Vacuum cleaner consisting of a dust container (1) and filters (2) within this, and above these a control space (3) for air and in the control space control housings (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d) and above these the central housing (4) and the underpressure space, and above this the suction unit (5) and the suction unit engine (6), all the units (1, 3, 4, 5) being in mutual communication. The control space (3) contains control valves (7, 8) for the air flow, by means of which, in normal use, the air flow is directed through the suction opening (9) in the dust container (1) to the exhaust air opening (10) in the suction unit (5) (arrows 9a, 9b, 9c) and the control valves comprise closing means, which, by opening the valve (7a) to the outside air and by closing the valve (8a) directs the air flow in the dust container in the filter under underpressure partly from the normal flow direction (9a, 9b, 9c) to the opposite flow direction (11).

A navigation control system for an autonomous vehicle comprises a transmitter and an autonomous vehicle. The transmitter comprises an emitter for emitting at least one signal, a power source for powering the emitter, a device for capturing wireless energy to charge the power source, and a printed circuit board for converting the captured wireless energy to a form for charging the power source. The autonomous vehicle operates within a working area and comprises a receiver for detecting the at least one signal emitted by the emitter, and a processor for determining a relative location of the autonomous vehicle within the working area based on the signal emitted by the emitter.

A vacuum apparatus can include a vacuum chamber assembly having a motor and blowing port, an inlet port forming a portion of the vacuum chamber assembly, a valve plate having a plurality of switchable valves, an intake chamber arranged and constructed between the vacuum chamber assembly and the valve plate, and a water collection chamber having a divided chamber residing below the valve plate, wherein the plurality of switchable valves is configured to switch from a first portion of the divided chamber to at least a second portion of the divided chamber. In some embodiments, the vacuum apparatus further includes a flapper valve at a bottom portion of the water collection chamber where the flapper valve retains and releases water intermittently, periodically or continuously between the first portion of the divided chamber and at least the second portion of the divided chamber.

The present invention discloses a self-propelled cleaning machine of which a control module controls a driving device to prompt a dust compressing member mounted in a dust box to be at a compressing position or a non-compressing position. The dust compressing member of the self-propelled cleaning machine is capable of compressing trash in the dust box to keep the compressed trash within a specific space inside the dust box, thereby achieving an effect of reducing the number of times that a user has to clear the dust box.

A method of operating a mobile cleaning robot system including a mobile cleaning robot and a display device can include displaying a room cleaning settings indication selectable to set one or more cleaning settings for a previously-mapped specified room. When the room cleaning settings indication is selected, a cleaning mode indication can be displayed where the cleaning mode indication is selectable to set a cleaning mode setting of the specified room.

A vacuum cleaner apparatus having a first vacuum cleaner unit and a second vacuum cleaner unit. The apparatus comprising a first motor/fan unit arranged in the first vacuum cleaner unit and a second motor/fan unit and a second dust separation unit arranged in the second vacuum cleaner unit. The apparatus further comprises a connection interface configured to removably connect a suction inlet of the second vacuum cleaner unit to an airflow path of the first vacuum cleaner unit. The apparatus further comprises a control arrangement capable of operating the apparatus in a cooperative cleaning mode in which the first and second motor/fan units are operated simultaneously. A method of operating a vacuum cleaner apparatus is also provided.

An extraction cleaner includes a suction nozzle having an inlet path and suction fan configured to provide suction. The inlet path brings liquid and air into the extraction cleaner. Suction fan has a fan entrance, a recovery tank is spaced from the fan entrance. A separator element configured to allow liquid to flow into the recovery tank, inhibit the flow of liquid out of the recovery tank, and inhibit liquid from reaching the fan entrance, or all three. The separator element may be a butterfly valve configured to selectively close the fan entrance. The separator element may be a funnel extending into the recovery tank to block liquid from leaving the recovery tank during inversion. The separator element may be a fan separator adjacent the suction fan, which directs liquid outward, away from the fan separator, within the extraction cleaner, such that liquid is moved away from the suction fan.

A robotic cleaning device configured to detect objects as the robotic cleaning device moves over a surface to be cleaned. The robotic cleaning device has a first light source configured to produce a close range wide light beam in front of the robotic cleaning device, a second light source configured to produce a long range vertically-narrow light beam in front of the robotic cleaning device, and an array sensor configured to detect light reflected from one or more of the light sources to detect illuminated objects from which said light is reflected.

A method for correcting a determination threshold of a floor medium and a method of detecting thereof are provided. The method is used for controlling a mobile robot equipped with a sound emitter and a sound receiver to detect and recognize the floor medium during a movement just started. A first detection result of a current floor medium is obtained by actively transmitting and receiving a sound signal, then, a to-be-adjusted detection result of the current floor medium is obtained only by passively receiving the sound signal through the sound receiver, and according to the similarity/difference of the two detection results, the determination threshold is corrected in the case of passively receiving the sound signal, so that the to-be-adjusted detection result is determined to be consistent with the first detection result.

The present disclosure relates to a system for performing a designated cleaning task. The system comprises a plurality of cleaning apparatus, and at least one of the plurality of cleaning apparatus is communicatively connected with a processor unit, wherein the processor unit comprises a hierarchy generation module for determining a hierarchy state of each of the registered cleaning apparatus; a task planning module for generating a cleaning operation plan based on the hierarchy state assigned to each of the registered cleaning apparatus; and a task execution module for transmitting a command to execute the cleaning operation plan. The present disclosure also relates to a cleaning apparatus for use with the cooperative cleaning system. The present disclosure also relates to a system for performing a designated task using a plurality of task specific devices by generating device-specific control command for each of the devices based on a high-level control command.