CLEANING SYSTEM COMPRISING A BASE UNIT AND AT LEAST ONE ACCESSORY DEVICE

Abstract

A cleaning system has a base unit and a separably connected accessory device. The base unit has a detection device for detecting the type of accessory device connected to the base unit, a base memory and a control device for controlling an operating activity of the base unit and/or the accessory device depending on the type of connected accessory device. The accessory device has a configuration memory, in which configuration data for configuring the base unit and/or the accessory device for an operation of the cleaning system is stored. The control device of the base unit reads the configuration data stored in the configuration memory and stores this configuration data centrally in the base memory. The control device accesses the configuration data stored in the base memory for an operation of the cleaning system and adjusts the base unit and/or the accessory device based on the configuration data.

Claims

1. A cleaning system comprising: a base unit, and at least one accessory device configured for being separably connected to the base unit, wherein the base unit comprises: a detection device configured for detecting the type of accessory device currently connected to the base unit, a base memory and a control device configured for controlling an operating activity of the base unit and/or the accessory device in dependence on the type of the connected accessory device, wherein the at least one accessory device has a configuration memory, in which configuration data for configuring the base unit and/or the accessory device for an operation of the cleaning system is stored, wherein the control device of the base unit is configured for storing the configuration data stored in the configuration memory of the accessory device centrally in the base memory, and wherein the control device is configured for accessing the configuration data stored in the base memory for an operation of the cleaning system and for adjusting the base unit and/or the accessory device based on the configuration data.

2. The cleaning system according to claim 1, wherein a configuration datum of the configuration data contains a configuration parameter for the base unit, as well as a configuration parameter for the accessory device.

3. The cleaning system according to claim 1, wherein the accessory device has an accessory control device, which is configured for detecting an accessory element that is connected to the accessory device and defines the type of the accessory device, as well as for transmitting configuration data corresponding to the type of the accessory device to the control device of the base unit or making this configuration data available in the configuration memory.

4. The cleaning system according to claim 1, wherein a configuration datum of the configuration data contains a configuration parameter that is selected from the group consisting of: suction power of a fan, power of a driving motor, rotational speed of a rotating surface treatment element, oscillation frequency of an oscillating surface treatment element, position of a flow control element, flow cross section of a flow channel, and discharge rate of a liquid application device.

5. The cleaning system according to claim 1, wherein the accessory device has a biunique identification code, wherein the detection device is configured for detecting the identification code and for transmitting the identification code to the control device of the base unit, and wherein the control device is configured for storing the configuration data together with the detected identification code in the base memory and/or for retrieving configuration data stored for the detected identification code in the base memory.

6. The cleaning system according to claim 1, wherein the base memory contains a plurality of configuration tables that have a priority sequence for the configuration of the cleaning system, wherein the control device is configured for initially searching for a configuration datum in a configuration table with the highest order of priority and, in case no configuration datum is entered therein, for searching for a configuration datum in one or more configuration tables with comparatively lower order of priority in descending priority sequence.

7. The cleaning system according to claim 6, wherein the configuration tables are with respect to a descending priority sequence selected from the group consisting of: a temporary table containing configuration data that is stored in a volatile manner and read out of the configuration memory of the accessory device by the control device, wherein said configuration data is deleted when the base unit is switched off; an individual table containing configuration data specified by a user; an update table containing configuration data that is stored in a non-volatile manner and read out of the configuration memory of the accessory device by the control device, wherein said configuration data remains stored when the base unit is switched off; and a default table that is already stored in the base memory in a delivery state of the base unit by the manufacturer.

8. The cleaning system according to claim 6, wherein the control device is configured for detecting a target memory location for storing a configuration datum based on a priority code of the configuration datum and for carrying out a corresponding allocation to a configuration table defined by the priority code.

9. The cleaning system according to claim 1, wherein the base unit has a communication interface, which enables a user to access the base memory by means of an application installed on an external terminal in order to supplement and/or delete and/or change configuration data of the base unit and/or the accessory device.

