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EP-4394147-B1 - MECHANICAL DIRECTION CHANGE STRUCTURE FOR POOL CLEANER, AND POOL CLEANER

EP4394147B1EP 4394147 B1EP4394147 B1EP 4394147B1EP-4394147-B1

Inventors

  • CEN, Pu
  • GONG, Huchen

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20230814

Claims (20)

  1. A pool cleaner, comprising a pool cleaner body (090) and a mechanical direction change structure, wherein the mechanical direction change structure comprises: a rotating element (01 or 07), comprising a water inlet (011), a middle flow channel (012), and a water outlet (013) that are sequentially communicated for water to flow through, wherein the rotating element (01 or 07) is rotatable around a rotation axis (043) and provided on the pool cleaner body (090); at least one stopping device (02); and at least one swinging element (03), swingable around a swinging axis (044) and provided on the pool cleaner body (090); wherein, when the pool cleaner is moving, the stopping device (02) abuts with the swinging element (03) to form an abutment state, and the water outlet (013) is positioned in a first propelling direction (041); and when the pool cleaner is obstructed, the stopping device (02) detaches from the swinging element (03), and the water outlet (013) rotates towards a second propelling direction (042); characterized in that the stopping device (02) is rotatable around the rotation axis (043) relative to the pool cleaner body (090).
  2. The pool cleaner according to claim 1, characterized in that when the pool cleaner is obstructed, the rotating element (01 or 07) rotates to a position where another stopping device (02) abuts with the swinging element (03); or the rotating element (01 or 07) rotates to a position where the stopping device (02) abuts with another swinging element (03).
  3. The pool cleaner according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that when the pool cleaner is obstructed, the stopping device (02) is able to overcome the abutment state with the swinging element (03), due to a rotational force of the rotating element (01 or 07).
  4. The pool cleaner according to claim 3, characterized in that the stopping device (02) is fixed to the rotating element (01 or 07) or formed on the rotating element (01 or 07).
  5. The pool cleaner according to claim 3, characterized in that in a stationary state underwater, the swinging element (03) is configured to be restored to remain vertical.
  6. The pool cleaner according to claim 5, characterized in that the swinging element (03) is restored by a buoyancy.
  7. The pool cleaner according to claim 5, characterized in that the swinging element (03) is restored by a counterweight fixed below the swinging axis (044).
  8. The pool cleaner according to claim 6, characterized in that the swinging element (03) is provided with an end (0311) with a density less than a density of water; and/or the swinging element (03) is provided with a hollow end (0311).
  9. The pool cleaner according to claim 5, characterized in that an elastic restoring element is provided between the swinging element (03) and the pool cleaner body (090).
  10. The pool cleaner according to claim 5, characterized in that when the pool cleaner is obstructed, the rotating element (01 or 07) drives the stopping device (02) to rotate, making the swinging element (03) swing an angle towards an obstructed side and detach from the stopping device (02), such that: as the rotating element (01 or 07) rotates, another stopping device (02) abuts with the swinging element (03); or as the rotating element (01 or 07) rotates, the stopping device (02) abuts with another swinging element (03); and the water outlet (013) points towards the second propelling direction (042).
  11. The pool cleaner according to claim 10, characterized in that the swinging element (03) is able to be blocked by the stopping device (02); and a rotational torque of the rotating element (01 or 07) is greater than a restoring torque of the swinging element (03), such that the rotating element (01 or 07) is able to overcome the blocking of the swinging element (03), causing a part of the swinging element (03) located above the swinging axis (044) to swing towards the obstructed side.
  12. The pool cleaner according to claim 11, characterized in that when the pool cleaner is obstructed, the rotating element (01 or 07) rotates to a position where another stopping device (02) abuts with the swinging element (03); and there are two stopping devices (02); the two stopping devices (02) are symmetrically distributed on opposite sides of the rotation axis (043) and are fixed to the rotating element (01 or 07); or the two stopping devices (02) are integrally formed.
  13. The pool cleaner according to claim 12, characterized in that there is one swinging element (03); and an angle between the swinging axis (044) and the first propelling direction (041) and an angle between the swinging axis (044) and the second propelling direction (042) are close to 90°.
  14. The pool cleaner according to claim 13, characterized in that the swinging element (03) extends radially along the swinging axis (044) to form a swinging portion (031) and extends along the swinging axis (044) to form an abutting assembly (032); the swinging portion (031) is located above the swinging axis (044), and the abutting assembly (032) is located on a side facing the stopping device (02); and the abutting assembly (032) is able to abut with the stopping device (02).
  15. The pool cleaner according to claim 14, characterized in that the two stopping devices (02) each comprise a first stopping element (021) and a second stopping element (022) that are arranged above and below; and the first stopping element (021) and the second stopping element (022) maintain a clearance in a direction of the rotation axis (043) for the stopping device (02) to pass through; the abutting assembly (032) is provided with a first abutting portion (0321) for abutting with the first stopping element (021) and a second abutting portion (0322) for abutting with the second stopping element (022); when the pool cleaner is moving, the first abutting portion (0321) abuts with the first stopping element (021); or the second abutting portion (0322) abuts with the second stopping element (022).
  16. The pool cleaner according to claim 15, characterized in that the first abutting portion (0321) faces an opposite direction of a rotation direction (046) of the rotating element (01 or 07), and a side of the first stopping element (021) facing the rotation direction (046) of the rotating element (01 or 07) forms an upper stopping surface (0211) that abuts with the first abutting portion (0321).
  17. The pool cleaner according to claim 16, characterized in that the second abutting portion (0322) faces the opposite direction of the rotation direction (046) of the rotating element (01 or 07), and a side of the second stopping element (022) facing the rotation direction (046) of the rotating element (01 or 07) forms a lower stopping surface (0221) that abuts with the second abutting portion (0322).
  18. The pool cleaner according to claim 17, characterized in that the first abutting portion (0321), the upper stopping surface (0211), the second abutting portion (0322), and the lower stopping surface (0221) are all flat.
  19. The pool cleaner according to claim 18, characterized in that during restoration, an angle between the first abutting portion (0321) and a plane where a traveling wheel (095) of the pool cleaner is located is equal to an angle between the second abutting portion (0322) and the plane where the traveling wheel (095) of the pool cleaner is located.
  20. The pool cleaner according to claim 14, characterized in that a free end of the swinging portion (031) is a flat structure that extends along a surface vertical to a moving direction.

