CLEANING BASE STATION AND CLEANING ROBOT SYSTEM
A cleaning base station for a cleaning robot includes a base. The base defines a maintenance space. The cleaning base station further includes at least two of a debris suction device, a sewage pumping device, a cleaning liquid pumping device, a filtering device and a sterilization device. The at least two of the debris suction device, the sewage pumping device, the cleaning liquid pumping device, the filtering device and the sterilization device are installed in the maintenance space.
The present disclosure claims priority of Chinese Patent Application No. 202111445270.X, filed on Nov. 30, 2021, titled “cleaning base station and cleaning robot system”, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELDThe present disclosure relates to the technical field of cleaning equipments, and in particular, relates to a cleaning base station and a cleaning robot system.
BACKGROUNDA cleaning base station is a kind of equipment used in cooperation with a cleaning robot. The cleaning base station can perform a variety of maintenance works on the cleaning robot. The cleaning base station may clean mopping members (such as roller brush, mop cloth, etc.) of the cleaning robot, the cleaning base station may also recover the debris from the cleaning robot, and the cleaning base station can perform a variety of maintenance works on the cleaning robot.
In order to perform various maintenance works on the cleaning robot, the cleaning base station needs to be equipped with various performing devices. The installation of various performing devices on the existing cleaning base station is scattered, which not only easily leads to the too large volume of the entire cleaning base station, but also makes it inconvenient to maintain various performing devices.
SUMMARYAn embodiment of the present disclosure provides a cleaning base station for a cleaning robot. The cleaning base station includes a base. The base defines a maintenance space. The cleaning base station further includes at least two of a debris suction device, a sewage pumping device, a cleaning liquid pumping device, a filtering device and a sterilization device. The at least two of the debris suction device, the sewage pumping device, the cleaning liquid pumping device, the filtering device and the sterilization device are installed in the maintenance space.
Another embodiment of the present disclosure provides a cleaning robot system. The cleaning robot system includes a cleaning robot and the above-mentioned cleaning base station. The cleaning base station is configured to maintain the cleaning robot.
In order to explain embodiments of the present disclosure or technical solutions in the prior art more clearly, attached drawings required in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the attached drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present disclosure. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to the structures shown in these attached drawings without creative labor.
Implementation of objectives, functional features and advantages of the present disclosure will be further described in combination with embodiments and with reference to attached drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONHereinafter, technical solutions in embodiments of the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely with reference to attached drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Obviously, the embodiments described are only part but not all of the embodiments of the present disclosure. Based on the embodiments of the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative labor belong to the protective scope claimed in the present disclosure.
It shall be noted that, all directional indicators (such as up, down, left, right, front, back and so on) in the embodiment of the present disclosure are only used to explain relative position relationships and movement situations among components in a specific posture (as shown in the attached drawing). If the specific posture changes, the directional indicators will change accordingly.
In addition, in the present disclosure, descriptions such as “first”, “second” or the like are only used for descriptive purposes and should not be understood as indicating or implying the relative importance thereof or implicitly indicating the number of indicated technical features. Therefore, features defined with “first” and “second” may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In addition, technical solutions among the embodiments may be combined with each other on the basis that they can be realized by those of ordinary skill in the art. When the combination of the technical solutions is contradictory or impossible to be realized, it should be considered that such combination of the technical solutions does not exist, and it is not within the protective scope claimed in the present disclosure.
The cleaning robot system in the present disclosure includes a cleaning robot and a cleaning base station, wherein the cleaning robot is configured to perform cleaning and the cleaning base station is configured to perform maintenance of the cleaning robot. To facilitate the understanding of the cleaning robot and the cleaning base station, the cleaning robot and the cleaning base station are briefly introduced below.
Cleaning robots include commercial cleaning robots and household cleaning robots. The cleaning robots may be cleaning equipments which are capable of autonomously accomplishing cleaning works, such as floor sweeping robots, floor mopping robots, floor washing robots, floor sweeping and mopping machines or the like. The cleaning robots may also be cleaning equipments which accomplish cleaning works semi-automatically, such as hand-held and remote-controlled cleaning equipments requiring manual operation.
