US-12616350-B2 - Method and appliance for mopping up an accumulation of liquid

US12616350B2US 12616350 B2US12616350 B2US 12616350B2US-12616350-B2

Abstract

A method for controlling a mobile, self-propelled appliance, in particular a floor cleaning appliance such as a robot vacuum cleaner and/or a sweeper and mopping robot so as to mop up an accumulation of liquid, includes driving on a floor surface intended for cleaning in a direction of travel in a forward movement of the appliance and cleaning the floor surface by using a dry cleaning module and/or a wet cleaning module of the appliance. The accumulation of liquid is detected in the direction of travel in front of the appliance in a moist area. The forward movement in front of the moist area is terminated and the appliance is rotated about substantially 180°. Driving on the moist area in a reversing movement in the direction of travel of the appliance and mopping up the accumulation of liquid using the wet cleaning module is carried out.

Inventors

Frank Schnitzer
Manuel Weidl

Assignees

BSH Hausgeräte GmbH

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20240510
Priority Date: 20230510

Claims (9)

1 . A method for controlling a mobile, self-propelled appliance, a floor cleaning appliance or at least one of a robot vacuum cleaner or a sweeper and mopping robot, for mopping up an accumulation of liquid, the method comprising: driving on a floor surface intended for cleaning in a direction of travel in a forward movement of the appliance or robot and cleaning the floor surface by using at least one of a dry cleaning module or a wet cleaning module of the appliance or robot; detecting the accumulation of liquid in the direction of travel in front of the appliance or robot in a moist area; terminating the forward movement in front of the moist area and rotating the appliance or robot about substantially 180°; driving on the moist area in a reversing movement relative to the direction of travel of the appliance or robot and mopping up the accumulation of liquid by using the wet cleaning module; placing a cleaning liquid supply of the wet cleaning module in an active mode in the forward movement in the direction of travel of the appliance or robot and in an inactive mode in the reversing movement relative to the direction of travel of the appliance or robot; moistening a mopping unit with cleaning liquid from a container unit in the active mode, stopping the moistening from the container unit during the reversing movement of the appliance or robot while in the inactive mode, and resuming a reactivation of the supply of cleaning liquid to the mopping unit after a predetermined time, depending on a size of the accumulation of liquid.
2 . The method according to claim 1 , which further comprises performing the reversing movement relative to the direction of travel with rotational movements to one side of 30° to 90° relative to the reversing movement, when the moist area is located to one side of the reversing movement.
3 . The method according to claim 2 , which further comprises performing the reversing movement by including: a straight reversing movement of a first short distance toward the moist area; rotating the appliance or robot on the spot about 30° to 90° to one side or to both sides; rotating the appliance or robot back to an original starting position prior to rotation; and continuing to travel in a straight reversing movement of a second short distance into the moist area.
4 . The method according to claim 3 , which further comprises repeatedly rotating, rotating back and continuing to travel, until the moist area has been travelled through.
5 . The method according to claim 1 , which further comprises performing the reversing movement relative to the direction of travel with rotational movements to both sides about 30° to 90° relative to the reversing movement, when the moist area is located on both sides of the reversing movement.
6 . The method according to claim 5 , which further comprises performing the reversing movement by including: a straight reversing movement of a first short distance toward the moist area; rotating the appliance or robot on the spot about 30° to 90° to one side or to both sides; rotating the appliance or robot back to an original starting position prior to rotation; and continuing to travel in a straight reversing movement of a second short distance into the moist area.
7 . The method according to claim 6 , which further comprises repeatedly rotating, rotating back and continuing to travel, until the moist area has been travelled through.
8 . The method according to claim 1 , which further comprises determining a length of the moist area in the direction of travel upon detecting the accumulation of liquid prior to rotating the appliance or robot.
9 . The method according to claim 1 , which further comprises checking a presence of the accumulation of liquid after driving on the moist area after predetermined distances by rotating the appliance or robot back in the direction of travel in a forward movement and determining whether the accumulation of liquid continues to be present.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims the priority, under 35 U.S.C. § 119, of German Patent Application DE 10 2023 204 345.9, filed May 10, 2023; the prior application is herewith incorporated by reference in its entirety. FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a method for controlling a mobile, self-propelled appliance, in particular a floor cleaning appliance, such as a robot vacuum cleaner and/or sweeper and mopping robot so as to mop up an accumulation of liquid and also to a mobile self-propelled appliance which is controlled according to such a method. Mobile self-propelled appliances such as for example robot vacuum cleaners have the task of cleaning an entire floor surface as autonomously as possible. In particular, robot vacuum cleaners are meant to relieve their users of the task of regularly removing dust and dirt from the floor. In addition to pure vacuuming, there is an increasing demand from users for wet cleaning after dry cleaning. For that purpose, cleaning robots are used that are additionally equipped with a mopping function in addition to the suction function, so that they can both vacuum and mop the floor. In most cases, those combined vacuum and mop appliances have a dry cleaning module in the front area with a suction mouth for sweeping and vacuuming and a wet cleaning module in the rear area. A rubber or sealing lip is often disposed at the suction mouth and the rubber or sealing lip reaches down to the floor, can push dust in front of it and supports the sweeping effect. However, there is a risk that the sealing lip will push liquids that are on the floor, such as water pools, puddles or knocked over drinks, in front of the sealing lip or distribute them on the floor as a thin film. The wet cleaning module can indeed mop up the distributed liquid. However, there is a risk that disadvantageously visible trails of the liquid remain on the floor, for example in the event that the wet cleaning module is not wider on both sides than the dry cleaning module, that the robot does not travel a straight path, for example during cornering, or that the robot cannot reach every point with the wet cleaning module due to the conditions of its environment, for example at room corners, in close surroundings of obstacles or at the base station during docking. There is also the risk that drive units of the robot will roll over wet areas and contaminate the floor with trails with moist wheels. There is also the risk that the robot partially sucks in the liquid so that it gets into a dust container, mixes with dust there and possibly gets stuck in the filter or damages internal components. In order to avoid that problem, some robots have the wet cleaning module in the front area in the direction of travel. However, in that case the floor is mopped before it is freed from dust. As a result, impurities accumulate disadvantageously quickly on the mopping cloth, so that the cleaning effect of the mopping cloth quickly decreases and the mopping cloth therefore has to be replaced or cleaned by the user in short time intervals. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a method for mopping up an accumulation of liquid using a mobile, self-propelled appliance, which avoids the abovementioned disadvantages and in particular reduces the risks of undesired distribution of liquids and in which an effective mopping up of liquids is simultaneously provided. With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a method for controlling a mobile, self-propelled appliance, in particular a floor cleaning appliance such as a robot vacuum cleaner and/or sweeper and mopping robot so as to mop up an accumulation of liquid, comprising the following method steps: driving on a floor surface intended for cleaning in the direction of travel in forward movement of the appliance and cleaning the floor surface using a dry cleaning module and/or a wet cleaning module of the appliance,detecting the accumulation of liquid in the direction of travel in front of the appliance in a moist area,terminating the forward movement in front of the moist area and rotating the appliance about substantially 180°, anddriving on the moist area in reversing movement in the direction of travel of the appliance and mopping up the accumulation of liquid using the wet cleaning module. Advantageous embodiments and developments are the subject matter of the dependent claims. In the present case, in particular, soiling and/or clogging of the dry cleaning module by an accumulation of liquid that is distributed on the floor is avoided by the appliance cleaning while traveling in reverse in areas with liquids and thus absorbing the liquids with the wet cleaning module before they can reach the dry cleaning module. A dry route is therefore generated with the wet cleaning module before the dry cleaning module passes this dried route.