US-12624562-B2 - Vacuum cleaner robot with a dual-outlet volute for cleaning swimming pools

US12624562B2US 12624562 B2US12624562 B2US 12624562B2US-12624562-B2

Abstract

A submersible vacuum cleaner robot for cleaning artificial basins, including: a main body having a debris container; a filter; a volute with two discharge outlets; a suction and propulsion system producing a water circulation in the volute and a propulsive water jet; and electric power supply means, the volute being fixed and including a flap at each of said outlets, each flap having an open position and a closed position, the positions of said flaps automatically alternating according to the direction of the water circulation in the volute so as to reverse the direction of the propulsive water jet.

Inventors

Jean BRUNEEL
Max Roumagnac

Assignees

KOKIDO DEVELOPMENT LIMITED

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20231218
Priority Date: 20230119

Claims (10)

1 . A vacuum cleaner robot, submersible, for cleaning artificial basins, including: a main body comprising a debris container; a filter; a volute ( 20 ) with two discharge outlets; a suction and propulsion system producing a water circulation in the volute and a propulsive water jet; and electric power supply means, characterised in that the volute is fixed and includes a flap at each of said two discharge outlets having an open position and a closed position, the respective open and closed positions of said flaps automatically alternating according to the direction of the water circulation in the volute so as to reverse the direction of the propulsive water jet.
2 . The vacuum cleaner robot according to claim 1 , wherein the suction and propulsion system comprises an electric motor and a centrifugal turbine coupled to the motor, the rotation of said turbine in one direction producing a water circulation in the volute in the same direction.
3 . The vacuum cleaner robot according to claim 2 , wherein the turbine includes vanes that are orientable according to its direction of rotation.
4 . The vacuum cleaner robot according to claim 1 , wherein each flap has a position opposite to that of the other flap when the suction and propulsion system is activated, and a default open position when said suction and propulsion system is at stop.
5 . The vacuum cleaner robot according to claim 1 , wherein each flap is subjected to an elastic biasing force which tends to hold it in its open position.
6 . The vacuum cleaner robot according to claim 5 , wherein the biasing force is ensured by a torsion spring or by flexibility of the flap.
7 . The vacuum cleaner robot according to claim 1 , wherein the suction and propulsion system is configured to reverse the direction of water circulation in the volute when the robot is immobilised against an obstacle.
8 . The vacuum cleaner robot according to claim 7 , including a stop sensor for controlling the reversal of the direction of water circulation in the volute.
9 . The vacuum cleaner robot according to claim 1 , wherein the electric power supply means comprise an electric battery placed in a sealed compartment.
10 . The vacuum cleaner robot according to claim 1 , further including trajectory deviation means, the trajectory deviation means is a deflector of the propulsive water jet.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to French Patent Application No. FR2300511, filed on Jan. 19, 2023, in the French Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. BACKGROUND Field The present disclosure relates to the field of vacuum cleaner robots for cleaning swimming pools, in particular propulsive water jet vacuum cleaner robots, and relates more particularly to a vacuum cleaner robot comprising a dual-outlet volute enabling an automatic reversal of the direction of movement. Brief Description of Related Developments Vacuum cleaner robots for swimming pools with reverse direction of movement are appliances designed to clean the bottoms and the walls of swimming pools in an autonomous manner. They are motor-driven and equipped with means enabling them to move in the water and to detect obstacles. As a general rule, these vacuum cleaner robots move by means of wheels or tracks and are equipped with means for sucking and filtering the debris and particles in suspension in the water, and possibly with cleaning means such as fixed or rotary brushes to unclog the walls and the bottom of the swimming pool. When these robots detect an obstacle, they reverse their direction of movement to circumvent the obstacle and carry on cleaning. To cover the entire surface to be cleaned, the robots of this type reverse their direction of movement when encountering an obstacle and move according to a different direction between the back-and-forth movement (zigzag). Numerous obstacle detection and movement direction reversal means are known. Some robots, such as that described in the document CN114687593, use two distinct motors, one motor for each direction of movement. Other robots, simpler and more economical, use a two-directional propulsion system with one single motor and one single turbine placed in a volute. For such “one-motor” robots, the reversal of the direction of the propulsive water jet, and therefore of the direction of movement, on contact of an obstacle could be achieved: either with a rotary volute with a unique outlet blocked in two opposite positions, as described in the document FR3041982 (of the same Inventor) or EP3805487;or with a fixed volute with two opposite outlets, alternately open or closed by a rotary valve actuated by substantially complex mechanisms, as described in the document CN112623173, CN112591067 or CN114837476. These two types of current systems are based on the implementation of rotary parts, namely a rotary volute or a fixed volute with a rotary valve, and are consequently relatively complex to make, expensive and could be vulnerable to operating risks in an environment such as a swimming pool (charged water, sand, etc.). The Applicant has no knowledge of any vacuum cleaner robot with automatic reversal of the direction of movement in which the volute is neither rotary nor does it comprise a rotary valve. SUMMARY The present disclosure aims to overcome all or part of the drawbacks of the prior art set out hereinbefore by providing a system with a dual-outlet fixed volute, each outlet being equipped with a flap. Hence, this system, which is mechanically very simple, insensitive to wear and jamming by debris that would not be stopped by the filter (teared filter or forgotten by the user), is reliable and has a reduced manufacturing cost in comparison with the known systems using rotary parts. To this end, an object of the present disclosure is a submersible robot vacuum cleaner for cleaning artificial basins in particular a swimming pool, including: a main body comprising a debris container; a filter; a volute with two discharge outlets; a suction and propulsion system producing a water circulation in the volute and a propulsive water jet; and electric power supply means. This vacuum cleaner robot is remarkable in that the volute is fixed and includes a flap at each of said outlets having an open position and a closed position, the positions of said flaps automatically alternating according to the direction of the water circulation in the volute so as to reverse the direction of the propulsive water jet, and therefore the direction of movement of the robot. According to an aspect of the disclosure, the suction and propulsion system comprises an electric motor and a centrifugal turbine coupled to the motor, the rotation of said turbine in one direction producing a water circulation in the volute in the same direction. Advantageously, the turbine may include vanes that are orientable according to its direction of rotation. According to an aspect of the disclosure, each flap has a position opposite to that of the other flap when the suction and propulsion system is activated, and a default open position when said system is at stop. According to another aspect of the disclosure, each flap is subjected to an elastic biasing force which tends to hold it i