The mopping members carried by the cleaning robot can clean surfaces to be cleaned, such as the floor and carpet. The mopping members on the cleaning robot may be rotary mops in the shape of disks or the shape similar to disks, or flat mops that vibrate or move up and down or not.
The cleaning base station may charge the cleaning robot, or recover the debris from the cleaning robot, or clean and air dry the mopping members of the cleaning robot, or replace the mopping members of the cleaning robot, or inject water into the cleaning robot, and the cleaning base station may also perform other actions on the cleaning robot, which are not listed herein.
Referring to
As the bearing component of the whole cleaning base station 1000, the base 100 not only has high strength, but also has a pleasant appearance. The base 100 may be provided in many shapes. The base 100 may be cylindrical, L-shaped, C-shaped, or provided in other shapes, and this is not specifically limited herein.
The base 100 is provided thereon with a maintenance space, which is a certain space position on the base 100. The maintenance space may be formed on the surface of the base 100 or formed inside the base 100, or one part of the maintenance space may be located inside the base 100 and the other part thereof may be located outside the base 100. Here, the specific location at which the maintenance space is positioned is not limited.
The debris suction device 110 is mainly configured to suck the debris, paper scraps and other sundries in the debris collection cavity of the cleaning robot, so as to recycle and centrally treat the debris, paper scraps and other sundries in the debris collection cavity of the cleaning robot. The debris suction device 110 may be an air pump, a centrifugal fan, a cross-flow fan and other devices that can drive the air to flow. In some embodiments, a centrifugal fan is used as the debris suction device 110, and the centrifugal fan has the advantages of good suction effect, low noise and stable operation.
Both the cleaning liquid pumping device 210 and the sewage pumping device 200 are configured to pump liquid, the cleaning liquid pumping device 210 is configured to pump the cleaning liquid to the position where the mopping members of the cleaning robot can be wetted, and the sewage pumping device 200 is configured to recover the liquid that cleans the mopping members of the cleaning robot. The cleaning liquid pumping device 210 and the sewage pumping device 200 may be liquid pumps, air pumps and other equipments that can drive the liquid to flow, and this will not be listed herein.
The filtering device 300 is mainly configured to filter the liquid. The filtering device 300 may be configured to filter the cleaning liquid passing through the cleaning liquid pumping device 210 or filter the sewage passing through the sewage pumping device 200, or the filtering device 300 may also filter the cleaning liquid passing through the cleaning liquid pumping device 210 and the sewage passing through the sewage pumping device 200 at the same time, and this is not specifically limited herein.
The filtering device 300 may filter out particles, suspended substances, colored substances or the like in liquid. The filter element of the filtering device 300 may be a single type filter of element formed by activated carbon filter element, and the filter element of the filtering device 300 may also be a composite type of filter element formed by filter cotton and activated carbon. The types of filter elements of the filtering device 300 are not listed herein.
The sterilization device 400 is used to kill bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms in liquid. The sterilization device 400 may kill bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms in liquid by physical means or chemical means. For example, the sterilization device 400 may kill bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms in liquid by ultraviolet rays. For another example, the sterilization device 400 may kill bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms in liquid by ozone.
The sterilization device 400 may kill bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms in the cleaning liquid passing through the cleaning liquid pumping device 210, and it may also kill bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms in the sewage passing through the sewage pumping device 200. The sterilization device 400 can also kill bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms in the cleaning liquid passing through the cleaning liquid pumping device 210 and the sewage in the sewage pumping device 200 at the same time, and this is not specifically limited herein.
At least two of the debris suction device 110, the sewage pumping device 200, the cleaning liquid pumping device 210, the filtering device 300 and the sterilization device 400 described above are arranged at the maintenance space of the base 100. In some embodiments, all of the debris suction device 110, the sewage pumping device 200, the cleaning liquid pumping device 210, the filtering device 300 and the sterilization device 400 described above are arranged at the maintenance space of the base 100, which is convenient for the maintenance of the above devices. At the same time, the structure of the cleaning base station 1000 can be more compact by integrating the above devices into the maintenance space.
