EP-4740823-A1 - ROBOTIC CLEANER STATION, AND ROBOTIC CLEANER SYSTEM INCLUDING SAME

EP4740823A1EP 4740823 A1EP4740823 A1EP 4740823A1EP-4740823-A1

Abstract

A robot cleaner station includes: a base; a pad cleaner provided in an upper surface of the base and configured to place and clean a mop pad; a pad moving device configured to move a used mop pad from the pad cleaner and place a cleaned mop pad on the pad cleaner; and one or more processors, where, by executing one or more instructions stored on at least one memory, the one or more processors are configured to: control the pad moving device to move the used mop pad to the pad cleaner, and control the pad cleaner to clean the used mop pad based on a robot cleaner obtaining the cleaned mop pad and moving away from the base.

Inventors

CHOI, HEESEUNG
KO, Youngdae
KIM, JINHO
PARK, Sungman
SON, Hyungmin
CHOI, JINHO

Assignees

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260513
Application Date: 20240925

Claims (15)

A robot cleaner station comprising: a base; a pad cleaner provided in an upper surface of the base and configured to place and clean a mop pad; a pad moving device configured to move a used mop pad from the pad cleaner and place a cleaned mop pad on the pad cleaner; and one or more processors, wherein, by executing one or more instructions stored on at least one memory, the one or more processors are configured to: control the pad moving device to move the used mop pad to the pad cleaner, and control the pad cleaner to clean the used mop pad based on a robot cleaner obtaining the cleaned mop pad and moving away from the base.
The robot cleaner station of claim 1, wherein the pad moving device comprises: a lifting frame having a rectangular shape; a rotating plate rotatably provided within the lifting frame and to which the mop pad is fixed; a lifting device configured to move the lifting frame up and down; and a rotating device configured to rotate the rotating plate.
The robot cleaner station of claim 2, wherein the rotating plate comprises: a first surface; a second surface opposite to the first surface; a first holder locker on the first surface and configured to selectively hold the mop pad; and a second holder locker on the second surface and configured to selectively hold the mop pad.
The robot cleaner station of claim 2, wherein the rotating device comprises: a pair of protrusions respectively protruding from side surfaces of the rotating plate; a pair of interference levers respectively provided on sides of the lifting frame, wherein, based on the lifting frame moving up and one of the pair of interference levers interfering with one of the pair of protrusions, the rotating plate rotates at a certain angle with respect to the lifting frame; and two pairs of stop grooves respectively provided on the side surfaces of the lifting frame and configured to accommodate the pair of protrusions.
The robot cleaner station of claim 2, wherein the lifting device comprises: a pair of rack gears respectively provided on side surfaces of the lifting frame; a pair of pinions engaged with the pair of rack gears; a driving gear configured to drive the pair of pinions; a motor to configured to rotate the driving gear; and a pair of guiders configured to guide an up and down movement of the lifting frame.
The robot cleaner station of claim 5, wherein the driving gear comprises a first driving gear and a second driving gear respectively engaged with the pair of pinions, and a connection shaft connecting the first driving gear and the second driving gear.
The robot cleaner station of claim 1, wherein the pad moving device comprises: a lifting plate having a rectangular shape and to which the mop pad is fixed; and a lifting device configured to move the lifting plate up and down.
The robot cleaner station of claim 7, wherein the lifting device comprises: a pair of rack gears respectively provided on side surfaces of the lifting plate; a pair of pinions engaged with the pair of rack gears; a driving gear configured to drive the pair of pinions; a motor configured to rotate the driving gear; and a pair of guiders configured to guide an up and down movement of the lifting plate.
The robot cleaner station of claim 7, wherein the lifting plate comprises a holder locker on a lower surface configured to selectively hold the mop pad.
The robot cleaner station of claim 9, wherein the holder locker comprises: a locking hole in a center thereof; and a plurality of ball springs provided at intervals on an inner circumferential surface of the locking hole.
The robot cleaner station of claim 1, wherein the pad moving device comprises: a pad holder configured to fix the mop pad; and a holder locker configured to selectively hold the pad holder, and wherein the pad holder comprises: a holder plate having a lower surface to which the mop pad is attached; and a fixing protrusion protruding from a center of an upper surface of the holder plate.
The robot cleaner station of claim 11, wherein the holder locker comprises: a locking hole at a center of the holder locker and into which the fixing protrusion of the pad holder is to be inserted; and a lock included in the locking hole and configured to selectively fix the fixing protrusion.
A robot cleaner system comprising: a robot cleaner configured to mop a surface using a cleaned mop pad; and a robot cleaner station configured to: supply the cleaned mop pad to the robot cleaner, replace, based on a mopping operation of the robot cleaner being completed such that the cleaned mop pad becomes a used mop pad, the used mop pad with a second cleaned mop pad, and clean the used mop pad based on the robot cleaner performing the mopping operation, wherein the robot cleaner station comprises: a base; a pad cleaner provided in an upper surface of the base and configured to place the cleaned mop pad and clean the used mop pad; a pad moving device configured to move the used mop pad from the pad cleaner and place the cleaned mop pad on the pad cleaner; and one or more processors, wherein, by executing one or more instructions stored on at least one memory, the one or more processors are configured to: control the pad moving device to move the used mop pad to the pad cleaner, and control the pad cleaner to clean the used mop pad based on the robot cleaner obtaining the cleaned mop pad and leaving the base to perform the mopping operation.
The robot cleaner system of claim 13, wherein a lifting frame having a rectangular shape; a rotating plate rotatably provided within the lifting frame and configured to fix the used mop pad and the cleaned mop pad; and a lifting device configured to move the lifting frame up and down; and a rotating device configured to rotate the rotating plate.
The robot cleaner system of claim 13, wherein the pad moving device comprises: a lifting plate having a rectangular shape and configured to fix the used mop pad; and a lifting device configured to move the lifting plate up and down.

