Autonomous mobile cleaner and control method thereof

{
  "publication_number": "US10349795B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Autonomous mobile cleaner and control method thereof",
  "abstract": "Provided is an autonomous mobile cleaner including a main body, a suction unit having a handle and configured to suck up surrounding foreign material, an air pipe configured to connect the main body and the suction unit and guide the foreign material into the main body, at least one driving wheel installed below the main body, a driving unit configured to drive the driving wheel by operating a driving motor, a wheel sensor configured to sense rotation of the driving wheel, and a controller configured to control the movement of the main body through the driving unit on the basis of the rotation of the driving wheel sensed by the wheel sensor.",
  "claims": [
    "1. An autonomous mobile cleaner comprising: a main body; a suction unit having a handle and provided separately from the main body, the suction unit being configured to suck up foreign material; an air pipe configured to connect the main body and the suction unit and guide the foreign material into the main body; a first driving wheel installed at a first side of the main body and a second driving wheel installed at a right second side of the main body, the second side being opposite the first side; a driving unit configured to drive the first and second driving wheels by operating a driving motor; a wheel sensor connected to the first driving wheel and the second driving wheel and configured to sense rotation of the first driving wheel and the second driving wheel; and a controller configured to control movement of the main body through the driving unit based on the rotation of the driving wheels sensed by the wheel sensor, wherein, when a difference between the rotation amount of the first driving wheel and the rotation amount of the second driving wheel which are sensed by the wheel sensor is greater than or equal to a predetermined value or when the rotation direction of the first driving wheel and the rotation direction of the second driving wheel are different from each other, the controller registers a location of an obstruction and drives the first driving wheel and the second driving wheel in a predetermined obstruction avoidance pattern to avoid the obstruction.",
    "2. The autonomous mobile cleaner of claim 1, wherein the controller controls the movement of the main body based on the rotation of the driving wheels sensed by the wheel sensor according to an external input.",
    "3. The autonomous mobile cleaner of claim 1, wherein the controller drives the first driving wheel and the second driving wheel in the same direction as rotation directions of the first driving wheel and the second driving wheel sensed by the wheel sensor.",
    "4. The autonomous mobile cleaner of claim 1, wherein the controller drives the first driving wheel and the second driving wheel according to rotation amounts of the first driving wheel and the second driving wheel sensed by the wheel sensor.",
    "5. The autonomous mobile cleaner of claim 4, wherein rotation amounts by which the first driving wheel and the second driving wheel are driven are greater than the rotation amounts of the first driving wheel and the second driving wheel sensed by the wheel sensor.",
    "6. The autonomous mobile cleaner of claim 4, wherein the controller drives the first driving wheel and the second driving wheel such that rotation amounts by which the first driving wheel and the second driving wheel are driven do not exceed a predetermined rotation amount limit.",
    "7. The autonomous mobile cleaner of claim 1, wherein the controller drives the first driving wheel and the second driving wheel such that the main body follows the suction unit based on the rotation of the first driving wheel and the rotation of the second driving wheel which are sensed by the wheel sensor.",
    "8. The autonomous mobile cleaner of claim 1, wherein, the obstruction avoidance pattern includes a first obstruction avoidance pattern, and when the difference between the rotation of the first driving wheel and the rotation of the second driving wheel is greater than or equal to the predetermined value, the controller drives only the one of the first driving wheel and the second driving wheel that has a smaller rotation amount or drives the first driving wheel and the second driving wheel such that the one driving wheel has a greater rotation amount than the other driving wheel according to the first obstruction avoidance pattern.",
    "9. The autonomous mobile cleaner of claim 8, wherein, when the rotation direction of the first driving wheel and the rotation direction of the second driving wheel are different from each other, the controller drives the first driving wheel and the second driving wheel in directions opposite to the rotation directions of the first driving wheel and the second driving wheel which are sensed by the wheel sensor.",
    "10. The autonomous mobile cleaner of claim 9, wherein, the obstruction avoidance pattern further includes a second obstruction avoidance pattern, and the controller drives the first driving wheel and the second driving wheel by a predetermined rotation amount in the same rotation direction according to the second obstruction avoidance pattern before or after the first obstruction avoidance pattern.",