If the maintenance space on the base 100 is located on the surface of the base 100, then the debris suction device 110, the sewage pumping device 200, the cleaning liquid pumping device 210, the filtering device 300 and the sterilization device 400 of the cleaning base station 1000 are exposed on the outer surface of the base 100, which makes the above devices easily affected by external interference. In view of this, referring to
Because the maintenance space is formed by the accommodating cavity 100a, at least two of the debris suction device 110, the sewage suction device 200, the cleaning liquid pumping device 210, the filtering device 300 and the sterilization device 400 may be installed inside the accommodating cavity 100a, and meanwhile, the maintenance opening 100b in communication with the accommodating cavity 100a may be opened or closed by the maintenance plate 500. In this way, the devices can be prevented from being exposed from the maintenance opening 100b and affected by the external interference, and moreover, the maintenance opening 100b can be opened by the maintenance plate 500 to facilitate inspection and maintenance or the like for the devices described above.
Further, the maintenance opening 100b is defined on the side surface of the base 100, and the position of the maintenance plate 500 varies with the change of the arrangement position of the maintenance opening 100b. That is, the maintenance plate 500 is also located on the side surface of the base 100. With such arrangement, when the cleaning base station 1000 is placed against the wall, the maintenance plate 500 is located on the side of the base 100, thereby preventing the maintenance plate 500 from interfering with the placement of the cleaning base station 1000, and meanwhile ensuring that the maintenance plate 500 can be normally opened without moving the base 100.
It shall be noted that, the formation of the accommodating cavity 100a described above is closely related to the specific structure of the base 100. The accommodating cavity 100a described above may be formed by a cavity on a certain structural member in the base 100, or the accommodating cavity 100a described above may also be cooperatively defined by a plurality of structural members in the base 100, and this is not specifically limited herein.
In some embodiments, the accommodating cavity 100a is cooperatively defined by a plurality of structural members in the base 100. Specifically, referring to
It shall be noted that, after the liquid tank bracket 120 is assembled with the back cover 130, there is a gap formed between the liquid tank bracket 120 and the back cover 130, that is, the accommodating cavity 100a is formed by the gap between the liquid tank bracket 120 and the back cover 130. In this way, the gap formed between the liquid tank bracket 120 and the back cover 130 may be fully utilized to install at least two of the debris suction device 110, the sewage pumping device 200, the cleaning liquid pumping device 210, the filtering device 300 and the sterilization device 400 in the cleaning base station 1000, such that the structure of the whole cleaning base station 1000 is more compact, and moreover, the volume of the cleaning base station 1000 can be reduced.
Further, referring to
Considering that the cleaning robot needs to park at a fixed position when being cleaned, the base 100 is formed thereon with a cleaning space 102 for the cleaning robot to park, and the cleaning space 102 is a space for the cleaning robot to park. The cleaning space 102 may be a closed space, and for example, the cleaning space 102 is formed on the upper surface of the base 100. The cleaning space 102 may be a semi-open space, and for example, the cleaning space 102 is formed by a groove defined on the side surface of the base 100, and the groove defined on the side surface of the base 100 may be opened or revealed by a movable plate to form a closed cleaning space 102.
The base 100 is loaded thereon with a liquid storage tank 600. The liquid storage tank 600 may be a liquid storage container independent from the base 100, or the liquid storage tank 600 may be formed by a cavity structure on the base 100, and the formation of the liquid storage tank 600 is not specifically limited herein. The liquid storage tank 600 is used for containing cleaning liquid, the cleaning liquid contained in the liquid storage tank 600 may be cleaning water, detergent or the mixed liquid of cleaning water and detergent, and the type of liquid contained in the liquid storage tank 600 is not specifically limited herein.
Referring also to
The mopping members of the cleaning robot may be cleaned in many ways. For example, the cleaning robot may be soaked in the cleaning liquid and cleaned through its own rotation. At this time, a cleaning tank is arranged below the cleaning space 102 of the base 100, and the cleaning tank is used for containing the cleaning liquid, such that the mopping members of the cleaning robot located at the cleaning space 102can be soaked in the cleaning liquid. The bottom of the cleaning tank is provided with a sewage suction port 100c (see
For another example, the mopping members of the cleaning robot may be scraped and cleaned by a rotating scraper. The cleaning space 102 of the base 100 is provided with a motor and a scraper, the motor is fixed at the cleaning space 102, and the motor drives the scraper to rotate so as to scrape the mopping members of the cleaning robot, thereby cleaning the mopping members of the cleaning robot. The cleaning space 102 is further provided with these wage suction port 100c for discharging sewage, and in an embodiment the sewage suction port 100c is arranged at the lowest position of the cleaning space 102.
