DRYING CONTROL METHOD FOR CLEANING APPARATUS, AND CLEANING APPARATUS
A drying control method, including: controlling a drying device to simultaneously dry an object to be dried in a first cleaning chamber and an object to be dried in a second cleaning chamber within at least part of a period of time. Two cleaning chambers for drying cleaning parts of the cleaning apparatus and drying laundry are integrated in one cleaning apparatus, and the two cleaning chambers share the same drying device.
The present application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/CN2024/094521, filed on May 21, 2024, which claims priority to the Chinese Patent Application No. 202410458260.7, filed with the China National Intellectual Property Administration on April 17, 2024. The aforementioned patent applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
TECHNICAL FIELDThe present application relates to the technical field of cleaning apparatuses, and particularly to a drying control method for a cleaning apparatus and a cleaning apparatus.
BACKGROUNDA cleaning apparatus is an apparatus that can wash and dry items to be cleaned, thereby replacing manual cleaning and drying to a certain extent. This reduces manual labor intensity and shortens the cleaning cycle of the items to be cleaned for reuse. In the prior art, washing machines are typically used for washing and drying laundry or other items to be cleaned, whereas base stations are typically used for washing and drying cleaning parts of sweeping robots and other items to be cleaned. In existing combined products of sweeping robots and washing machines in the market, the washing machine is generally stacked directly on the base station of the sweeping robot, and the sweeping robot and the washing machine still operate independently to implement their respective washing and drying functions. This result in that at least two cleaning apparatuses, including a washing machine and a base station, need to be provided in household environment, which occupies household space and increases the total energy consumption of household apparatuses.
SUMMARYThe present application provides a drying control method for a cleaning apparatus, and a cleaning apparatus, so as to solve the problem that it is required that at least two cleaning apparatuses, including a washing machine and a base station, are provided in household environment, which occupies household space and increases the total energy consumption of household apparatuses.
In a first aspect, the present application provides a drying control method for a cleaning apparatus. The cleaning apparatus includes a first cleaning chamber, a second cleaning chamber, a drying device, and a control device, the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber sharing the drying device.
The method is applied to the control device, and the method includes: controlling the drying device to dry an object to be dried in the first cleaning chamber and an object to be dried in the second cleaning chamber simultaneously within at least part of a period of time; where the first cleaning chamber is a leat used for drying cleaning parts of a sweeping robot or a floor washing machine, and he second cleaning chamber simultaneously within at least used for drying laundry and the second cleaning chamber is a t least used for drying cleaning parts of a sweeping robot or floor washing machine.
With the above method, the two cleaning chambers can share the same drying device, thereby reducing the number of drying devices and facilitating miniaturization of the cleaning apparatus in terms of spatial design. Moreover, hardware configuration costs are reduced, and the drying device can provide drying functions for both the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber with a single activation, thereby reducing the energy loss caused by activation and preheating.
In one possible design, controlling the drying device to dry items to be dried in the first cleaning chamber and items to be dried in the second cleaning chamber simultaneously within at least part of a period of time includes: controlling the drying device to continuously deliver a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber within part of a period of time for which the drying device performing drying in the second cleaning chamber; or with the part of the period of time for which the drying device performs drying in the second cleaning chamber controlling of the drying device to deliver a drying airflow only to the first cleaning chamber within least one first period of time, and deliver a drying airflow only to the second cleaning chamber within a least one second period of time; where the part of the period of time includes the at least one first period of time and the at least one second period of time.
With the above method, different drying resource sharing methods can be provided according to different usage requirements, increasing the flexibility of drying resource sharing of the cleaning apparatus enriching the function implementations of the apparatus, and improving the user experience, By. delivering a drying airflow to the two cleaning chambers simultaneously, the drying resources are shared, and it facilitates controlling drying parameters in a single cleaning chamber, which is conducive to improving the overall utilization of the drying resources and increasing the drying efficiency. And when the drying airflow is heated, the drying effect of the cleaning chamber on the dried side can be maintained, reducing the possibility of bacterial growth. By delivering a drying airflow to the two cleaning chambers within a period of time for which the drying device performs drying in one of the cleaning chambers, a greater airflow can be concentrated to quickly carry away the moisture in the cleaning chamber and then the shared drying resources can be switch a plurality of times to dry the remaining moisture, achieving the effect of drying in the cleaning chambers on both sides. During a switching interval between different cleaning chamber, the contact between drying resources such as airflow and temperature and laundry or cleaning parts is improved, thereby reducing the possibility of direct discharged of the drying resources due to insufficient contact, and further improving the utilization of drying resources and reducing the energy loss.
In one possible design, controlling the drying device to continuously deliver a drying airflow th the first t cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber within part of a period of time for which the drying device performing drying in the second cleaning chamber includes: within the part of the period of time for which the drying device performing drying in second cleaning chamber, controlling the drying device continuously deliver a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second chamber according to set flow distribution ratio.
With the above method, the duration for delivering a drying airflow to the two cleaning chambers can be controlled, such that the drying resources can be reasonably allocated in terms of duration according to different drying demands, and more drying resources can be allocated to a side with a greater drying demand, thereby improving the drying efficiency under a sharing condition, maximizing the utilization of the drying resources, and reducing the energy waste caused by ineffective or inefficient drying.
In one possible design, the first period of time and the second period of time are adjacent or non-adjacent in time sequence.
within the part of the period of time for which the drying device performs drying in the second cleaning chamber, when a drying duration of the second cleaning chamber satisfies a preset drying duration or a humidity in the second cleaning chamber satisfies a preset humidity, controlling the drying device to suspend delivery of the drying airflow to the second cleaning chamber; and
With the above method, when a user has no urgent need to retrieve the object dried in the second cleaning chamber, the drying resources during drying in the second cleaning chamber can be shared by the first cleaning chamber in a waiting manner, reducing a plurality of activations of the drying device caused by separate drying in the second cleaning chamber and the first cleaning chamber, thereby reducing the energy loss caused by activation; and since the drying resources required in a later stage of drying in the second cleaning chamber are relatively small, allocating the drying resources to the first cleaning chamber does not significantly affect the drying in the second cleaning chamber. As a result, sharing the drying resources can reduce the overall usage of the drying resources by the second cleaning chamber and the first cleaning chamber, thereby improving the utilization of the drying resources.
In an embodiment, the drying device includes a fan assembly for generating a drying airflow and a heating assembly for heating the drying airflow, and controlling the drying device to dry items to be dried in the first cleaning chamber and items to be dried in the second cleaning chamber simultaneously within at least part of a period of time includes:
within the part of the period of time for which the drying device performs drying in the second cleaning chamber, when a drying duration of the second cleaning chamber satisfies a preset drying duration or a humidity in the second cleaning chamber satisfies a preset humidity, controlling the heating assembly of the drying device to suspend heating the delivered drying airflow; and
With the above method, the second cleaning chamber waits for cool drying with shared drying resources with the first cleaning chamber, thereby reducing a plurality of activations of the drying device caused by separate drying in the second cleaning chamber and the first cleaning chamber, and thus reducing the energy loss caused by activation. During waiting for a scheduled time, the heating assembly is deactivated to wait for cool drying, thereby reducing the energy loss caused by heating while maintaining the drying operation in the second cleaning chamber. When the two cleaning chambers share the drying resources, the heating assembly is reactivated to improve the drying efficiency and enhance the utilization of the drying resources.
In one possible design, the method further includes posterior to controlling the drying device to dry the items to be dried in the first cleaning chamber and the items to be dried in the second cleaning chamber simultaneously within the at least part of the period of time:
when the drying is completed in the second cleaning chamber, controlling to stop delivering the drying airflow to the second cleaning chamber and to continue delivering the drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber; or
With the above method, after the drying resources complete the drying task of either of the two cleaning chambers, the drying resources are concentrated and delivered to the cleaning chamber with drying not completed, thereby improving the overall drying efficiency and the utilization of the drying resources.
By way of example, vented drying or internal circulation drying is used for the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber; the drying device with vented drying includes at least a fan assembly and an air duct; or the drying device with internal circulation drying includes at least a fan assembly, a condenser assembly, and an air duct.
With the above method, the method may be applicable to various types of cleaning apparatuses, thereby improving the general applicability of the method.
In one possible design, a selector valve is provided on the air duct, the selector valve being configured to control airflow distribution between the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber.
With the above arrangement, the drying device can control the flow and/or heat of the drying airflow delivered to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber, the control method is simple and effective without relying on complex algorithms, and is easy for popularization and application, which improves the general applicability of the method.
In a second aspect, the present application provides a drying control method for a cleaning apparatus including a first cleaning chamber, a second cleaning chamber, a drying device, and a control device, the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber sharing the drying device, the first cleaning chamber being at least used for drying cleaning parts of a sweeping robot or a floor washing machine, and the second cleaning chamber being at least used for drying laundry, where
the method is applied to the control device, the control device controlling the drying device to dry an object to be dried in the first cleaning chamber and an object to be dried in the second cleaning chamber simultaneously within at least part of a period of time, and the method includes:
at least before the drying in the second cleaning chamber is completed by the drying device, sending a scheduled drying time to the sweeping robot, the floor washing machine, or another terminal in communication connection with the cleaning apparatus, where the scheduled drying time is at least within the part of the period of time for which the drying device performs drying in the second cleaning chamber; and
With the above method, simple communication means can be used to enable the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber to share the drying resources of the drying device in a scheduled manner, thereby reducing the energy loss caused by activations duo to separate drying of the drying device, and saving energy. Further, drying time loss caused by an activation and preheating process can be reduced, thereby improving the utilization of the drying resources. User involvement can also be reduced, thereby improving the intelligence level of the cleaning apparatus.
