Robot cleaner
AssigneeLG Electronics Inc.
InventorsWoo HONG, Sangik LEE
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A robot cleaner having a shielding module provided under a cleaner body is provided. The shielding module includes a cam and a hiding plate which rotate with the same phase angle about a same rotating shaft. The distance between the center of the hiding plate and the center of the rotating shaft is longer than the distance between a contact point on a cam surface of the cam and the center of the rotating shaft. A guide protrusion of a bumper is in contact with the cam surface at the contact point. Therefore, the rotation movement speed of the hiding plate which rotates to hide a cliff sensor is much faster than the inner movement speed of the bumper, thereby improving sensitivity to the detection of a collision between the bumper and an obstacle by using the cliff sensor.
Claims21
-20. (canceled)
A robot cleaner comprising:
- a cleaner body including:
- a front surface portion;
- a bottom portion, the bottom portion including an opening that opens downward;
- a driving wheel;
- and
- a controller, the controller being configured to control the driving wheel;
- a bumper mounted on the front surface portion, the bumper being movable toward the front surface portion by an external force, the bumper including a guide protruding toward the cleaner body;
- a cliff sensor mounted on an inside of the opening to detect a terrain below the opening;
- and
- a shielding module disposed at the bottom portion to detect a collision between the bumper and an obstacle, the shielding module including:
- a rotation shaft mounted to the bottom portion;
- a cam contacting the guide, the cam being rotatably mounted to the rotation shaft;
- and
- a cover plate rotatably mounted to the rotation shaft while maintaining a phase angle with respect to the cam to selectively expose the cliff sensor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.