The liquid inlet end of the sewage pumping device 200 is in communication with the sewage suction port 100c, the liquid outlet end of the sewage pumping device 200 is in communication with the liquid storage tank 600, and the filtering device 300 is connected in series with the sewage pumping device 200 and the liquid storage tank 600.In the illustrated embodiment, the filtering device 300 is located on the liquid outlet side of the sewage pumping device 200. In another embodiment, the filtering device 300 may be located on the liquid inlet side of the sewage pumping device 200, and this is not specifically limited herein.
The sewage pumping device 200 is used to pump the sewage generated from the process of cleaning the mopping members of the cleaning robot back to the filtering device 300, the filtering device 300 filters the sewage to filter out the particles, suspended substances and colored substances or the like in the sewage. In this way, the liquid flowing back into the liquid storage tank 600 from the filtering device 300 is clean, and the cleaning liquid in the liquid storage tank 600 may be recycled, thereby improving the utilization rate of the cleaning liquid.
The cleaning base station 1000 further includes a filter 700, the filter 700 is arranged at the sewage suction port 100c, and the filter 700 is configured to filter out large-volume dirt in the sewage, such as wood chips, paper scraps, clods, hair or the like. In this way, the filtering device 300 may be effectively prevented from being blocked by large-volume dirt in the sewage.
It shall be noted that, the filter 700 is used to intercept the dirt in the sewage, so the filter 700 needs to be cleaned frequently. Therefore, the filter 700 may be detachably arranged at the sewage suction port 100c. In some embodiments, the filter 700 may be funnel-shaped, and the inner wall surface of the sewage suction port 100c may also be tapered, such that the filter 700 may be directly assembled to the sewage suction port 100c by its own gravity.
After cleaning the surface to be cleaned by the mopping members of the cleaning robot, bacteria will be attached to or breed on the surface of the mopping members of the cleaning robot, and thus the cleaning liquid cleaning the mopping members of the cleaning robot becomes sewage carrying bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms. When the sewage is recycled into the liquid storage tank 600, a large number of microorganisms will breed, and then the liquid storage tank 600 will stink. In view of this, the sterilization device 400 is connected to the pipeline connecting the sewage pumping device 200 with the liquid storage tank 600, so as to sterilize the sewage flowing back into the liquid storage tank 600.
Furthermore, the sterilization device 400 is located at the liquid outlet side of the filtering device 300, that is, the liquid flowing back into the liquid storage tank 600 passes through the filtering device 300 and the sterilization device 400 in sequence. On the one hand, this arrangement can prevent the particles, suspended substances and other impurities mixed in the returned sewage from affecting the sterilization device 400, and on the other hand, this arrangement can prevent the sterilization device 400 from repeatedly sterilizing the particles, suspended substances and other impurities blocked by the filtering device 300.
The sterilization device 400 includes an ozone generator 410, and the ozone generator 410 includes an air inlet 4102 and an air outlet 4104. The air inlet 4102 of the ozone generator 410 is in communication with the environment, and the air outlet 4104 of the ozone generator 410 is in communication with the pipeline connecting the filtering device 300 with the liquid storage tank 600. The ozone generated by the ozone generator 410 can effectively kill bacteria and viruses in there turned liquid.
It shall be noted that, a certain air pressure is required for gas to enter the liquid, so the sterilization device 400 may further include an air supply device 420, and the air supply device 420 may be an air pump, a fan or the like. The air supply device 420 is in communication with the air inlet 4102 of the ozone generator 410 to drive air to pass through the air inlet 4102 and the air outlet 4104 of the ozone generator 410 in sequence. In this way, it can be ensured that enough air enters the ozone generator 410, such that the ozone generator 410 can generate enough ozone, and moreover, it can be ensured that the ozone in the ozone generator 410 has air pressure large enough to facilitate the mixing of ozone with the returned liquid.