In a third aspect, the present application provides a drying control method for a cleaning apparatus including a first cleaning chamber, a second cleaning chamber, a drying device, and a control device, the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber sharing the drying device, where
the method is applied to the control device, the control device controlling the drying device to dry an object to be dried in the first cleaning chamber and an object to be dried in the second cleaning chamber simultaneously within at least part of a period of time, and the method includes:
In one implementation, controlling the drying device to continuously deliver a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber within part of a period of time for which the drying device performing drying in the second cleaning chamber includes:
By way of example, controlling the drying device to continuously deliver a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber within at least part of a period of time for which the drying device performing drying in the second cleaning chamber includes:
within the part of the period of time for which the drying device performs drying in the second cleaning chamber, when a drying duration of the second cleaning chamber satisfies a preset drying duration or a humidity in the second cleaning chamber satisfies a preset humidity, controlling the drying device to suspend delivery of the drying airflow to the second cleaning chamber; and
In an embodiment, the drying device includes a fan assembly for generating a drying airflow and a heating assembly for heating the drying airflow, and controlling the drying device to continuously deliver a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber within at least part of a period of time for which the drying device performing drying in the second cleaning chamber includes:
within the part of the period of time for which the drying device performs drying in the second cleaning chamber, when a drying duration of the second cleaning chamber satisfies a preset drying duration or a humidity in the second cleaning chamber satisfies a preset humidity, controlling the heating assembly of the drying device to suspend heating the delivered drying airflow; and
Reference can be made to the beneficial effects brought by the first aspect and the various possible implementations of the first aspect for the beneficial effects of the cleaning apparatus provided in the third aspect and the various possible implementations of the third aspect, which are not repeated herein.
In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a drying control method for a cleaning apparatus including a first cleaning chamber, a second cleaning chamber, a drying device, and a control device, the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber sharing the drying device, where
the method is applied to the control device, the control device controlling the drying device to dry an object to be dried in the first cleaning chamber and an object to be dried in the second cleaning chamber simultaneously within at least part of a period of time, and the method includes:
In an embodiment, the first period of time and the second period of time are adjacent or non-adjacent in time sequence.
By way of example, within at least the part of the period of time for which the drying device performs drying in the second cleaning chamber, controlling the drying device to deliver a drying airflow only to the first cleaning chamber within at least one first period of time, and deliver a drying airflow only to the second cleaning chamber within at least one second period of time includes:
within the part of the period of time for which the drying device performs drying in the second cleaning chamber, when a drying duration of the second cleaning chamber satisfies a preset drying duration or a humidity in the second cleaning chamber satisfies a preset humidity, controlling the drying device to suspend delivery of the drying airflow to the second cleaning chamber; and
when a duration for which the drying device is suspended satisfies a preset waiting duration, and/or when an object to be dried are present in the first cleaning chamber, controlling the drying device to deliver the drying airflow only to the first cleaning chamber within the at least one first period of time, and deliver the drying airflow only to the second cleaning chamber within the at least one second period of time.
In an embodiment, the drying device includes a fan assembly for generating a drying airflow and a heating assembly for heating the drying airflow, and within at least the part of the period of time for which the drying device performs drying in the second cleaning chamber, controlling the drying device to deliver a drying airflow only to the first cleaning chamber within at least one first period of time, and deliver a drying airflow only to the second cleaning chamber within at least one second period of time includes:
within the part of the period of time for which the drying device performs drying in the second cleaning chamber, when a drying duration of the second cleaning chamber satisfies a preset drying duration or a humidity in the second cleaning chamber satisfies a preset humidity, controlling the heating assembly of the drying device to suspend heating the delivered drying airflow; and
Reference can be made to the beneficial effects brought by the first aspect and the various possible implementations of the first aspect for the beneficial effects of the cleaning apparatus provided in the fourth aspect and the various possible implementations of the fourth aspect, which are not repeated herein.
In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a cleaning apparatus, including:
a first cleaning chamber, a second cleaning chamber, a drying device, and a control device, where the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber share the drying device, the drying device includes a fan assembly and an air duct, the air duct having an air inlet, a first air outlet and a second air outlet, the air inlet of the air duct being connected to an output end of the fan assembly, and the first air outlet and the second air outlet of the air duct being in communication with the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber, respectively, and the control device controls the drying device to dry an object to be dried in the first cleaning chamber and an object to be dried in the second cleaning chamber simultaneously within at least part of a period of time;
In an embodiment, the drying device further includes a selector valve arranged in the air duct, where the selector valve includes one inlet and two outlets; and
In an embodiment, the drying device further includes a condenser assembly and selector valves, the selector valves comprising a first selector valve arranged on an air outlet side of the fan assembly and a second selector valve arranged on an air inlet side of the fan assembly, the first selector valve comprising one inlet and two outlets, and the second selector valve comprising two inlets and one outlet; where
the inlet of the first selector valve is in communication with the air inlet of the air duct, and the two outlets of the first selector valve are in switchable communication with the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber; and
By way of example, the drying device further includes a heating assembly for heating the airflow, the heating assembly being arranged in the air duct between the fan assembly and the selector valve and being in signal connection with the control device.
In an embodiment, the drying device further includes a temperature sensor and a humidity sensor, the temperature sensor and the humidity sensor being arranged inside the second cleaning chamber and each being in signal connection with the control device.
Reference can be made to the beneficial effects brought by the first aspect and the various possible implementations of the first aspect for the beneficial effects of the cleaning apparatus provided in the fifth aspect and the various possible implementations of the fifth aspect, which are not repeated herein.
According to the drying control method for a cleaning apparatus, and the cleaning apparatus provided by the present application, the drying device is controlled to dry an object to be dried in the first cleaning chamber and an object to be dried in the second cleaning chamber simultaneously within at least part of a period of time. Compared with the prior art in which at least two cleaning apparatuses, including a washing machine and a base station, need to be provided in household environment, which occupies household space and results in the disadvantage of increased total energy consumption of household apparatuses, in the present application, two types of cleaning chambers, i.e., one for drying cleaning parts and the other for drying laundry, are integrated in a single cleaning apparatus, and the two cleaning chambers share the same drying device. By actively controlling the overlap of the time of drying the object to be dried in the first cleaning chamber and the object to be dried in the second cleaning chamber by the above method, the drying device can complete the function of drying the object to be dried in the two cleaning chambers with a single activation, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the drying device caused by a plurality of activations. Additionally, the two cleaning chambers can share drying resources and mutually use each other’s excess drying resources, improving the overall utilization rate of the drying resources. And, simultaneous drying or alternate drying can be provided according to different usage requirements, increasing the flexibility of drying of the cleaning apparatus, enriching the function implementations of the apparatus, and improving the user experience.
Exemplary embodiments will be described in detail herein, examples of which are illustrated in the figures. When the following descriptions refer to the figures, unless otherwise indicated, the same reference numerals in different the figures refer to the same or similar elements. The implementations described in the exemplary embodiments below do not represent all implementations consistent with the present application. Instead, they are only examples of devices and methods consistent with some aspects of the present application, rather than all embodiments. On the basis of the embodiments of the present disclosure, all the other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.
When existing washing machines, dryers, or other drying apparatuses dry laundry, a drying device of the cleaning apparatus needs to be activated to dry the laundry, and the drying duration is typically long. A base station, serving as a cleaning apparatus for the cleaning parts of a sweeping robot, also needs to dry the cleaning parts after they are washed, in order to prevent the cleaning parts from remaining in humid environment for a long time which otherwise breeds bacteria. That is, the base station also needs to be equipped with a drying device to dry the cleaning parts. Therefore, a laundry drying apparatus with a drying function and the base station usually occupy a large household space due to hardware configuration, and when the two apparatuses perform drying operations simultaneously, the total energy consumption of household apparatuses increases significantly.
In view of the technical problems mentioned above, the inventive concept of the present application is as follows. Two cleaning chambers for drying laundry and drying cleaning parts are integrated into one cleaning apparatus to reduce the occupied area of the apparatus in household environment; and a drying device shared by the two cleaning chambers is provided to reduce the number of drying devices. While the laundry is being dried, the cleaning parts are dried or sterilized, thereby improving the energy utilization during the drying process, and reducing the total energy consumption of household devices by simultaneous drying, so as to solve the above technical problems in the prior art.
The specific application scenarios of the present application are provided as follows.
It should be understood that the cleaning apparatus involved in the embodiments of the present application may be any cleaning apparatus with the functions of drying cleaning parts of a sweeping robot and drying laundry, such as a washing machine, a dryer, or a base station.
The drying device includes a fan assembly and an air duct. The air duct has an air inlet, a first air outlet, and a second air outlet. The air inlet of the air duct is connected to an output end of the fan assembly, and the first air outlet and the second air outlet of the air duct are in communication with the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber, respectively.
Vented drying or internal circulation drying is used for the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber, where the drying device with vented drying includes at least a fan assembly and an air duct; or the drying device with internal circulation drying includes at least a fan assembly, a condenser assembly, and an air duct.
For example, when a small airflow is required for drying laundry in the second cleaning chamber, vented drying can be used, and in this case, there is no need to provide a condenser assembly, which is conducive to the miniaturization of the cleaning apparatus.
The first cleaning chamber 101 and the second cleaning chamber 102 are arranged one above the other. The drying device includes a heating assembly 105, a fan assembly 103, and an air duct 104. A selector valve 106 is provided on the air duct 104, and the selector valve 106 is configured to control airflow distribution between the first cleaning chamber 101 and the second cleaning chamber 102. A temperature sensor for measuring temperature variations in the chamber and a humidity sensor for measuring the humidity in the chamber are further provided in the second cleaning chamber 102 to provide a regulation basis for the control device.
