US-12622562-B2 - Autonomous floor cleaner with scrubbing belt

Abstract

A cleaner employing an agitation cartridge to clean a side surface beyond a reach of other onboard cleaning implements. The cleaner may be an autonomous floor cleaner having a body, a cleaning implement onboard the body operable for cleaning a floor surface, a motorized drive system operable for autonomously moving the body over the floor surface, and a scrubbing belt operable for cleaning the side surface.

Inventors

• Todd R. VanTongeren

Assignees

• BISSELL INC.

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20230815

Claims (17)

1. 1 . A floor cleaner, comprising: a body; a cleaning implement connected to the body and configured for cleaning a floor surface; and an agitation cartridge removably connected to the body, the agitation cartridge including a belt operable for scrubbing a side surface disposed above the floor surface; wherein the belt is operable to move in a closed loop path around a plurality of pulleys included on the agitation cartridge, the closed loop path including a vertical portion for positioning the belt to scrub the side surface; and wherein at least one of the pulleys includes a biasing member operable to move at least part of the vertical portion laterally in and out relative to the side surface.
2. 2 . The floor cleaner according to claim 1 wherein the agitation cartridge includes a motorized belt drive mechanism for moving the belt in a rotational manner relative to the side surface.
3. 3 . The floor cleaner according to claim 1 wherein the agitation cartridge includes a motorized belt drive mechanism for moving the belt in a back and forth manner relative to the side surface.
4. 4 . The floor cleaner according to claim 1 wherein the agitation cartridge includes a drip valve for dispensing a cleaning liquid onto the belt.
5. 5 . The floor cleaner according to claim 4 wherein the agitation cartridge includes a recovery system for recovering materials from the belt.
6. 6 . The floor cleaner according to claim 5 wherein the agitation cartridge includes a supply tank for storing the cleaning liquid and a recovery tank for storing the materials.
7. 7 . The floor cleaner according to claim 6 wherein the agitation cartridge includes a scraper positioned to scrape the materials from the belt.
8. 8 . The floor cleaner according to claim 5 further comprising a suction source carried by the body to provide a suction force for use with the cleaning implement and the recovery system.
9. 9 . The floor cleaner according to claim 1 wherein the closed loop path includes a horizontal portion for positioning the belt to additionally scrub the floor surface.
10. 10 . The floor cleaner according to claim 9 wherein at least two of the pulleys are vertically aligned to define the vertical portion and at least two of the pulleys are horizontally aligned to define the horizontal portion.
11. 11 . The floor cleaner according to claim 1 wherein the agitation cartridge includes a motorized belt drive mechanism operable to move the belt along the closed loop path.
12. 12 . The floor cleaner according to claim 11 wherein the belt drive mechanism includes a motor configured to drive at least one of the pulleys, the driven at least one of the pulleys causing the belt to move along the closed loop path.
13. 13 . The floor cleaner according to claim 12 wherein the motor includes a gearbox connected to the at least one pulley via a chain or a cable.
14. 14 . A floor cleaner, comprising: a body; a cleaning implement connected to the body and configured for cleaning a floor surface; and an agitation cartridge including a motorized belt drive mechanism configured for agitating a first belt to scrub a first surface and a second belt to scrub a second surface, the first and second surfaces being above the floor surface and outboard of the body beyond a reach of the cleaning implement; wherein the belt drive mechanism includes a plurality of pulleys arranged to move the first belt along a first closed loop path and the second belt along a second closed loop path, the first closed loop path including a first side portion for positioning the first belt to scrub the first surface and a first floor portion for positioning the first belt to scrub the floor surface, the second closed loop path including a second side portion for positioning the second belt to scrub the second surface and a second floor portion for positioning the second belt to scrub the floor surface.
15. 15 . The floor cleaner according to claim 14 wherein the belt drive mechanism includes a first motor for rotating the first belt and a second motor for rotating the second belt, the first and second motors being independently operable to separately control rotation of the first and second belts.
16. 16 . The floor cleaner according to claim 14 wherein the agitation cartridge includes a drip valve for dispensing a cleaning liquid onto the belt, a recovery system for recovering materials from the belt, a supply tank for storing the cleaning liquid, and a recovery tank for storing the materials.