Further, the cleaning base station 1000 further includes a three-way pipe 800. For convenience of describing the connection relationships, one pipe in the three-way pipe 800 is defined as a first pipe 810 and the other two pipes in the three-way pipe 800 are defined as second pipes 820. The two second pipes 820 are both in communication with the first pipe 810. The first pipe 810 is in communication with the liquid storage tank 600 through a pipeline, one of the two second pipes 820 is in communication with the liquid outlet end of the filtering device 300, and the other one of the two second pipes 820 is in communication with the air outlet 4104 of the ozone generator 410. This arrangement facilitates the communication between the ozone generator 410 and the sewage backflow pipeline, and further facilitates the assembly of components in the cleaning base station 1000.
Furthermore, the cleaning base station 1000 further includes a one-way valve 900, one end of the one-way valve 900 is in communication with the air outlet 4104 of the ozone generator 410, and the other end of the one-way valve 900 is in communication with the corresponding second pipe 820 in the three-way pipe 800. The arrangement of the one-way valve 900 can make the ozone generated in the ozone generator 410 to be discharged only from the air outlet 4104 of the ozone generator 410, and at the same time restrict the sewage backflow from flowing into the ozone generator 410 through the one-way valve 900, which is beneficial for ensuring the effective operation of the ozone generator 410.
It shall be noted that, the sewage generated from the process of cleaning the cleaning members of the cleaning robot is finite. If the sewage pumping device 200 still works after sewage pumping has been finished, the sewage pumping device 200 is likely to be damaged due to idle motion. In view of this, the cleaning base station 1000 is further provided with a liquid detection device 950, and the liquid detection device 950 may be a liquid detector. The liquid detection device 950 is arranged on the pipeline connecting the sewage pumping device 200 with the sewage suction port 100c or the pipeline connecting the sewage pumping device 200 with the liquid storage tank 600. The cleaning base station 1000 is further provided with a control device 960. The control device 960 is configured to control the sewage pumping device 200 to work according to a detection result of the liquid detection device 950. The control device 960 controls the sewage pumping device 200 to stop working when no sewage flowing back into the liquid storage tank 600 through the sewage pumping device 200 is detected by the liquid detection device 950, thereby preventing the sewage pumping device 200 from being damaged due to idle motion.
It shall be noted that, all of the debris suction device 110, the sewage pumping device 200, the cleaning liquid pumping device 210, the filtering device 300 and the sterilization device 400 may be electrically connected with the control device 960, and the control device 960 can control the corresponding devices to work according to the received instructions, thereby completing the maintenance of the cleaning robot.
Referring to
What described above are only some embodiments of the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the protective scope claimed in the present disclosure. Any equivalent structures or modifications that are made according to the specification and the attached drawings of the present disclosure under the concept of the present disclosure, or any direct/indirect applications of the present disclosure in other related technical fields shall all be included within the protective scope claimed in the present disclosure.
Claims
1. A cleaning base station for a cleaning robot, comprising a base, the base defining a maintenance space, the cleaning base station further comprising at least two of a debris suction device, a sewage pumping device, a cleaning liquid pumping device, a filtering device and a sterilization device, and the at least two of the debris suction device, the sewage pumping device, the cleaning liquid pumping device, the filtering device and the sterilization device being installed in the maintenance space.
2. The cleaning base station of claim 1, wherein the base defines an accommodating cavity and a maintenance opening in communication with the accommodating cavity, and the accommodating cavity forms the maintenance space;
- the cleaning base station further comprises a maintenance plate connected with the base, and the maintenance plate is configured to cover or open the maintenance opening.
3. The cleaning base station of claim 2, wherein the maintenance opening is defined on a side surface of the base.
4. The cleaning base station of claim 2, wherein the base comprises a chassis, a liquid tank bracket and a back cover, the liquid tank bracket is installed above the chassis, the back cover is configured to cover a back side of the chassis and a back side of the liquid tank bracket, the accommodating cavity is cooperatively defined by the back cover and the liquid tank bracket, and the maintenance opening is defined on the back cover.