(a), (b) and (c) in
For example, when a valve body is in the position (a) in
Two selector valves are provided, including a first selector valve 1061 disposed on the air outlet side of the fan assembly 103 and a second selector valve 1062 disposed on the air inlet side of the fan assembly 103. An inlet of the first selector valve 1061 is in communication with the air inlet of the air duct 104, and two outlets of the first selector valve 1061 are in switchable communication with the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber, respectively; An inlet of the second selector valve 1062 is in switchable communication with an outlet of the condenser assembly 107 and the external atmosphere, and an outlet of the second selector valve 1062 is in communication with the air inlet side of the fan assembly 103.
Since the cleaning parts have a small area and are in a deployed state, their drying demands are less than those for the laundry. Therefore, vented drying can be used for the first cleaning chamber.
When vented drying is also used for the second cleaning chamber, it is only necessary to lead an air outlet duct to the first cleaning chamber.
When internal circulation drying is used for the second cleaning chamber, since the first cleaning chamber will use the air in the second cleaning chamber during drying, in order to avoid insufficient air in the second cleaning chamber affecting the drying of the laundry in the second cleaning chamber, it is necessary to add an air supplement valve between the condenser assembly and the fan assembly.
There is also a drying device combining vented drying and internal circulation drying, for example, vented drying is used for the first cleaning chamber, and internal circulation drying is used for the second cleaning chamber.
Both the control device and a storage assembly are disposed inside the cleaning apparatus. In an embodiment, the storage assembly may be integrated with the control device, or may be a separate component independent of the control device.
The storage assembly is configured to store data, such as various software control programs, and some modes and/or parameters of the cleaning apparatus Specifically, the programs may include program code, and the program code includes computer operation instructions.
The control device may include, for example, one or more circuits or chips with control functions.
The control device is configured to control the drying operation of the cleaning apparatus by using the various software control programs stored in the storage assembly.
In the embodiments of the present application, an execution entity may be the control device of the cleaning apparatus, or a server corresponding to the cleaning apparatus. The server is located in the cloud and is connected to the cleaning apparatus via a network to send control instructions to the cleaning apparatus, or to forward control instructions sent by the user using a terminal device to the cleaning apparatus.
In an example of the control device of the cleaning apparatus as the execution entity, the technical solutions of the present application and how the technical solutions solve the aforementioned technical problems are described in detail with reference to specific embodiments below. The following specific embodiments may be combined with each other, and the same or similar concept or process may not be repeated in some embodiments.
The present application provides a control method for a cleaning apparatus, including:
Where the first cleaning chamber is at least used for drying cleaning parts of a sweeping robot or a floor washing machine, and the second cleaning chamber is at least used for drying laundry; or the first cleaning chamber is at least used for drying laundry, and the second cleaning chamber is at least used for drying cleaning parts of a sweeping robot or a floor washing machine.
By actively controlling the overlap of the time of drying the object to be dried in the first cleaning chamber and the object to be dried in the second cleaning chamber by the above method, the drying device can complete the function of drying the object to be dried in the two cleaning chambers with a single activation, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the drying device caused by a plurality of activations. Additionally, the two cleaning chambers can share drying resources and mutually use each other’s excess drying resources, improving the overall utilization rate of the drying resources.
Possible operating states of the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber within at least the part of the period of time include, but are not limited to, the following states.
State 1: cleaning parts of a sweeping robot or a floor washing machine are being dried in the first cleaning chamber, and the second cleaning chamber does not operate, or the second cleaning chamber is in a non-drying laundry washing state or a laundry spin-drying state.
State 2: the first cleaning chamber does not operate, or is in a non-drying washing state in which the cleaning parts of the sweeping robot or the floor washing machine are washed, and the laundry is being dried in the second cleaning chamber.
State 3: the cleaning parts of the sweeping robot or the floor washing machine are being dried in the first cleaning chamber, and the laundry is being dried in the second cleaning chamber.
State 4: the first cleaning chamber does not operate, or is in a non-drying laundry washing state or a laundry spin-drying state, and the cleaning parts of the sweeping robot or the floor washing machine are being dried in the second cleaning chamber.
State 5: the laundry are being dried in the first cleaning chamber, and the second cleaning chamber does not operate, or the first cleaning chamber is in a non-drying washing state in which the cleaning parts of the sweeping robot or the floor washing machine are washed.
State 6: the laundry is being dried in the first cleaning chamber, and the cleaning parts of the sweeping robot or the floor washing machine are being dried in the second cleaning chamber.
Within at least the part of the period of time, the following situations are included.
Situation 1: the period of time for drying in the first cleaning chamber is entirely included within the period of time for drying in the second cleaning chamber; for example: the period of time for drying in the second cleaning chamber is from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and the period of time for drying in the first cleaning chamber is from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.; or the period of time for drying in the second cleaning chamber is from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and the period of time for drying in the first cleaning chamber is from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Situation 2: the period of time for drying in the first cleaning chamber is partially included in the period of time for drying in the second cleaning chamber, that is, the period of time for drying in the first cleaning chamber partially overlaps with the period of time for drying in the second cleaning chamber. for example, the period of time for drying in the second cleaning chamber is from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and the period of time for drying in the first cleaning chamber is from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.; or the period of time for drying in the second cleaning chamber is from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., and the period of time for drying in the first cleaning chamber is from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Situation 3: the period of time for drying in the second cleaning chamber is entirely included in the period of time for drying in the first cleaning chamber, for example, the period of time for drying in the first cleaning chamber is from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and the period of time for drying in the second cleaning chamber is from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.; or the period of time for drying in the first cleaning chamber is from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and the period of time for drying in the second cleaning chamber is from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Situation 4: the period of time for drying in the second cleaning chamber is partially included in the period of time for drying the first cleaning chamber, that is, the period of time for drying in the second cleaning chamber partially overlaps with the period of time for drying in the first cleaning chamber, for example, the period of time for drying in the first cleaning chamber is from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and the period of time for drying in the second cleaning chamber is from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.; or the period of time for drying in the first cleaning chamber is from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., and the period of time for drying in the second cleaning chamber is from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
The method is specifically described below mainly with respect to an example in which the first cleaning chamber is used for drying the cleaning parts of the sweeping robot and the second cleaning chamber is used for drying laundry. It should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that equivalent replacements or modifications made to some or all of the technical features do not cause the essence of corresponding technical solutions to depart from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure. Specifically,
within at least part of the period of time for which the drying device performs drying in the second cleaning chamber, there are drying demands in the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber, or drying or drying operations are required for both of the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber, that is, the action of drying the cleaning parts in the first cleaning chamber is performed within the duration range for drying the laundry in the second cleaning chamber.
By way of example, when it is needed for the first cleaning chamber to dry the cleaning parts and for the second cleaning chamber to dry the laundry, that is, when both the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber need to open the air duct connected to the drying device, the drying device is controlled to supply air into air ducts of the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber to implement the drying function.
Alternatively, when it is needed for the first cleaning chamber to dry the cleaning parts and the laundry is being dried in the second cleaning chamber, that is, the drying device is in an ON state at this time, the air duct of the drying device can be controlled to change such that the drying device supplies air not only to the second cleaning chamber but also to the first cleaning chamber to implement the drying function.
Alternatively, when the cleaning parts are being dried in the first cleaning chamber and it is needed for the second cleaning chamber to dry the laundry, the drying device is in the ON state at this time, and the air duct of the drying device is controlled to change such that the drying device can supply air not only to the first cleaning chamber but also to the second cleaning chamber to implement the drying function.
In the above implementations, the drying demand may be based on a drying instruction that is sent at the start time of a drying process in a preset washing-drying process of the cleaning apparatus, or may be based on a drying instruction input by the user. The drying instruction is used to control the drying device to perform the drying operation.
How the control device controls the drying device to perform drying in the first cleaning chamber is described below.
First Method: the drying device is controlled to continuously deliver a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber within part of the period of time for which the drying device performs drying in the second cleaning chamber. In the position of the selector valve shown in (b) of
In this implementation, the cleaning parts in the first cleaning chamber and the laundry in the second cleaning chamber share the drying function provided by the drying device within the drying duration of the drying device.
For example, after the drying device is activated, the fan assembly is controlled to continuously deliver a drying airflow to both of the cleaning parts in the first cleaning chamber and the laundry in the second cleaning chamber. At this time, the heating assembly may be activated or not activated. Upon activation, the heating assembly may heat the drying airflow delivered by the fan assembly to obtain a hot airflow that can improve the drying efficiency. When the heating assembly is not activated, the drying airflow is a cold airflow, which can also achieve the drying effect. However, compared with the hot airflow, the cold airflow has a relatively lower drying efficiency, but allows to save energy and has a better drying effect on laundry of a heat-sensitive material.
In this way, after the drying device is activated, both the cleaning parts and the laundry can be dried at the same time. When the function of hot air of the drying device is activated and the cleaning parts are dried earlier than the laundry, hot air can be further used to disinfect and sterilize the cleaning parts, improving the cleanliness of the cleaning parts.
According to the method provided by this embodiment, two cleaning chambers for drying cleaning parts and drying laundry are integrated into one cleaning apparatus, and the two cleaning chambers share the same drying device, thereby reducing the number of drying devices provided, lowering hardware configuration costs, and facilitating the miniaturization of the spatial design of the cleaning apparatus. In addition, the drying device is activated once to provide drying functions for both of the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber, thereby reducing the energy loss caused by activation and preheating, reducing the energy loss when drying is performed in the two cleaning chambers simultaneously, and improving the drying energy utilization.
Implementation 11: The drying device delivers a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber simultaneously according to a first set drying airflow distribution.
Here, the first drying airflow distribution indicates that the airflow delivered to the first cleaning chamber is greater than the airflow delivered to the second cleaning chamber.