10. The cleaning system according to claim 1, wherein, in a delivery state of the base unit by the manufacturer, the base memory of the base unit contains only configuration data for an operation of the base unit without a connected accessory device or wherein the base memory of the base unit contains in a delivery state of the base unit by the manufacturer only configuration data for an operation of the base unit without a connected accessory device and configuration data for at least one already known combination of the base unit and a certain accessory device.

11. The cleaning system according to claim 1, wherein the control device of the base unit is configured for transmitting configuration data for configuring the accessory device, which was read out of the configuration memory of the accessory device, to a separate accessory control device of the accessory device, wherein the accessory control device is designed for subsequently adjusting the control device itself based on the configuration data received from the base unit.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed as an illustration only and not as a definition of the limits of the invention.

[0025] In the drawings,

[0026] FIG. 1 shows an inventive cleaning system with a base unit and an accessory device that is separably connected to the base unit; and

[0027] FIG. 2 shows a transmission of configuration data from an accessory device and an external terminal to the base unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0028] FIG. 1 shows a potential exemplary embodiment of an inventive system comprising a base unit 1 and an accessory device 2 that is separably connected to the base unit 1. The base unit 1 has a connection interface 11, on which the accessory device 2 can be separably arranged. The cleaning system may furthermore comprise other accessory devices 2 that are not illustrated in the figures. The accessory devices 2 may be designed identically or differently.

[0029] In this example, the base unit 1 is realized in the form of a conventional household vacuum cleaner. The base unit 1 conventionally comprises a dust chamber 17 and a fan 18, which are fluidically connected to one another via an air flow channel 19. The air flow channel 19 leads into the connection interface 11, at which it is connected to a corresponding air flow channel 20 of the accessory device 2. A shaft 14 with a handle 15 is also located on the base unit 3. The shaft 14 preferably is designed in a telescoping manner such that a user of the base unit 1 can advantageously adapt the length of the shaft 14 to his body size. The handle 15 enables the user to guide the base unit 1 over a surface to be cleaned, wherein the base unit 1 usually is moved successively back and forth over the surface to be cleaned. An input device 16 with multiple input buttons is located on the handle 15, wherein said input buttons enable the user to transmit entries to a control device 5 of the base unit 1. For example, the entry may be an operational specification for a treatment activity of the base unit 1 such as a certain operating mode with a certain power level of the fan 18, which the user can select from three different power levels in this example. The base unit 1 also has a communication interface 7 for the wireless communication with a corresponding communication interface 10 of the accessory device 2. In this example, the communication interface 7 of the base unit 1 simultaneously serves as a detection device 3, by means of which the base unit 1 can detect the type of an accessory device 2 currently connected to the base unit 1. The corresponding communication interfaces 7, 10 of the base unit 1 and the accessory device 2 are realized, for example, in the form of wireless communications interfaces 7, 10, e.g. in the form of WLAN modules, BLUETOOTH® modules, ZIGBEE® modules or the like. A wire-bound communication between the base unit 1 and the accessory device 2 is alternatively also possible, e.g. by means of corresponding connections of an internal bus system. The base unit 1 furthermore is provided with a base memory 4, in which configuration data for configuring the base unit 1 and/or the accessory device 2 is stored. This is described in greater detail below. A user of the cleaning system can access the base memory 4 by means of an external terminal 8, which in this example is a mobile telephone. An application is installed on the external terminal 8 and allows data communication with the base unit 1 such that the user can read, supplement, change or delete configuration data stored in the base memory 4.