17. 17 . A floor cleaner, comprising: a body; a plurality of wheels configured for moving the body over a floor surface; a suction source configured for providing a suction force; a suction nozzle fluidly coupled with the suction source, the suction nozzle operable with the suction force to recover debris from the floor surface; and an agitation cartridge configured for scrubbing a side surface, the agitation cartridge including: a motorized belt drive mechanism configured for agitating a scrubbing belt to scrub the side surface; a supply tank configured for storing a cleaning liquid; a drip valve configured for dispensing the cleaning liquid onto the belt; a recovery system configured for recovering debris from the belt; and a recovery tank configured for storing the debris recovered through the recovery system and the suction nozzle.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/371,668, filed Aug. 17, 2022, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to autonomous cleaners, such as but not necessarily limited to autonomous floor cleaners employing an agitation cartridge to clean surfaces beyond a reach of other cleaning implements. BACKGROUND An autonomous cleaner may include a suction nozzle, a mop, or another type of autonomously operable cleaning implement to clean a surface. An autonomously controlled drive mechanism may be coupled with the cleaner to facilitate moving the cleaning implement relative to the surface being cleaned, which in the case of an autonomous floor cleaner may be a floor or other terrain that the cleaner is traveling upon. The cleaner may be autonomously operable with a docking station to facilitate automatically recharging batteries, emptying recovery tanks, refilling supply tanks, switching cleaning implements, and otherwise assisting the cleaner with attending to onboard systems. Aside from the cleaner being dependent on a human operator to perform some minor tasks, like plugging the docking station into a power supply, filling/emptying reservoirs of the docking station, etc., an autonomous floor cleaner may essentially perform its cleaning functions without direct assistance from a human operator. Some autonomous floor cleaners may be restricted to cleaning surfaces within a relatively limited reach of its cleaning implement. Autonomous floor cleaners, for instance, may include the cleaning implement on an underside of the cleaner and inboard of a pair of wheels included as part of the autonomous drive mechanism. The cleaner, as a result, may be correspondingly limited to cleaning surfaces between the wheels and underneath the cleaner, which may effectively restrict the cleaning to surfaces directly under the cleaner that the wheels can travel upon. BRIEF SUMMARY One non-limiting aspect of the present disclosure relates an autonomous floor cleaning having a scrubbing belt operable for autonomously cleaning surfaces beyond the surface travelled upon, and optionally, beyond a reach of an onboard cleaning implement. Disclosed herein is an autonomous floor cleaner. The autonomous floor cleaner may include a body, a cleaning implement for cleaning a floor surface, a motorized drive system for autonomously moving the body over the floor surface, and an agitation cartridge removably connected to the body and including a belt operable for scrubbing a side surface disposed above the floor surface. The agitation cartridge may include a motorized belt drive mechanism for moving the belt in a rotational manner relative to the side surface. The agitation cartridge may include a motorized belt drive mechanism for moving the belt in a back and forth manner relative to the side surface. The agitation cartridge may include a dispensing system for dispensing a cleaning liquid onto the belt. The agitation cartridge may include a recovery system for recovering materials from the belt. The agitation cartridge may include a supply tank for storing the cleaning liquid and a recovery tank for storing the materials. The agitation cartridge may include a scraper positioned to scrape the materials from the belt. The autonomous floor cleaner may include a suction source carried by the body to provide a suction force for use with the cleaning implement and the recovery system. The belt may be operable to move in a closed loop path around a plurality of pulleys included on the agitation cartridge, optionally with the closed loop path including a vertical portion for positioning the belt to scrub the side surface. The closed loop path may include a horizontal portion for positioning the belt to additionally scrub the floor surface. The autonomous floor cleaner may include at least two of the pulleys being vertically aligned to define the vertical portion and at least two of the pulleys being horizontally aligned to define the horizontal portion. The agitation cartridge may include a motorized belt drive mechanism operable to move the belt along the closed loop path. The belt drive mechanism may include a motor configured to drive at least one of the pulleys, optionally with the driven at least one of the pulleys causing the belt to move along the closed loop path. The motor may include a gearbox connected to the at least one pulley via a chain or a cable. The pulleys may include a biasing member operable to move at least part of the vertical portion laterally in and out relative to the side surface. Disclose herein is an autonomous floor cleaner. The autonomous floor cleaner may include a body, a cleaning implement for cleaning a floor surface, a motorized drive system for autonomously moving the body over the floor surface, and an agitation cartridge including a motorized belt drive mechanism for agitating