For example, during the drying of the laundry in the second cleaning chamber and when the cleaning parts start to be dried in the first cleaning chamber, the fan assembly of the drying device remains in a blowing state, and the control device controls the selector valve of the air duct to switch to a first state in which the airflow delivered to the first cleaning chamber is greater than the airflow delivered to the second cleaning chamber. This enables the drying device to deliver a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber simultaneously according to the first set drying airflow distribution.
For another example, during the drying of the cleaning parts in the first cleaning chamber and when the laundry starts to be dried in the second cleaning chamber, the fan assembly of the drying device remains in the blowing state, and the control device controls the selector valve of the air duct to switch to the first state in which the airflow delivered to the first cleaning chamber is greater than the airflow delivered to the second cleaning chamber. This enables the drying device to deliver a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber simultaneously according to the first set drying airflow distribution.
In this implementation, the operating state of the fan assembly of the drying device or the operating states of the fan assembly and the heating assembly of the drying device can be maintained. The laundry and the cleaning parts can be dried simultaneously with no addition of a drying device, thereby avoiding the energy loss caused by an additional drying device; a single drying device enables for simultaneous drying in the two cleaning chambers at different airflows only by simple control of the switching of the selector valve, and this method has high flexibility; and setting the airflow for drying laundry greater than the airflow for drying cleaning parts better matches the actual drying demand intensities of the cleaning parts and the laundry. Compared to equal distribution, this method is beneficial to reducing the drying duration and improving the drying efficiency for the laundry.
Implementation 12: The drying device delivers a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber simultaneously according to a second set drying airflow distribution.
Here, the second drying airflow distribution indicates that the airflow delivered to the first cleaning chamber is less than the airflow delivered to the second cleaning chamber.
For example, during the drying of the laundry in the second cleaning chamber and when the cleaning parts start to be dried in the first cleaning chamber, the fan assembly of the drying device remains in a blowing state, and the control device controls the selector valve of the air duct to switch to a second state in which the airflow delivered to the first cleaning chamber is less than the airflow delivered to the second cleaning chamber, which is suitable for drying less laundry (such as only a few thin T-shirts) and cleaning parts simultaneously, or for drying laundry with low moisture content (such as silk and satin garments) and cleaning parts simultaneously. This enables the drying device to deliver a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber simultaneously according to the second set drying airflow distribution.
For another example, during the drying of the cleaning parts in the first cleaning chamber and when the laundry starts to be dried in the second cleaning chamber, the fan assembly of the drying device remains in the blowing state, and the control device controls the selector valve of the air duct to switch to the second state in which the airflow delivered to the first cleaning chamber is less than the airflow delivered to the second cleaning chamber, is suitable for drying less laundry (such as only a few thin T-shirts) and cleaning parts simultaneously, or for drying laundry with low moisture content (such as silk and satin garments) and cleaning parts simultaneously. This enables the drying device to deliver a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber simultaneously according to the second set drying airflow distribution ratio.
In the above two implementations, it is further included that when the heating assembly and the fan assembly of the drying device operate simultaneously, that is, hot air is used for drying heat-sensitive laundry (such as silk garments) and cleaning parts simultaneously, most of the hot air needs to be assigned to the cleaning parts. This can avoid excessively high drying temperature in the second cleaning chamber and fully utilize the hot air to dry and sterilize the cleaning parts without wasting thermal energy.
In this implementation, the airflow for drying the cleaning parts is set to be greater than the airflow for drying the laundry, thereby achieving rapid drying of the cleaning parts, balancing the drying demands of the cleaning parts and the laundry, and facilitating simultaneous drying of the laundry and the cleaning parts based on the condition of the laundry, so as to shorten the overall drying duration. Similar to the above implementation, in this implementation, the operating state of the fan assembly of the drying device or the operating states of the fan assembly and the heating assembly of the drying device can be maintained. The laundry and the cleaning parts can be dried simultaneously with no addition of a drying device, thereby avoiding the energy loss caused by an additional drying device; and a single drying device enables for simultaneous drying in the two cleaning chambers at different airflows only by simple control of the switching of the selector valve, and this method has high flexibility.
Implementation 13: The drying device delivers a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber simultaneously according to a third set drying airflow distribution.
Here, the third drying airflow distribution indicates that the airflow delivered to the first cleaning chamber is equal to the airflow delivered to the second cleaning chamber.
For example, during the drying of the laundry in the second cleaning chamber and when the cleaning parts start to be dried in the first cleaning chamber, the fan assembly of the drying device remains in a blowing state, and the control device controls the selector valve of the air duct to switch to a third state in which the airflow delivered to the first cleaning chamber is equal to the airflow delivered to the second cleaning chamber. This enables the drying device to deliver a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber simultaneously according to the third set drying airflow distribution.
For another example, during the drying of the cleaning parts in the first cleaning chamber and when the laundry starts to be dried in the second cleaning chamber, the fan assembly of the drying device remains in the blowing state, and the control device controls the selector valve of the air duct to switch to the third state in which the airflow delivered to the first cleaning chamber is equal to the airflow delivered to the second cleaning chamber. This enables the drying device to deliver a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber simultaneously according to the third set drying airflow distribution.
In this implementation, the cleaning parts can be rapidly dried by using the drying device for drying laundry. After the cleaning parts are dried, the heat and airflow for drying the laundry can continue to sterilize the cleaning parts, effectively improving the cleanliness of the cleaning parts. Similar to the above implementation, in this implementation, the operating state of the fan assembly of the drying device or the operating states of the fan assembly and the heating assembly of the drying device can be maintained. The laundry and the cleaning parts can be dried simultaneously with no addition of a drying device, thereby avoiding the energy loss caused by an additional drying device; and a single drying device enables for simultaneous drying in the two cleaning chambers at different airflows only by simple control of the switching of the selector valve, and this method has high flexibility.
Implementation 14: The drying device simultaneously starts delivery of a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber, and simultaneously stops the delivery of the drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber.
For example, when the cleaning parts starts to be dried in the first cleaning chamber and the laundry starts to be dried in the second cleaning chamber, the control device controls the selector valve of the air duct to switch to the first, second, or third state in the above implementations, and controls the drying device to activate the fan assembly, or simultaneously activate the fan assembly and heating assembly, or activate the fan assembly first and then activate the heating assembly, such that the drying device simultaneously delivers cold air, hot air, or first cold air and then hot air to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber, so as to simultaneously dry the cleaning parts in the first cleaning chamber and the laundry in the second cleaning chamber.
It should be noted that the cleaning parts in the first cleaning chamber and the laundry in the second cleaning chamber being dried simultaneously means that the cleaning parts and the laundry are dried by the drying airflow for the same duration, that is, the drying duration is set to be the same, which does not mean that the laundry and the cleaning parts are in a dried state at the same time.
In this way, the drying airflow can be delivered to the two cleaning chambers simultaneously. When both the heating assembly and the fan assembly operate, hot air can be used to dry the laundry while continuously sterilizing the dried cleaning parts. For laundry with strict drying requirements, during simultaneous drying, the temperature and airflow in the second cleaning chamber can be adjusted by adjusting the selector valve. In particular, compared with direct temperature adjustment, due to the lag in temperature adjustment, the response speed of the selector valve to the adjustment is quicker than directly adjusting the temperature of the heating assembly, and the airflow and the temperature that are reduced by this adjustment can be used to dry or sterilize the cleaning parts, thereby allowing the energy that would otherwise be wasted to be reused.
Implementation 15: The drying device simultaneously starts to dry the cleaning parts in the first cleaning chamber and the laundry in the second cleaning chamber, and finishes the drying of the cleaning parts in the first cleaning chamber before finishing the drying of the laundry in the second cleaning chamber.
For example, when the cleaning parts starts to be dried in the first cleaning chamber and the laundry starts to be dried in the second cleaning chamber, the control device controls the selector valve of the air duct to switch to the first, second, or third state in the above implementations, and controls the drying device to activate the fan assembly, or simultaneously activate the fan assembly and heating assembly, or activate the fan assembly first and then activate the heating assembly, such that the drying device simultaneously delivers cold air, hot air, or first cold air and then hot air to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber.
After the simultaneous activation, the cleaning parts and laundry are simultaneously dried. Since the cleaning parts are generally dried more quickly, the drying operation can be finished first, thereby reallocating the drying resources originally allocated to the first cleaning chamber to the second cleaning chamber, thereby improving the drying speed for the second cleaning chamber and enhancing the overall efficiency of simultaneous drying.
In this way, the simultaneous drying can save energy output while the drying resources are reallocated to the side that has not yet reached its dry state in the later stage, such that the drying resources are transferred from the dried cleaning parts to the laundry, thereby improving the drying efficiency of the laundry and reducing energy waste caused by ineffective drying.
Implementation 16: The drying device simultaneously dries the cleaning parts in the first cleaning chamber and the laundry in the second cleaning chamber according to a drying airflow distribution ratio related to the weight or volume of the laundry.
Here, the drying airflow distribution ratio is positively correlated with the weight of the laundry in the second cleaning chamber.
For example, during the laundry being dried in the second cleaning chamber and when the cleaning parts start to be dried in the first cleaning chamber, the control device acquires the weight or volume of the laundry in the second cleaning chamber. When the weight of the laundry is greater than a first weight threshold, or the volume of the laundry is greater than a first volume threshold, the fan assembly of the drying device remains in the blowing state, and the selector valve of the air duct switches to a fourth state in which 80% of the airflow flows to the second cleaning chamber and 20% of the airflow flows to the first cleaning chamber, thereby allocating more drying resources to the laundry that are difficult to dry and improving the overall drying efficiency.