[0030] In the exemplary embodiment shown, the accessory device 2 has a suction nozzle 12 and a surface treatment element 21 for treating a surface to be cleaned. In this example, the surface treatment element 21 is a cleaning roller that rotates about an essentially horizontal axis of rotation and may be provided, for example, with cleaning bristles in order to intensify its effect on the surface to be cleaned. Wheels 13 arranged on the accessory device 2 make it possible to move the base unit 1 along with the accessory device 2 over the surface to be cleaned with particularly low friction. In this example, the accessory device 2 has its own accessory control device 9 that checks operational specifications transmitted by the control device 5 of the base unit 1 and converts these operational specifications into its own control commands. However, it would alternatively also be possible that the control device 5 of the base unit 1 already transmits executable control commands to the accessory control device 9 of the accessory device 2 such that the accessory control device 9 merely has to implement the control commands, e.g. by adjusting corresponding configuration parameters of the accessory device 2. The accessory control device 9 of the accessory device 2 can also transmit configuration data to the base unit 1. The accessory device 2 furthermore has a configuration memory 6 that contains configuration data for the configuration of the base unit 1 and/or for the configuration of the accessory device 2.

[0031] According to FIG. 2, the base memory 4 of the base unit 1 contains a plurality of configuration tables 22, in which configuration data for the base unit 1 and for one or more accessory devices 2 of the cleaning system can be stored. In this example, the configuration tables 22 comprise a temporary table 23, an individual table 24, an update table 25 and a default table 26. The configuration tables 22 have different orders of priority such that the control device 5 of the base unit 1 initially searches for configuration data in the temporary table 23, then — in case the temporary table 23 does not contain any configuration data for the base unit 1 or the accessory device 2 — in the individual table 24, then optionally in the update table 25 and then optionally in the default table 26 in order to carry out a treatment activity. The default table 26 is the only configuration table 22 of the plurality of configuration tables 22, which already contains configuration data for the base unit 1 in the delivery state of the base unit 1. Furthermore, configuration data for combinations of the base unit 1 and an accessory device 2, which were already known at the time of delivery of the base unit 1 by the manufacturer, may be stored in the default table 26. According to the embodiment described herein, the user cannot access the configuration data of the default table 26 or at least not carry out any supplements, changes or deletions thereof, e.g. by means of the external terminal 8. If applicable, the external terminal 8 may merely have permission to read the default table 26. The configuration data is permanently stored in the default table 26, i.e. it is still available after the base unit 1 has been switched off and switched on again.

[0032] The update table 25, which has a higher order of priority than the default table 26, contains configuration data that the control device 5 of the base unit 1 has read out of the configuration memory 6 of an accessory device 2 connected to the base unit 1 or received from the accessory control device 9. The configuration data, which in this example is stored in the configuration memory 6 of the accessory device 2, refers at least to the currently connected accessory device 2 that has identified itself to the control device 5 of the base unit 1 by means of an identification code, which in this example is “XYZ.” Furthermore, the configuration data for the accessory device 2 described herein contains, for example, a configuration parameter for a rotational speed of the surface treatment element 21 on the one hand and for a position of a flow control element located in the air flow channel 20 of the accessory device 2 on the other hand. The configuration data stored in the configuration memory 6 of the accessory device 2 may comprise configuration data for the base unit 1, as well as configuration data for the accessory device 2. In this example, the configuration memory 6 of the accessory device 2 only contains configuration data for the accessory device 2.

[0033] The individual table 24 contains configuration data, which a user defines individually and transmits to the base memory 4 of the base unit 1 by means of the external terminal 8. In the present exemplary embodiment, the user defines a rotational speed for the surface treatment element 21, which differs from the configuration data in the update table 25, for the accessory device 2 with the ID “XYZ.” Since the individual table 24 has a higher order of priority than the update table 25 for the control of the accessory device 2, the user therefore can override the configuration data contained in the update table 25.

[0034] The temporary table 23 is empty in the exemplary embodiment shown. According to a different embodiment of the invention, however, this temporary table could contain configuration data for an application of the cleaning system that is used rather infrequently. For example, the accessory device 2 may be designed for different cleaning activities, e.g. for a conventional vacuum cleaning process on the one hand and for a less frequently used special carpet cleaning process, in which cleaning medium is incorporated into the fibers of the carpeted floor, on the other hand. During this carpet cleaning process, it is proposed that the fan 18 of the base unit 1 remains switched off while the cleaning medium is applied on and incorporated into the fibers of the carpeted floor such that the cleaning medium is not immediately vacuumed off again, but rather has time to take effect. Since the configuration data for the special carpet cleaning process therefore is only required infrequently, this configuration data is only stored in the temporary table 23 when necessary. This configuration data is subsequently deleted again from the temporary table 23 when the user switches off the base unit 1. The free storage volume of the base memory 4 can be optimized due to the deletion of configuration data that is merely stored temporarily.

