequent volumetric flow rate when the cleaning pad is moistened.

15. The robot of claim 14 , the initial volumetric flow rate is set by spraying 1 mL of fluid every 30 cm for a period of about 1 to 3 minutes, and the subsequent volumetric flow rate is set by spraying every 3 feet, wherein each spray of fluid is less than 1 mL of volume.

16. The robot of claim 1 , wherein the bottom surface of the pad holder is arranged within between about ½ cm and about 1½ cm of the floor surface.

17. The robot of claim 1 , wherein the drive is configured to maneuver the robot in a birdsfoot motion in which the robot moves forward and backward along a center trajectory, forward and backward along a leftward trajectory from a starting point along the center trajectory, and forward and backward along a rightward trajectory from a starting point along the center trajectory.

18. The robot of claim 1 , wherein the robot body and the pad holder both define substantially rectangular foot prints.

19. The robot of claim 1 , wherein the cleaning assembly further includes a post disposed on the top portion of the pad holder, the post sized to receive a corresponding aperture defined by the robot.

20. The robot of claim 19 , wherein the post has a cross-sectional diameter that varies along a length of the post.

21. The robot of claim 19 , wherein the post includes a vibration dampening material.

22. The robot of claim 1 , further comprising an arm pivotally attaching the drive wheels to the robot body to enable vertical movement of the drive wheels relative to the floor surface.

Assignees

• Irobot Corp

Inventors

• Dooley Michael
• Romanov Nikolai
• Williams Marcus
• Johnson Joseph M

Classifications

• B32B25/14

  comprising {synthetic rubber copolymers (B32B25/18 and B32B25/20 take precedence)} · CPC title

• A47L11/4088

  Supply pumps; Spraying devices; Supply conduits · CPC title

• B32B2432/00

  Cleaning articles, e.g. mops or wipes · CPC title

• A61F13/36

  Surgical swabs, e.g. for absorbency or packing body cavities during surgery (A61F13/38, A61M35/006 take precedence) · CPC title

• B32B2307/726

  Permeability to liquids, absorption · CPC title