For another example, during the laundry being dried in the second cleaning chamber and when the cleaning parts start to be dried in the first cleaning chamber, the control device acquires the weight or volume of the laundry in the second cleaning chamber. When the weight of the laundry is greater than a second weight threshold, or the volume of the laundry is greater than a second volume threshold, the fan assembly of the drying device remains in the blowing state, and the selector valve of the air duct switches to a fifth state in which 60% of the airflow flows to the second cleaning chamber and 40% of the airflow flows to the first cleaning chamber. Here, the second weight threshold is lower than the first weight threshold, and the second volume threshold is lower than the first volume threshold, thereby achieving a substantially balanced allocation of the drying resources between the two chambers, with slightly more drying resources allocated to the side with the laundry that are relatively difficult to dry due to stacking, thus improving the overall drying efficiency.
For yet another example, during the laundry being dried in the second cleaning chamber, when the cleaning parts start to be dried in the first cleaning chamber, the control device acquires the weight or volume of the laundry in the second cleaning chamber. When the weight of the laundry is less than or equal to the second weight threshold, or the volume of the laundry is less than or equal to the second volume threshold, the fan assembly of the drying device remains in the blowing state, and the selector valve of the air duct switches to a sixth state in which 40% of the airflow flows to the second cleaning chamber and 60% of the airflow flows to the first cleaning chamber. Since less laundry are easy to dry, more airflow can be allocated to the cleaning parts which have relatively higher water absorption, thereby improving the overall drying efficiency.
In an embodiment, during the above airflow distribution processes in this implementation, the temperature range corresponding to the heating assembly can also be adjusted based on the weight, volume, or material of the laundry. Generally, the temperature of the heating assembly can be adjusted within the range of 60-80°C. When the weight and volume of laundry are large, and the laundry are made of a heat-sensitive material, the temperature may be selected as high as possible, for example, 80°C, to dry the laundry and cleaning parts, so as to improve the drying efficiency by heating.
In this way, a corresponding drying airflow distribution ratio can be adjusted based on the content of the laundry, such that the airflow distribution can better match the actual airflow requirements, thus shortening the drying duration for which the cleaning parts and the laundry are dried simultaneously, and improving the overall drying efficiency of the cleaning apparatus.
Second method: Within the part of the period of time for which the drying device performs drying in the second cleaning chamber, the drying device is controlled to deliver a drying airflow only to the first cleaning chamber within at least one first period of time, and deliver a drying airflow only to the second cleaning chamber within at least one second period of time. The part of the period of time includes the at least one first period of time and the at least one second period of time. In the positions shown in (a) and (c) of
By way of example, the drying airflow can be delivered only to the first cleaning chamber during the at least one first period of time, and only to the second cleaning chamber within at least one second period of time in the following implementations.
Implementation 21: Drying airflow is first delivered to the first cleaning chamber during the first period of time and then to the second cleaning chamber during the second period of time, and the cycle is repeated until the number of times the drying airflow has been delivered to the first cleaning chamber or the number of times the drying airflow has been delivered to the second cleaning chamber satisfies a set number of drying times.
The set number of drying times is the number of times the drying airflow is delivered to the first cleaning chamber or the number of times the drying airflow is delivered to the second cleaning chamber.
For example, during the cleaning parts being dried in the first cleaning chamber, when the laundry starts to be dried in the second cleaning chamber, the control device can first enable the airflow to entirely flow to the first cleaning chamber to dry the cleaning parts, and remains in this state for a first duration; thereafter, the selector valve is controlled to switch such that the airflow then entirely flows to the second cleaning chamber to dry the laundry, and this state remains for a second duration. Then, the above operations of switching the selector valve and remaining for the first duration, as well as switching the selector valve and remaining for the second duration are repeated until the repetitions of the switching and remaining for the first duration reach the set number of drying times. For example, when drying airflow has been delivered to the first cleaning chamber three times, after a third switching duration is satisfied, the selector valve is switched to the other side and no longer switches back to the first cleaning chamber, until the drying device completes the drying function.
In this way, the drying operation for the laundry and the cleaning parts is carried out using an alternating cyclic process. Obviously, “simultaneous” in the simultaneous drying operation here is similar to “simultaneous” in the above embodiments, and does not mean that the laundry and the cleaning parts are in a dried state at the same time. Rather, it means that the drying operation is performed on the laundry and the cleaning parts within a certain time range. When the number of time of cyclic switching is sufficiently large and the switching interval is sufficiently short, the drying effect of the alternating cyclic process is similar to the drying effect of simultaneously delivering air to the two cleaning chambers. However, a response time is provided for the alternating cyclic operations allow an object to be dried on each side, such that the drying resources can fully enter the cleaning parts or the laundry after entering the cleaning chambers, thereby improving the utilization rate of the drying resources. For example, hot air can be fully absorbed by the laundry or the cleaning parts, increasing the amount of moisture carried away and thus improving the drying efficiency.
In an embodiment, the number of times the drying device dries the laundry in the second cleaning chamber according to a set alternating sequence is greater than or equal to the number of times the drying device dries the cleaning parts in the first cleaning chamber according to the set alternating sequence.
For example, in the above example of this implementation, the set number of times for delivering a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber is three. After three times, the drying device is switched to deliver the drying airflow to the second cleaning chamber. Accordingly, the number of times the drying airflow is delivered to the second cleaning chamber is by default greater than 3. When the number of times for delivering a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the number of times for delivering a drying airflow to the second cleaning chamber are both set, due to the inherent characteristics of the laundry being prone to stacking and thus difficult to dry, it is necessary to allocate the drying resources as much as possible to the laundry. Therefore, the number of times the laundry is dried in the second cleaning chamber needs to be set to be greater than or equal to the number of times the cleaning parts are dried in the first cleaning chamber.
In this way, during simultaneous drying of the cleaning parts and the laundry, more drying resources are allocated to the side with higher demand for the drying resources, thereby improving the drying quality and the drying efficiency.
Implementation 22: Drying airflow is delivered to the first cleaning chamber during the first period of time and then to the second cleaning chamber during the second period of time, and the cycle is repeated until a total duration corresponding to the first period of time for delivering the drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and a total duration corresponding to the second period of time for delivering the drying airflow to the second cleaning chamber each satisfy a respective set drying duration.
For example, during the cleaning parts being dried in the first cleaning chamber, when the laundry starts to be dried in the second cleaning chamber, the airflow can first entirely flow to the first cleaning chamber to dry the cleaning parts, and this state remains for the first period of time; thereafter, the selector valve is controlled to switch such that the airflow then entirely flows to the second cleaning chamber to dry the laundry, and this state remains for the second period of time. Then, the above operations of switching the selector valve and remaining for the first period of time, as well as switching the selector valve and remaining for the second period of time are repeated until the total duration corresponding to the first period of time satisfies the total duration for delivering the drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber. After switching to the other side, the selector valve is no longer switched until the total duration corresponding to the second period of time satisfies the total duration for delivering the drying airflow to the second cleaning chamber.
In this way, a cycle endpoint is set for the alternating cyclic process, and the drying duration can be set to meet the drying demands of the object to be dried based on their material, volume and weight, such that the drying better meets the actual usage needs of the user, reducing the waste of drying resources caused by further drying the dried cleaning parts and laundry, and lowering the usage cost of the apparatus for the user.
In an embodiment, the drying duration for which the drying device dries the laundry in the second cleaning chamber is greater than or equal to the drying duration for drying the cleaning parts in the first cleaning chamber.
Similar to the effect of setting the number of drying times in the previous implementation, in this implementation, the drying duration is extended based on the condition of the laundry to improve the drying efficiency of the laundry. reference may be made to the above implementation for the specific implementation and achieved effects, which are not repeated herein.
Implementation 23: Drying airflow is first delivered to the second cleaning chamber during the second period of time and then to the first cleaning chamber during the first period of time, and the cycle is repeated until the number of times the drying airflow has been delivered to the first cleaning chamber or the number of times the drying airflow has been delivered to the second cleaning chamber satisfies a set number of drying times.
By way of example, during the laundry being dried in the second cleaning chamber, when the cleaning parts starts to be dried in the first cleaning chamber, the airflow can first entirely flow to the first cleaning chamber to dry the cleaning parts, and this state remains for the first period of time; thereafter, the selector valve is controlled to switch such that the airflow then entirely flows to the second cleaning chamber to dry the laundry, and this state remains for the second period of time. Then, the above operations of switching the selector valve and remaining for the first period of time and for the second period of time are repeated until the repetitions of the switching and remaining for the first period of time reach the set number of drying times. For example, when drying airflow has been delivered to the first cleaning chamber three times, after a third switching duration is satisfied, the selector valve is switched to the other side and no longer switches back to the first cleaning chamber, until the drying device completes the drying function.
In an embodiment, an end point at which the drying device completes the drying function may be when the drying is stopped when the number of drying times reaches the requirement, or when the drying is stopped when the number of drying times reaches a preset total number of times and the total drying duration also reaches a preset total duration.
In this way, during the period of time for drying the laundry, the airflow may be concentrated to first rapidly remove the moisture in the cleaning chamber, for example, the newly added moisture on the cleaning parts, and then the shared drying resources are switched a plurality of times to remove the remaining moisture by drying. Moreover, by means of the alternating cyclic process, the laundry can be maintained in the dried state, thereby realizing the function of the laundry and the cleaning parts sharing the drying resources. During intervals between the alternating switching, the contact between the drying resources such as airflow and temperature and the laundry or the cleaning parts is increased, and the possibility of the drying resources are directly discharged due to insufficient contact is reduced, thereby improving the utilization rate of the drying resources and reducing the energy loss. The end point of the alternating cyclic process is defined by the number of alternating cycles.
Implementation 24: Drying airflow is delivered to the second cleaning chamber during the second period of time and then to the first cleaning chamber during the first period of time, and the cycle is repeated until the total duration for delivering the drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the total duration for delivering the drying airflow to the second cleaning chamber each satisfy a respective set drying duration.
