DEBRIS EVACUATION FOR CLEANING ROBOTS

摘要

A robot floor cleaning system features a mobile floor cleaning robot and an evacuation station. The robot includes: a chassis with at least one drive wheel operable to propel the robot across a floor surface; a cleaning bin disposed within the robot and arranged to receive debris ingested by the robot during cleaning; and a robot vacuum configured to pull debris into the cleaning bin from an opening on an underside of the robot. The evacuation station is configured to evacuate debris from the cleaning bin of the robot, and includes: a housing defining a platform arranged to receive the cleaning robot in a position in which the opening on the underside of the robot aligns with a suction opening defined in the platform; and an evacuation vacuum in fluid communication with the suction opening and operable to draw air into the evacuation station housing through the suction opening.

主权项

1. A robotic floor cleaning system, comprising:
a mobile floor cleaning robot comprising:
a chassis with at least one drive wheel operable to propel the robot across a floor surface;a cleaning bin disposed within the robot and arranged to receive debris ingested by the robot during cleaning; anda robot vacuum comprising a motor and a fan connected to the motor and configured to generate a flow of air to pull debris into the cleaning bin from an opening on an underside of the robot; and an evacuation station configured to evacuate debris from the cleaning bin of the robot, the evacuation station comprising:
a housing defining a platform arranged to receive the cleaning robot in a position in which the opening on the underside of the robot aligns with a suction opening defined in the platform; andan evacuation vacuum in fluid communication with the suction opening and operable to draw air into the evacuation station housing through the suction opening; wherein the floor cleaning robot further comprises a one-way air flow valve disposed within the robot and configured to automatically close in response to operation of the vacuum of the evacuation station, and wherein the air flow valve is disposed in an air passage connecting the robot vacuum to the interior of the cleaning bin.