FLOOR CLEANING SYSTEM

Abstract

A floor cleaning system includes a mobile, self-driving apparatus and a portable additional apparatus for a user. The self-driving apparatus, in particular, is a cleaning apparatus for autonomous treatment of floor areas, such as a vacuuming robot and/or sweeping robot and/or wiping robot. The user apparatus has an operating unit, a communication unit, and a position detection unit. Using the position detection unit, the user defines the floor area to be cleaned in that the user walks, with the additional apparatus, along a cleaning path or delimiting path that can be transmitted to the mobile, self-driving apparatus in order for the mobile, self-driving apparatus to clean along the cleaning path or to clean the floor area included within the delimiting path in accordance with a cleaning request. There is also described a method for the automatic treatment of floor areas with the aid of the floor cleaning system.

Claims

1-10. (canceled)

11. A floor cleaning system, comprising: a mobile, self-driving apparatus, being a cleaning apparatus for an autonomous treatment of floor areas, said apparatus having an actuatable running gear, a controller, and a communication element; a portable additional apparatus for a user, said additional apparatus having an operating unit, a communication unit for communication with said communication element of said apparatus, and a position determination unit; wherein said position determination unit is configured to define a floor area to be cleaned upon being moved by the user along a cleaning or boundary path and to transfer the cleaning or boundary path to said mobile, self-driving apparatus, and said mobile, self-driving apparatus is configured to clean along the cleaning path or to clean a floor area enclosed by the boundary path in accordance with a cleaning request.

12. The floor cleaning system according to claim 11, wherein said mobile, self-driving apparatus is at least one device selected form the group consisting of vacuuming robot, a sweeping robot, and a wiping robot.

13. The floor cleaning system according to claim 11, wherein a starting point of the cleaning or boundary path is a location of said mobile, self-driving apparatus.

14. The floor cleaning system according to claim 11, wherein the cleaning or boundary path is determined on a basis of a location of said mobile, self-driving apparatus.

15. The floor cleaning system according to claim 11, wherein a definition of the cleaning or boundary path starts at a location of said mobile self-driving apparatus, and a cleaning of the floor area to be cleaned starts at a cleaning point on the cleaning path or the boundary path defined by the user.

16. The floor cleaning system according to claim 11, wherein, when the cleaning path is an open cleaning path, a cleaning of the floor area takes place exactly along the cleaning path, and/or, when the boundary path is a closed boundary path, the cleaning of the floor area additionally takes place within an area defined by the boundary path.

17. The floor cleaning system according to claim 11, wherein said controller of said mobile, self-driving apparatus is configured to store the cleaning or boundary path.

18. The floor cleaning system according to claim 17, wherein said self-driving apparatus is configured to repeatedly traverse the cleaning path and the boundary path.

19. The floor cleaning system according to claim 11, wherein the system is configured to enable the user to define No-Go areas via the cleaning or boundary path.

20. The floor cleaning system according to claim 19, wherein the No-Go areas are excluded from the cleaning request.

21. A method for an automatic treatment of a floor area, the method comprising: providing a floor cleaning system according to claim 11; determining a cleaning path or boundary path with the additional apparatus by the user walking this path; transmitting the walked cleaning path or boundary path to the mobile self-driving apparatus; and beginning the treatment along the walked cleaning path or cleaning the floor area enclosed by the boundary path in accordance with a cleaning request.

22. The method according to claim 21, which comprises determining the cleaning path or boundary path on a basis of a location of the mobile, self-driving apparatus.

Description

[0038] The invention is explained in more detail using the subsequent figures only showing examples, in which:

[0039] FIG. 1: shows a schematic view of an exemplary embodiment of an inventive method for automatic treatment of floor areas with the aid of a floor cleaning system, and

[0040] FIG. 2: shows a further schematic view of an exemplary embodiment of an inventive method for automatic treatment of floor areas with the aid of a floor cleaning system.

[0041] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a method for automatic treatment of floor areas with the aid of a floor cleaning system having a mobile, self-driving apparatus 1 and an additional apparatus 2. The figure shows by way of example a drawing of a view onto a room 4 to be cleaned.

[0042] The mobile, self-driving apparatus 1 is for instance a floor cleaning robot, which stands on its base station 3 and is to clean the room 4 in accordance with its cleaning request. The additional apparatus 2 is used to determine the floor area to be cleaned, said additional apparatus being a cellphone or smartphone of the user with a corresponding app, which is responsible for the cleaning program of the floor cleaning robot.