By way of example, during the laundry being dried in the second cleaning chamber, when the cleaning parts starts to be dried in the first cleaning chamber, the airflow can first entirely flow to the second cleaning chamber to dry the laundry, and this state remains for the second period of time; thereafter, the selector valve is controlled to switch such that the airflow then entirely flows to the first cleaning chamber to dry the cleaning parts, and this state remains for the second period of time. Then, the above operations of switching the selector valve and remaining for the duration of the first period of time and for the duration of the second period of time are repeated until the total duration corresponding to the first period of time satisfies the total duration for delivering the drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber; after switching to the other side, the switching of the selector valve is stopped until the total duration corresponding to the second period of time satisfies the total duration for delivering the drying airflow to the second cleaning chamber.
In this way, when there is a drying demand in a newly added cleaning chamber, the drying function of the original cleaning chamber is first maintained, and then the drying function is alternately allocated to the newly added cleaning chamber, thereby satisfying the requirement of drying in a plurality of cleaning chambers within a period of time. The duration is used to control the end point of the alternating cycle, and the drying duration can be set to meet the drying demands of the object to be dried based on their material, volume and weight, such that the drying better meets the actual usage needs of the user, reducing the waste of drying resources caused by further drying the dried cleaning parts and laundry, and lowering the usage cost of the apparatus for the user.
In the above several implementations, the first period of time and the second period of time are adjacent or non-adjacent in time sequence.
For example, the first period of time and the second period of time may be adjacent continuous period of times. For example, the first period of time is from 9:00 to 10:00, and the second period of time is from 10:00 to 11:00. Alternatively, the first period of time and the second period of time may also be non-adjacent discontinuous period of times. For example, the first period of time is from 9:00 to 10:00, and the second period of time is from 12:00 to 14:00.
In an embodiment, the at least one first period of time may represent one first period of time, or a plurality of first period of times having the same duration, or a plurality of first period of times having different durations. Similarly, the at least two second period of times may represent two second period of times, or a plurality of second period of times having the same duration, or a plurality of second period of times having different durations.
For example, when the first period of time and the second period of time are non-adjacent discontinuous period of times, the drying airflow is first delivered to the first cleaning chamber during the first period of time, after the duration of the first period of time elapses, the selector valve is not immediately controlled to switch a flow direction in the air duct, and when a start point of the second period of time is reached, the selector valve is controlled to switch the flow direction in the air duct, and the drying airflow is delivered to the second cleaning chamber until at least the second period of time elapses, thereby completing the function of controlling the drying device to perform drying in the first cleaning chamber within the part of the period of time during which the drying device performs drying in the second cleaning chamber.
For another example, when the first period of time is adjacent to and continuous with the second period of time and includes a plurality of first period of times having different durations, the drying airflow is first delivered to the first cleaning chamber during the first period of time, after the duration of the first period of time elapses, the selector valve is controlled to switch the flow direction in the air duct, the drying airflow is then delivered to the second cleaning chamber during the second period of time, and the selector valve continues to be controlled to switch the flow direction in the air duct such that the drying device delivers the drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber during another first period of time, thereby completing the function of controlling the drying device to perform drying in the first cleaning chamber within the part of the period of time during which the drying device performs drying in the second cleaning chamber.
For another example, when the drying device includes a heating assembly and a fan assembly, the heating assembly heats the airflow generated by the fan assembly to improve the drying efficiency of the drying airflow. When the first period of time is non-adjacent to and discontinuous from the second period of time, a heated drying airflow is first delivered to the first cleaning chamber during the first period of time; after the duration of the first period of time elapses, the heating function of the heating assembly is suspended, and the residual heat is used to continue delivering the drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber, so as to reduce the energy consumption of the drying resources. When a start point of the second period of time is reached, the selector valve is controlled to switch the flow direction in the air duct, the heating assembly is reactivated, and the drying airflow is delivered to the second cleaning chamber until at least the second period of time elapses, thereby completing the function of controlling the drying device to perform drying in the first cleaning chamber within the part of the period of time during which the drying device performs drying in the second cleaning chamber.
There is also a scheduled situation in which the drying device simultaneously delivers the drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber, and the drying airflow may be delivered by the following several implementations.
First Method: within the part of the period of time for which the drying device performs drying in the second cleaning chamber, when the drying duration of the second cleaning chamber satisfies a preset drying duration, the drying device is controlled to suspend the delivery of the drying airflow to the second cleaning chamber; and when a duration for which the drying device is suspended satisfies a preset waiting duration and /or when an object to be dried are present in the first cleaning chamber.
The preset drying duration is a remaining duration for drying the laundry in the second cleaning chamber, and within the remaining duration, the drying airflow may be delivered to the cleaning parts in the first cleaning chamber before the laundry is dried in the second cleaning chamber. The preset waiting duration is a tolerable waiting duration, i.e., a maximum drying duration for which drying may be suspended during the drying of the laundry without affecting the drying effect of the laundry.
By way of example, since the drying demand of the laundry is generally greater than the drying demand of the cleaning parts, the drying time for the laundry is longer. If the laundry and the cleaning parts are controlled to be dried for the same duration, the cleaning parts will remain in an ineffective drying state for a long time, which wastes a part of the drying resources and reduces the drying efficiency of the laundry.
Therefore, the drying duration for the cleaning parts may be determined based on the drying demands of the cleaning parts. After the required drying duration for the cleaning parts is determined, conversion is performed based on the drying time for the laundry. Based on that the drying of the laundry and the drying of the cleaning parts are completed simultaneously, or that the drying and sterilization of the cleaning parts are completed when the drying of the laundry is completed, and by respectively adding the tolerable waiting duration, a preset time is obtained, the preset time being consistent with a displayed time when the laundry in the second cleaning chamber is dried, and whether simultaneous drying in the two cleaning chambers is initiated is monitored at the preset time.
For example, the scheduled time for the second cleaning chamber to dry the laundry is from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., the required drying duration for the cleaning parts is 30 min, and 10 min is taken as the waiting duration for laundry drying or the disinfection duration for the cleaning parts, so the preset time is 10:20.
When a time display panel of the cleaning apparatus shows 10:20, the control device monitors whether there are cleaning parts to be dried in the first cleaning chamber. If yes, the control device controls the selector valve to switch the air duct to a state in which drying can be performed in the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber simultaneously or in an alternating and cyclic manner.
When the time display panel of the cleaning apparatus shows 10:20, the control device monitors that there are no cleaning parts to be dried in the first cleaning chamber, then the drying device is suspended first; when it is 10:30, if the cleaning parts to be dried are detected, the drying device is reactivated, and the selector valve is controlled to switch the air duct to a state in which drying can be performed in the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber simultaneously or in an alternating and cyclic manner. If cleaning parts to be dried are still not detected, the drying device is reactivated and the drying device only dries the laundry.
In this way, when the user has no urgent need to retrieve the dried laundry, the laundry and the cleaning parts may be controlled to be dried simultaneously in a scheduled manner, and the drying resources in the drying process of the laundry are used to dry the cleaning parts, thereby reducing activation energy loss caused by a plurality of activations of the drying device when the laundry and the cleaning parts are dried separately. Since the optimal drying resources may be obtained during the use without preheating by the heating assembly, drying time loss resulting from the initiation of the preheating process is reduced. Since the drying resources required in a later stage of laundry drying are relatively small, allocating the drying resources for drying the cleaning parts does not significantly affect the drying of the laundry, and thus the sharing of the drying resources reduces the overall amount of drying resources used by the cleaning parts and the laundry.
Second method: within the part of the period of time for which the drying device performs drying in the second cleaning chamber, when the drying duration of the second cleaning chamber satisfies a preset drying duration, the heating assembly of the drying device is controlled to suspend heating the delivered drying airflow; and when a duration for which the drying device is suspended satisfies a preset waiting duration, and/or when an object to be dried are present in the first cleaning chamber, the drying device is controlled to performs drying in the first cleaning chamber, and the heating assembly of the drying device is controlled to resume heating the delivered drying airflow.
By way of example, similar to the above method, the drying duration for the cleaning parts may be determined based on the drying demands of the cleaning parts. After the required drying duration for the cleaning parts is determined, conversion is performed based on the drying time for the laundry. Based on that the drying of the laundry and the drying of the cleaning parts are completed simultaneously, or that the drying and sterilization of the cleaning parts are completed when the drying of the laundry is completed, a preset time is obtained, the preset time being consistent with a displayed time when the laundry in the second cleaning chamber is dried. The difference is that after the preset time is reached, the heating assembly with relatively higher energy consumption than the fan assembly can be controlled to stop heating, such that cold drying can be implemented on the laundry in the second cleaning chamber by using the residual heat and air action until the cleaning parts are detected in the state of waiting for drying within the tolerable waiting duration, and then the heating assembly is reactivated to implement the function of simultaneously drying the laundry and the cleaning parts.
In this way, the residual heat can be used for cool drying of the laundry in the later stage of laundry drying to reduce energy consumption during the cool drying, and when the cleaning parts also need to be dried, the heating assembly is reactivated to improve the drying effect of the laundry and the cleaning parts, achieving the simultaneous drying in the two cleaning chambers, and improving the utilization rate of the drying resources.
Method 3: within the part of the period of time for which the drying device performs drying in the second cleaning chamber, when the humidity of the second cleaning chamber satisfies a preset humidity, the drying device is controlled to suspend the delivery of the drying airflow to the second cleaning chamber; and when a duration for which the drying device is suspended satisfies a preset waiting duration, and /or when an object to be dried are present in the first cleaning chamber, controlling the drying device to perform drying in the first cleaning chamber.
The preset humidity is the humidity corresponding to the remaining duration for drying the laundry in the second cleaning chamber that is greater than or equal to the duration required for drying the cleaning parts in the first cleaning chamber.