    "11. The autonomous mobile cleaner of claim 1, further comprising a bumper sensor provided in the main body and configured to sense a front obstacle, wherein the controller drives the first and second driving wheels according to a predetermined obstacle avoidance pattern to avoid the front obstacle on the basis of the position of the front obstacle sensed by the bumper sensor and drives the first and second driving wheels such that the main body follows the suction unit based on the rotation of the first driving wheel and the rotation of the second driving wheel that are sensed by the wheel sensor.",
    "12. The autonomous mobile cleaner of claim 11, wherein the obstacle avoidance pattern includes a first obstacle avoidance pattern.",
    "13. The autonomous mobile cleaner of claim 12, wherein, in order to turn the main body to move in a direction opposite to the position of the front obstacle, according to the first obstacle avoidance pattern, the controller drives only one of the first driving wheel and the second driving wheel that is closer to the front obstacle sensed by the bumper sensor, drives the first and second driving wheels such that the one driving wheel has a greater rotation amount than the other driving wheel, or drives the first and second driving wheels in opposite directions.",
    "14. The autonomous mobile cleaner of claim 13, wherein, the obstacle avoidance pattern further includes a second obstacle avoidance pattern, and the controller drives the first driving wheel and the second driving wheel by a predetermined rotation amount in the same rotation direction according to the second obstacle avoidance pattern before or after the first obstacle avoidance pattern.",
    "15. A control method of an autonomous mobile cleaner including a main body, a suction unit provided separately from the main body, the suction unit configured to suck up surrounding foreign material, an air pipe configured to connect the main body and the suction unit and guide the foreign material into the main body, a first driving wheel installed at a first side of the main body and a second driving wheel installed at a second side of the main body, the second side being opposite the first side, a driving unit configured to drive the first and second driving wheels such that the main body follows the suction unit, and a wheel sensor connected to the first driving wheel and the second driving wheel, the control method comprising: sensing rotation of the first driving wheel and the second driving wheel; calculating a difference between the rotation amount of the first driving wheel and the rotation amount of the second driving wheel which are sensed by the wheel sensor; and controlling movement of the main body through the driving unit based on the difference between the rotation amount of the first driving wheel and the rotation amount of the second driving wheel.",
    "16. The control method of claim 15, further comprising stopping driving the driving wheels before the sensing of the rotation of the driving wheels is performed.",
    "17. The control method of claim 15, wherein, the sensing of the rotation of the driving wheels comprises sensing rotation of the first driving wheel and the second driving wheel, and the controlling movement of the main body comprises individually driving the first driving wheel and the second driving wheel in the same direction as the sensed rotation directions of the first driving wheel and the second driving wheel."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "The present invention relates to a cleaner that recognizes a user's operation intention to move autonomously and a control method thereof.\n\nGenerally, a cleaner such as a vacuum cleaner and a steam cleaner is a device that uses a suction motor installed inside a main body to suck up air including foreign material such as dust, uses a filter inside the main body to remove the foreign material from the air, and discharge the filtered air.\n\nThe cleaner may be classified into a canister type in which a suction nozzle for sucking up dust is provided separately from the main body and connected by a connector and an upright type in which a suction nozzle is rotationally connected with the main body.\n\nGenerally, a cleaner includes a main body having a suction motor, a suction nozzle configured to suck up air including foreign material of a floor surface, and an air pipe configured to move the air sucked to the suction nozzle to the main body. In this case, while a user moves the suction nozzle, the main body moves along with the suction nozzle.\n\nHowever, in order for a user to move a cleaner, a force corresponding to a friction force on the bottom surface of the main body is needed, and thus the movement of the cleaner is not easy. That is, since the cleaner does not have a power system for moving the main body, the user should directly move the main body or pull the air pipe to move the main body. In particular, when the user pulls the air pipe to move the main body, a failure may occur such as damage to a pipe connector.",
  "cpc": [
    "A47L 9/2852",
    "A47L 2201/04",
    "A47L 5/36",
    "A47L 5/362",
    "A47L 9/009",
    "A47L 9/102",
    "A47L 9/12",
    "A47L 9/1409",
    "A47L 9/28",
    "A47L 9/2805",
    "A47L 9/2884",
    "B25J 13/08",
    "B25J 5/00",
    "Y02E 60/10"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "A47L 5/36",
    "A47L 9/00",
    "A47L 9/10",
    "A47L 9/12",
    "A47L 9/14",
    "A47L 9/28"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "LG Electronics Inc"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Donghoon KWAK"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2015-12-08",
  "publication_date": "2019-07-16",
  "grant_date": "2019-07-16",
  "priority_date": "2014-12-26",
  "application_number": "US-201515539930-A",
  "family_id": "55802587",
  "cited_by_count": 0,
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}