Description

The present disclosure claims priority to Chinese Patent Application 2022109224197 filed on August 2, 2022. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure belongs to the technical field of pool cleaning, and in particular relates to a pool cleaner with a mechanical direction change structure. BACKGROUND When a pool cleaner encounters a wall or an obstacle during a cleaning process in the pool, it needs to change its direction. The existing automatic pool cleaners generally adopt the following turnaround control mechanisms. 1. Fixed turnaround time The turnaround time (traveling from one side of the pool wall to the opposite side) is controlled through electrical means (writing a fixed turnaround time in the control program of the pool cleaner controller) or mechanical means (as described in Chinese Patent Application CN102828625B), and the turnaround time is fixed once set. The fixed turnaround time mechanism has at least the following issues. The fixed turnaround time inevitably requires a constant moving speed and direction. However, the moving speed and direction are inevitably affected in case of an obstacle or turbulence (such as one caused by the filler, water outlet, or swimmers), leading to premature turnaround, delayed turnaround, and even failure to turnaround due to the obstruction of pool wall. In addition, the fixed turnaround control mechanism cannot recognize whether the pool cleaner encounters a wall or an obstacle and make the pool cleaner return or turn. Once the pool cleaner encounters a wall or an obstacle, the pool cleaner must wait until the set time cycle ends before it turns, resulting in significant efficiency loss. 2. The use of the sensor to detect pool wall/obstacle In order to address the problems of the fixed turnaround time mechanism, some pool cleaners in the prior art use an electronic component for wall detection. They rely on the sensitivity of the electronic component, have high requirements for the working environment, have low detection reliability, and involve a lot of computational work in the transmission and processing of sensing signals. In addition, there are high performance requirements on the pool cleaner controller, high power consumption, significant impact from the underwater environment, complex structure, and high cost. 3. Abutment/detachment between a swinging element restored after being blocked (by a pool wall/obstacle) and a stopping element In order to address the problems of the above sensor, prior art provides a wall-touching mechanical direction change mechanism. The direction change control of the wall-touching mechanical direction change mechanism does not use any sensors. Driven by a rotating element, a resistance plate intermittently abuts with/detaches from a stopping element. The abutment causes the pool cleaner to move, and the detachment causes the pool cleaner to change its direction. To ensure a large-volume buoyancy-based resistance plate, especially for a large-volume end far from the swinging axis of itself, the large-volume resistance plate rotates with the rotating element. However, the resistance plate is prone to detaching from the stopping element in case of an excessive swinging angle. Meanwhile, the rotation of the swinging plate with the rotating element results in a large resistance, which increases energy consumption, and especially reduces endurance of the power supply that uses a battery. Besides, when the large-volume swinging plate rotates, it is subjected to a significant water reaction torque, which seriously affects the rotational connection between the rotating element and the shell of the pool cleaner. The significant torque can also increase the uncertainty in the moving direction, thereby hindering path planning. US2021/238876A1 discloses a mechanism for detecting obstacles and mechanically reversing (a direction of) a pool cleaner. The mechanism includes a drive part in non-rotatable connection with a cleaner housing, an arresting assembly connected to the cleaner housing, and a rotary direction-changing assembly rotatably connected to the cleaner housing or the drive part. US2013/133144A1 discloses a pool cleaner which includes a housing having a front, rear and adjoining side portions and a base plate having a water inlet. A pump is configured to draw water and debris from the pool through the inlet for filtering and discharge filtered water through an outlet. A pair of wheels are coupled proximate the front and rear of the housing, each of which is coupled to an opposing end of an axle, each opposing end of the axle being slidably moveable along the housing in a forward and rearward directional path of the cleaner in response to a steering assembly. An on-board controller includes memory for storing a cleaning program, and a processor electrically coupled to the memory to execute the cleaning program to automatically control the steering assembly to position each end of the axles to steer the cleaner while it is moving