By way of example, in the later stage of laundry drying, the humidity of the laundry is relatively low, and the demand for drying resources is also relatively reduced at this time. The activated drying device can be used to allocate the remaining drying resources to the first cleaning chamber, such that the cleaning parts of the sweeping robot can be dried by using the remaining drying resources. In order for the cleaning parts to use the remaining drying resources, the drying duration required for the cleaning parts when obtaining the remaining drying resources needs to be less than the remaining duration for drying the laundry. The drying humidity is negatively correlated with the drying duration, and the linear relationship between the remaining duration for drying the laundry and the laundry humidity can be determined from historical records or experimental data, thereby determining the preset humidity from the drying duration required for the cleaning parts and the linear relationship, such that the remaining drying resources for the laundry are used for the cleaning parts at the preset humidity.
If it is not ready to perform a drying operation on the cleaning parts at the preset humidity, the control device can control the drying device to suspend drying, and wait for the cleaning parts to be dried in the first cleaning chamber to be placed in place within the tolerable waiting duration, then the drying device is reactivated to dry the laundry and the cleaning parts simultaneously. If the cleaning parts to be dried are still not detected to be placed in place after the tolerable waiting duration has elapsed, the drying device is reactivated to dry the laundry in the second cleaning chamber, to prevent the laundry from remaining undried for a prolonged time, which may cause wrinkles or bacterial growth, or affect the use by the user.
Compared to monitoring whether the laundry has reached the later stage of drying by means of time management, this method better meets the actual drying demand of the laundry, reducing ineffective energy consumption after the laundry are dried, shortening the drying duration, and saving energy. By controlling the laundry and cleaning parts to be dried simultaneously in a scheduled manner, the drying resources in the drying process of the laundry are used to dry the cleaning parts, which reduces activation energy loss caused by drying the laundry and cleaning parts separately by the drying device, and also shortens the drying time loss during the activation and preheating process, thereby improving the drying efficiency.
Method 4: within the part of the period of time for which the drying device performs drying in the second cleaning chamber, when the humidity of the second cleaning chamber satisfies the preset humidity, the heating assembly of the drying device is controlled to suspend heating the delivered drying airflow; and when a duration, and /or when an object to be dried are present in the first cleaning chamber, controlling the drying device to preform drying in the first cleaning chamber, and controlling the heating assembly of the drying device to resume heating the delivered drying airflow.
By way of example, similar to the above implementations, in the later stage of laundry drying, the humidity of the laundry is relatively low, and the demand for drying resources is also relatively reduced at this time. The activated drying device can be used to allocate the remaining drying resources to the first cleaning chamber, such that the cleaning parts of the sweeping robot can be dried by using the remaining drying resources. The difference is that if it is not ready to perform a drying operation on the cleaning parts at the preset humidity, the control device can control the heating assembly of the drying device to be deactivated and maintain the operation of the fan assembly, so as to perform cool drying on the laundry by using the residual heat and air action, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the heating assembly. When the cleaning parts and the laundry are dried simultaneously, the heating assembly is activated again to make full use of air and heat to improve the drying efficiency.
In this way, the cool drying during laundry drying can be implemented in a scheduled manner to wait for the cleaning parts to enter the drying state, the drying effect of the laundry is maintained and the drying energy is reduced, and when the laundry and the cleaning parts are dried simultaneously, the heating assembly is reactivated to make full use of the drying resources and improve the overall drying efficiency and the utilization rate of drying resources.
Method 5: after the control device controls the drying device to dry an object to be dried in the first cleaning chamber and an object to be dried in the second cleaning chamber simultaneously within at least part of a period of time, the method further includes: when the drying is completed in the second cleaning chamber, controlling to stop delivering the drying airflow to the second cleaning chamber and to continue delivering the drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber; or when the drying is completed in the first cleaning chamber, controlling to stop delivering the drying airflow to the first changing chamber and to continue delivering the dry airflow to the second cleaning chamber.
For example, during the delivery of the drying airflow to both of the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber by the drying device, when the laundry in the second cleaning chamber have been dried, for example, when the drying duration of the second cleaning chamber satisfies the preset drying duration, or the humidity in the second cleaning chamber satisfies the preset humidity and other conditions indicating that the laundry have been dried, the delivery of the drying airflow to the second cleaning chamber is controlled to stop and the drying airflow continues being delivered to the cleaning parts in the first cleaning chamber, so as to concentrate on drying the cleaning parts and improve the drying efficiency.
For another example, during the delivery of the drying airflow to both of the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber by the drying device, when the cleaning parts in the first cleaning chamber have been dried, for example, when the drying duration of the first cleaning chamber satisfies the preset drying duration, the delivery of the drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber is controlled to stop and the drying airflow continues being delivered to the laundry in the second cleaning chamber, so as to concentrate on drying the laundry and improve the drying efficiency.
In this way, after the drying resources complete the drying task of either of the two cleaning chambers, the drying resources are concentrated and delivered to the cleaning chamber with drying not completed, avoiding the waste of the drying resources caused by continuously delivering the drying airflow to the cleaning chamber with drying completed, thus improving the overall drying efficiency and the utilization rate of the drying resources.
A drying control method for a cleaning apparatus is further provided, including: at least before the drying in the second cleaning chamber is completed by the drying device, sending a scheduled drying time to the sweeping robot, the floor washing machine, or another terminal in communication connection with the cleaning apparatus, where the scheduled drying time is at least within the part of the period of time for which the drying device performs drying in the second cleaning chamber; and controlling the drying device to performs drying in the first cleaning chamber upon reaching the scheduled drying time.
By way of example, since the sweeping robot only performs a drying operation after the cleaning parts are cleaned, and the sweeping robot has its own cleaning task but the cleaning process of the cleaning parts of the sweeping robot has a fixed time, the laundry and the cleaning parts can be together dried in a scheduled manner, thereby achieving the advantage of simultaneous drying of the laundry and the cleaning parts. The scheduled drying time refers to the moment when the delivery of the drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber starts. Sending the scheduled drying time before the drying device completes the drying in the second cleaning chamber allows the sweeping robot, the floor washing machine, or another terminal in communication connection with the cleaning apparatus to receive the information that simultaneous drying can be performed before the second cleaning chamber completes the drying task, and it is further determined, based on the current state of the sweeping robot or the floor washing machine, whether the cleaning parts need to be placed in the first cleaning chamber, such that the cleaning parts can share the drying resources during the drying process of the laundry.
For example, when the laundry are placed in the second cleaning chamber and a scheduled cleaning and drying task is performed, the user selects a cleaning and drying program for the laundry, that is, the drying time for the laundry is determined. In this case, the time for drying the cleaning parts can be determined from the drying time for the laundry and the time taken during the cleaning process of the cleaning parts, and then the time at which the sweeping robot returns to the cleaning apparatus during performance of a cleaning task can be deduced. The scheduled drying time is sent to the sweeping robot, and the sweeping robot can determine, based on its own task, whether to return into the first cleaning chamber of the cleaning apparatus at the scheduled drying time, so as to share the drying resources.
In this way, the scheduled drying time can be sent to the sweeping robot in a communication manner to achieve the linkage between the sweeping robot and the cleaning apparatus, automatically performing the cleaning and drying of the cleaning parts, reducing user involvement, and improving the intelligence level of the cleaning apparatus.
In another embodiment, a drying control method for a cleaning apparatus is provided, the cleaning apparatus including a first cleaning chamber, a second cleaning chamber, a drying device, and a control device, where the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber share the drying device.
For another example, when there are drying demands in both of the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber and the priority of the drying demand in the second cleaning chamber is higher than that in the first cleaning chamber. For example, an interaction module is provided on the cleaning apparatus, and the interaction module can acquire the type of washing operation performed by the user on the laundry. When the user performs a quick wash and drying operation on the laundry, it is required for the laundry to be dried within a very short time. In this case, all the drying resources need to flow to the laundry to shorten the drying time for the laundry and meet the user's demand. Therefore, the drying device first dries the laundry in the second cleaning chamber, and then dries the cleaning parts in the first cleaning chamber.
According to the above method, the user’s demand for quick drying can be met, the remaining heat for drying the laundry in the second cleaning chamber and the already activated drying device can continue to dry the cleaning parts in the first cleaning chamber, thereby reducing the energy loss caused by preheating and activation and improving the utilization rate of energy.
For another example, when there are drying demands in both of the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber, and the laundry in the second cleaning chamber are not urgently needed. For example, the cleaning apparatus is provided with an interaction module that can obtain the time when the user retrieves the laundry. Since the drying duration required for the cleaning parts is short and the sweeping robot may perform a cleaning task at any time, the drying device prioritizes drying the cleaning parts in the first cleaning chamber, and subsequently dries the laundry in the second cleaning chamber.
According to the above method, while satisfying the user’s demand for drying the laundry, the quick drying of the cleaning parts is prioritized to meet the requirement that the sweeping robot may be activated to clean the environment at any time, and the drying resources after the cleaning parts are dried can be used to continue drying the laundry, thereby reducing the energy loss caused by preheating and activation and improving the utilization rate of energy.
It should be understood that the foregoing method embodiments are described with the control device of the cleaning apparatus as an execution entity to illustrate how to implement the method according to the embodiments of the present application. When a server side of the cleaning apparatus is used as an execution entity to implement the above method, after obtaining the drying requirements of the laundry and the cleaning parts, the server side sends control instructions from the drying device to the cleaning apparatus according to different drying demands, so as to control the drying device to operate according to the corresponding operations in the above embodiments.
The present application further provides a cleaning apparatus, including: a first cleaning chamber, a second cleaning chamber, a drying device, a control device, and a storage assembly; where the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber share the drying device; the storage assembly is configured to store data; and the control device is configured to: control the drying device to deliver a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber when drying is performed in the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber simultaneously.
Reference may be made to the specific examples of the drying control methods described in the foregoing embodiments for the control method used by the control device of the cleaning apparatus provided in the present application, which is not repeated herein.