5. The cleaning base station of claim 4, wherein a surface part of the liquid tank bracket facing the back cover is recessed to form an installation recess, the installation recess is configured to accommodate the at least two of the debris suction device, the sewage pumping device, the cleaning liquid pumping device, the filtering device and the sterilization device, and the back cover covers the installation recess to form the accommodating cavity.
6. The cleaning base station of claim 1, wherein the base defines a cleaning space for the cleaning robot to park, and the base further defines a sewage suction port located below the cleaning space;
- the cleaning base station further comprises a liquid storage tank mounted on the base, a liquid inlet end of the cleaning liquid pumping device is in communication with the liquid storage tank, and a liquid outlet end of the cleaning liquid pumping device extends to the cleaning space;
- a liquid inlet end of the sewage pumping device is in communication with the sewage suction port, a liquid outlet end of the sewage pumping device is in communication with the liquid storage tank, and the filtering device is connected in series with the sewage pumping device and the liquid storage tank.
7. The cleaning base station of claim 6, wherein the sewage suction port is arranged at a lowest position of the cleaning space.
8. The cleaning base station of claim 6, wherein the filtering device is connected in series with the sewage pumping device and the liquid storage tank, and the sterilization device is located at a liquid outlet side of the filtering device.
9. The cleaning base station of claim 6, wherein the sterilization device is connected to a pipeline connecting the sewage pumping device with the liquid storage tank.
10. The cleaning base station of claim 9, wherein the sterilization device comprises an ozone generator and an air supply device, an air inlet of the ozone generator is in communication with the air supply device, and an air outlet of the ozone generator is in communication with the pipeline connecting the sewage pumping device with the liquid storage tank.
11. The cleaning base station of claim 10, wherein the filtering device is connected in series between the sewage pumping device and the liquid storage tank;
- the cleaning base station further comprises a three-way pipe, the three-way pipe comprises a first pipe and two second pipes, the two second pipes are both in communication with the first pipe, the first pipe is in communication with the liquid storage tank, one of the two second pipes is in communication with a liquid outlet end of the filtering device, and the other of the two second pipes is in communication with the air outlet of the ozone generator.
12. The cleaning base station of claim 11, wherein the cleaning base station further comprises a one-way valve, one end of the one-way valve is in communication with the air outlet of the ozone generator, and the other end of the one-way valve is in communication with a corresponding one of the two second pipes of the three-way pipe.
13. The cleaning base station of claim 9, wherein the sterilization device comprises an ozone generator, an air inlet of the ozone generator is in communication with the environment, and an air outlet of the ozone generator is in communication with a pipeline connecting the filtering device with the liquid storage tank.
14. The cleaning base station of claim 13, wherein the cleaning base station further comprises a three-way pipe, the three-way pipe comprises a first pipe and two second pipes, the two second pipes are both in communication with the first pipe, the first pipe is in communication with the liquid storage tank, one of the two second pipes is in communication with a liquid outlet end of the filtering device, and the other of the two second pipes is in communication with the air outlet of the ozone generator.
15. The cleaning base station of claim 14, wherein the cleaning base station further comprises a one-way valve, one end of the one-way valve is in communication with the air outlet of the ozone generator, and the other end of the one-way valve is in communication with a corresponding one of the two second pipes of the three-way pipe.
16. The cleaning base station of claim 6, wherein the cleaning base station further comprises a filter, and the filter is arranged at the sewage suction port.
17. The cleaning base station of claim 16, wherein the filter is funnel-shaped.
18. The cleaning base station of claim 6, wherein the cleaning base station further comprises a liquid detection device, and the liquid detection device is arranged on a pipeline connecting the sewage pumping device with the sewage suction port or a pipeline connecting the sewage pumping device with the liquid storage tank;
- the cleaning base station further comprises a control device electrically connected with the liquid detection device and the sewage pumping device, and the control device is configured to control the sewage pumping device to work according to a detection result of the liquid detection device.
19. A cleaning robot system, comprising a cleaning robot and the cleaning base station of claim 1, and the cleaning base station configured to maintain the cleaning robot.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 31, 2022
Publication Date: Jun 1, 2023
Inventors: Jun Li (Shenzhen), Linlin Zhou (Shenzhen)
Application Number: 17/899,694