Description

[Technical Field] The disclosure relates to a robot cleaner station, and more particularly, to a robot cleaner station capable of automatically changing mop pads and cleaning mop pads, and a robot cleaner system having the same. [Background Art] With the advancement of technology, various types of robot cleaners are being sold on the market. A typical robot cleaner may be designed to automatically drive the surface to be cleaned and collect dust or dirt on the surface to be cleaned by sucking it in. Some robot cleaners may be equipped with a mopping function to mop the surface to be cleaned, but do not have a function to collect dust or dirt from the surface to be cleaned. Some robot cleaners have both the function of collecting dust or dirt form the surface to be cleaned and the function of mopping the surface to be cleaned. Some robot cleaners with a mopping function may be configured to allow a user to manually replace a used mop pad with a new mop pad. Some robot cleaners with a mopping function may include a robot cleaner station with a cleaning device for cleaning the mop pad. When a robot cleaner with a used mop pad attached enters the cleaning device, the robot cleaner station cleans the used mop pad while it remains attached to the robot cleaner. When cleaning of the mop pad is completed, the robot cleaner leaves the robot cleaner station and mops the surface to be cleaned. [Disclosure of Invention] [Technical Solution] Aspects will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the presented embodiments. According to one or more embodiments of the disclosure, a robot cleaner station may include: a base; a pad cleaner provided in an upper surface of the base and configured to place and clean a mop pad; a pad moving device configured to move a used mop pad from the pad cleaner and place a cleaned mop pad on the pad cleaner; and one or more processors, where, by executing one or more instructions stored on at least one memory, the one or more processors are configured to: control the pad moving device to move the used mop pad to the pad cleaner, and control the pad cleaner to clean the used mop pad based on a robot cleaner obtaining the cleaned mop pad and moving away from the base. According to one or more embodiments of the disclosure, the pad moving device may include: a lifting frame having a rectangular shape; a rotating plate rotatably provided within the lifting frame and to which the mop pad is fixed; a lifting device configured to move the lifting frame up and down; and a rotating device configured to rotate the rotating plate. According to one or more embodiments of the disclosure, the rotating plate may include a first surface; a second surface opposite to the first surface; a first holder locker disposed on the first surface and configured to selectively hold the mop pad; and a second holder locker disposed on the second surface and configured to selectively hold the mop pad. According to one or more embodiments of the disclosure, the rotating device may include: a pair of protrusions respectively protruding from side surfaces of the rotating plate; a pair of interference levers respectively provided on sides of the lifting frame, wherein, based on the lifting frame moving up and one of the pair of interference levers interfering with one of the pair of protrusions, the rotating plate rotates at a certain angle with respect to the lifting frame; and two pairs of stop grooves respectively provided on the side surfaces of the lifting frame and configured to accommodate the pair of protrusions. According to one or more embodiments of the disclosure, the lifting device may include: a pair of rack gears respectively provided on side surfaces of the lifting frame; a pair of pinions engaged with the pair of rack gears; a driving gear configured to drive the pair of pinions; a motor to configured to rotate the driving gear; and a pair of guiders configured to guide an up and down movement of the lifting frame. According to one or more embodiments of the disclosure, the driving gear may include a first driving gear and a second driving gear respectively engaged with the pair of pinions, and a connection shaft connecting the first driving gear and the second driving gear. According to one or more embodiments of the disclosure, the pad moving device may include a lifting plate having a rectangular shape and to which the mop pad is fixed; and a lifting device configured to move the lifting plate up and down. According to one or more embodiments of the disclosure, the lifting device may include a pair of rack gears respectively provided on side surfaces of the lifting plate; a pair of pinions engaged with the pair of rack gears; a driving gear configured to drive the pair of pinions; a motor configured to rotate the driving gear; and a pair of guiders configured to guide an up and down movement of the lifting