The various units and algorithm steps of the examples described with reference to the embodiments disclosed in the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or in a combination of hardware and computer software. A function is implemented by hardware or by computer software driving the hardware, depending on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. The skilled person in the field may implement the described functions for each specific application by different methods. However, such implementations should not be interpreted as departure from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure.
It can be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that all or some of the steps of the foregoing method embodiments may be implemented by hardware related to program instructions. The aforementioned program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. When the program is executed, the steps, including the foregoing method embodiments, are performed. The aforementioned storage medium includes, but is not limited to, various media that can store program codes, such as ROM (Read-Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), a magnetic disk, or an optical disc.
It should be noted that user information (including but not limited to user device information, user personal information, etc.) and data (including but not limited to data used for analysis, stored data, displayed data, etc.) involved in the present application are all information and data that have been authorized by the user or fully authorized by relevant parties. The collection, use, and processing of the relevant data shall comply with applicable laws, regulations, and standards, and corresponding operation interfaces shall be provided for the user to choose to grant or refuse authorization.
Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present disclosure, and not to limit the present disclosure. Although the present disclosure has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing various embodiments of the present disclosure, it should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that it is still possible to modify the technical solutions described in the foregoing various embodiments, or to equivalently substitute some or all of the technical features thereof, and such modifications or substitutions do not result in departure of the essence of the corresponding technical solutions from the scope of the technical solutions of the various embodiments of the present disclosure.
Claims
1. A drying control method for a cleaning apparatus comprising a first cleaning chamber, a second cleaning chamber, a drying device, and a control device, the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber sharing the drying device, wherein the method is applied to the control device, and the method comprises:
- controlling the drying device to dry an object to be dried in the first cleaning chamber and an object to be dried in the second cleaning chamber simultaneously within at least part of a period of time;
- wherein the first cleaning chamber is at least used for drying cleaning parts of a sweeping robot or a floor washing machine, and the second cleaning chamber is at least used for drying laundry; or the first cleaning chamber is at least used for drying laundry, and the second cleaning chamber is at least used for drying cleaning parts of a sweeping robot or a floor washing machine.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein controlling the drying device to dry an object to be dried in the first cleaning chamber and an object to be dried in the second cleaning chamber simultaneously within at least part of a period of time comprises:
- controlling the drying device to continuously deliver a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber within part of a period of time for which the drying device performing drying in the second cleaning chamber; or
- within the part of the period of time for which the drying device performs drying in the second cleaning chamber, controlling the drying device to deliver a drying airflow only to the first cleaning chamber within at least one first period of time, and deliver a drying airflow only to the second cleaning chamber within at least one second period of time; wherein the part of the period of time comprises the at least one first period of time and the at least one second period of time.
3. The method according to claim 2, wherein controlling the drying device to continuously deliver a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber within part of a period of time for which the drying device performing drying in the second cleaning chamber comprises:
- within the part of the period of time for which the drying device performing drying in the second cleaning chamber, controlling the drying device to continuously deliver a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber according to a set flow distribution ratio.
4. The method according to claim 2, wherein the first period of time and the second period of time are adjacent or non-adjacent in time sequence.
5. The method according to claim 1, wherein controlling the drying device to dry an object to be dried in the first cleaning chamber and an object to be dried in the second cleaning chamber simultaneously within at least part of a period of time comprises:
- within the part of the period of time for which the drying device performs drying in the second cleaning chamber, when a drying duration of the second cleaning chamber satisfies a preset drying duration or a humidity in the second cleaning chamber satisfies a preset humidity, controlling the drying device to suspend delivery of the drying airflow to the second cleaning chamber; and
- when a duration for which the drying device is suspended satisfies a preset waiting duration, and/or when an object to be dried are present in the first cleaning chamber, controlling the drying device to perform drying in the first cleaning chamber.
6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the drying device comprises a fan assembly for generating a drying airflow and a heating assembly for heating the drying airflow, and controlling the drying device to dry an object to be dried in the first cleaning chamber and an object to be dried in the second cleaning chamber simultaneously within at least part of a period of time comprises:
- within the part of the period of time for which the drying device performs drying in the second cleaning chamber, when a drying duration of the second cleaning chamber satisfies a preset drying duration or a humidity in the second cleaning chamber satisfies a preset humidity, controlling the heating assembly of the drying device to suspend heating the delivered drying airflow; and
- when a duration for which the drying device is suspended satisfies a preset waiting duration, and/or when an object to be dried are present in the first cleaning chamber, controlling the drying device to perform drying in the first cleaning chamber, and controlling the heating assembly of the drying device to resume heating the delivered drying airflow.
7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising posterior to controlling the drying device to dry the object to be dried in the first cleaning chamber and the object to be dried in the second cleaning chamber simultaneously within the at least part of the period of time:
- when the drying is completed in the second cleaning chamber, controlling to stop delivering the drying airflow to the second cleaning chamber and to continue delivering the drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber; or
- when the drying is completed in the first cleaning chamber, controlling to stop delivering the drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and to continue delivering the drying airflow to the second cleaning chamber.
8. The method according to claim 1, wherein vented drying or internal circulation drying is used for the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber; the drying device with vented drying comprises at least a fan assembly and an air duct; or the drying device with internal circulation drying comprises at least a fan assembly, a condenser assembly, and an air duct.
9. The method according to claim 8, wherein a selector valve is provided on the air duct, the selector valve being configured to control airflow distribution between the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber.
10. The method according to claim 5, wherein controlling the drying device to dry an object to be dried in the first cleaning chamber and an object to be dried in the second cleaning chamber simultaneously within at least part of a period of time comprises:
- controlling the drying device to continuously deliver a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber within part of a period of time for which the drying device performing drying in the second cleaning chamber; or
- within the part of the period of time for which the drying device performs drying in the second cleaning chamber, controlling the drying device to deliver a drying airflow only to the first cleaning chamber within at least one first period of time, and deliver a drying airflow only to the second cleaning chamber within at least one second period of time; wherein the part of the period of time comprises the at least one first period of time and the at least one second period of time.
11. The method according to claim 10, wherein controlling the drying device to continuously deliver a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber within part of a period of time for which the drying device performing drying in the second cleaning chamber comprises:
- within the part of the period of time for which the drying device performing drying in the second cleaning chamber, controlling the drying device to continuously deliver a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber according to a set flow distribution ratio.
12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the first period of time and the second period of time are adjacent or non-adjacent in time sequence.
13. The method according to claim 6, wherein controlling the drying device to dry an object to be dried in the first cleaning chamber and an object to be dried in the second cleaning chamber simultaneously within at least part of a period of time comprises:
- controlling the drying device to continuously deliver a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber within part of a period of time for which the drying device performing drying in the second cleaning chamber; or
- within the part of the period of time for which the drying device performs drying in the second cleaning chamber, controlling the drying device to deliver a drying airflow only to the first cleaning chamber within at least one first period of time, and deliver a drying airflow only to the second cleaning chamber within at least one second period of time; wherein the part of the period of time comprises the at least one first period of time and the at least one second period of time.
14. The method according to claim 13, wherein controlling the drying device to continuously deliver a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber within part of a period of time for which the drying device performing drying in the second cleaning chamber comprises:
- within the part of the period of time for which the drying device performing drying in the second cleaning chamber, controlling the drying device to continuously deliver a drying airflow to the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber according to a set flow distribution ratio.
15. The method according to claim 13, wherein the first period of time and the second period of time are adjacent or non-adjacent in time sequence.
16. A cleaning apparatus, comprising a first cleaning chamber, a second cleaning chamber, a control device, and a drying device, wherein the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber share the drying device, the drying device comprises a fan assembly and an air duct, the air duct having an air inlet, a first air outlet, and a second air outlet, the air inlet of the air duct being connected to an output end of the fan assembly, the first air outlet being in communication with the first cleaning chamber, and the second air outlet being in communication with the second cleaning chamber, and the control device is configured to control the drying device to dry an object to be dried in the first cleaning chamber and an object to be dried in the second cleaning chamber simultaneously within at least part of a period of time, wherein the first cleaning chamber is at least used for drying cleaning parts of a sweeping robot or a floor washing machine, and the second cleaning chamber is at least used for drying laundry; or the first cleaning chamber is at least used for drying laundry, and the second cleaning chamber is at least used for drying cleaning parts of a sweeping robot or a floor washing machine.
17. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the drying device further comprises a selector valve arranged in the air duct, wherein the selector valve comprises one inlet and two outlets; and the inlet of the selector valve is in communication with the air inlet of the air duct, and the two outlets of the selector valve are in switchable communication with the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber, respectively.
18. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the drying device further comprises a condenser assembly and selector valves, the selector valves comprising a first selector valve arranged on an air outlet side of the fan assembly and a second selector valve arranged on an air inlet side of the fan assembly, the first selector valve comprising one inlet and two outlets, and the second selector valve comprising two inlets and one outlet; wherein the inlet of the first selector valve is in communication with the air inlet of the air duct, and the two outlets of the first selector valve are in switchable communication with the first cleaning chamber and the second cleaning chamber; and the two inlets of the second selector valve are in switchable communication with an outlet of the condenser assembly and external atmosphere, and the outlet of the second selector valve is in communication with the air inlet side of the fan assembly.
19. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the drying device further comprises a heating assembly for heating an airflow, the heating assembly being arranged in the air duct between the fan assembly and the selector valve.
20. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the drying device further comprises a temperature sensor and a humidity sensor, the temperature sensor and the humidity sensor being arranged inside the second cleaning chamber.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 23, 2026
Publication Date: Sep 3, 2026
Inventors: Shuai DU (Suzhou), Shangtai Song (Suzhou), Yuanling Cheng (Suzhou), Yiming Zhu (Suzhou)
Application Number: 19/656,815