[0043] In order to determine the floor area to be cleaned, the user starts the corresponding app on the additional apparatus 2, in particular the control process. By pressing a start key, the recording process begins for the position determination unit in the additional apparatus 2, in particular the inertial sensors, acceleration sensors and/or gyroscope. The user starts this process while holding the additional apparatus 2 over the mobile, self-driving apparatus 1. From this starting point S, the user now walks up to a point S1, at which he would like to start the cleaning. The user then presses a further key on the app, for instance a cleaning key and keeps this pressed. While the cleaning key is kept pressed, the user circles the floor area 6 to be cleaned along a delimiting path 5. For the mobile, self-driving apparatus 1, the outline of the floor area 6 to be cleaned is therefore defined. When the circulation is concluded at point S1, the user releases the cleaning key. A representation of the circulation can be shown in a map view of the app in the additional apparatus 2 for controlling the determined data for the user. By repeatedly pressing the start key, the determined data is transmitted to the mobile self-driving apparatus 1, which then carries out a cleaning process along the delimiting path 5 and on the floor area encircled by the delimiting path 5. In particular, the mobile self-driving apparatus 1 moves from its starting point S to the point S1 and starts the cleaning there. The delimiting path 5 recorded by the user is the only piece of information which is used directly by the mobile, self-driving apparatus 1. The path covered by the user since the start of the process (in other words from the first press of the start key), in other words the path between the starting point S and the point S1, up to the beginning of the circulation of the floor area is used exclusively to assign or arrange the floor area spatially with respect to the starting point S.

[0044] So-called No-Go zones 7 can additionally be defined with the additional apparatus 2. For instance, obstacles about which the mobile, self-driving apparatus 1 is to move can thus be predetermined. To this end, when the boundary path 5 is determined, the user moves easily about the obstacle, whereby the path predetermined to the mobile self-driving apparatus 1 likewise moves about the obstacle. This is characterized as a simple possibility of a user defining obstacles. A dragging by the finger of so-called No-Go zones to the correct point in a map in the app is therefore advantageously not necessary.

[0045] In addition, the delimiting path 5 can be stored and saved in a memory of the mobile, self-driving apparatus 1. As a result, a regular and repeatable cleaning process is possible.

[0046] In the exemplary embodiment in FIG. 1, the user has defined a closed delimiting path 5 with the additional apparatus 2. This means that the starting point and the end point almost overlap one another at the point S1. The delimiting path 5 accordingly completely encloses the floor area 6. In this regard, an area which is cleaned by the mobile, self-driving apparatus 1 by circulating along the delimiting path 5 and then systematically walking (e.g. by means of meandering) is generated as the cleaning area from the delimiting path.

[0047] It is alternatively possible to define an open path with the additional apparatus 2, in other words a cleaning path with start and end points which are separated from one another. An exemplary embodiment of this type is shown in FIG. 2.

[0048] FIG. 2 shows by way of example a drawing of a view onto a room 4 to be cleaned. In this context the mobile, self-driving apparatus 1 is in turn at its base station 3. In order to define the cleaning path 8, at the location S of the mobile self-driving apparatus 1 with the additional apparatus 2 the user begins the recording of the desired cleaning path 8, for instance by pressing the start key. At the point S1, the user can fix the start of the cleaning process by pressing the cleaning key for instance. The user now traverses the desired cleaning path 8, which ends at a point S2 which differs from the point S1, for instance at a further base station 3. For instance, by repeatedly pressing the start key, the defined cleaning path 8 or its data is transmitted to the mobile self-driving apparatus 1, which begins with the cleaning.

[0049] With a so-called open path, the mobile, self-driving apparatus 1 follows the predetermined cleaning path 8 exactly. The mobile, self-driving apparatus 1 therefore tracks the path drawn by the user. Here, contrary to the closed path in FIG. 1, no area to be cleaned is generated in the process.

[0050] The traversal of these open paths can additionally be used for patrol journeys for instance. This is particularly suited to mobile, self-driving apparatuses 1, which have for instance an integrated camera and/or a streaming function. Furthermore, the traversal of open paths can additionally be associated with an operating function and/or conveyance of an object, in which the mobile, self-driving apparatus 1 is used as a means to transport objects such as snacks, food and/or beverages.