[0035] In order to provide the control device 5 of the base unit 1 with information on which configuration data needs to be stored in which configuration table 22, the configuration memory 6 of the accessory device 2 contains allocating information for each stored configuration datum, wherein said allocating information indicates a target memory location for the respective configuration datum. Such allocating information therefore simultaneously serves as priority code for the application of the stored configuration datum because the allocation to a certain configuration table 22 also decides which configuration data is retrieved and used by the control device 5 of the base unit 1. In addition, the configuration memory 6 of the accessory device 2 preferably contains only configuration data that corresponds to a current design of the accessory device 2. In the aforementioned instance of an accessory device 2 that can be used for a conventional vacuum cleaning mode and a special carpet cleaning mode, the accessory control device 9 of the accessory device 2 initially determines which accessory element is inserted into the accessory device 2. For example, the accessory element may be a conventional bristle roller or a special brush for incorporating cleaning medium into the carpeted floor. The accessory control device 9 initially determines which accessory element is currently connected to the accessory device 2 based on an individual code of the accessory element and then stores the corresponding configuration data in the configuration memory 6. Furthermore, configuration data for different operating modes, which the user can select manually, e.g. by means of the input device 16, may be independently stored in the configuration tables 22.

[0036] The invention within the scope of the exemplary embodiment described herein is realized in such a way that the manufacturer of the cleaning system initially preconfigures the base unit 1 such that the default table 26 contains a configuration datum or multiple configuration data. This configuration data only serves for the operation of the base unit 1 by itself, i.e. without an accessory device 2 connected to the base unit 1. The configuration data of the default table 26 contains a specification for the power of the fan 18. This fan power should be a fan power that is defined as “medium.” For example, the definition of the parameter range “medium” is likewise stored in the base memory 4 of the base unit 1. It is alternatively also possible that concrete values for the configuration parameters are respectively indicated in the default table 26 or in the remaining configuration tables 22.

[0037] When a user connects the acquired base unit 1 to an accessory device 2, the detection device 3 of the base unit 1 detects that the accessory device 2 was connected to the connection interface 11. The control device 5 of the base unit 1 subsequently retrieves configuration data for the accessory device 2 from the configuration memory 6 of the accessory device 2 via the corresponding communication interfaces 7, 10 of the base unit 1 and the accessory device 2. This may take place in the course of an information request of the control device 5 of the base unit 1 to the accessory device 2, whereupon the accessory device 2 transmits the data contained in its configuration memory 6 to the control device 5 of the base unit 1. The data stored in the configuration memory 6 contains among other things the identification code “XYZ” of the accessory device 2 and the corresponding configuration data. Once the control device 5 of the base unit 1 has acquired the identification code, it would also be possible that it initially only checks if the configuration tables 22 of the base memory 4 already contain configuration data for the accessory device 2 with this identification code. If this is the case, the configuration data for this accessory device 2 preferably is retrieved from the already existing configuration tables 22.

[0038] However, it would alternatively also be possible that the control device 5 of the base unit 1 reads the configuration data stored in the configuration memory 6 of the accessory device 2 and inserts this configuration data into the configuration tables 22. The control device 5 of the base unit 1 also proceeds in this way if the control device 5 determines that the accessory device 2 is not yet known, i.e. that no configuration data at all for an accessory device 2 with the identification code “XYZ” was previously stored in the configuration tables 22. An import process is initially carried out in this case, wherein the configuration data of the accessory device 2 is transferred from the configuration memory 6 of the accessory device 2 into the base memory 4 of the base unit 1 during this import process. A priority code is optionally assigned to each configuration datum and indicates in which of the plurality of configuration tables 22 the respective configuration datum needs to be stored. The configuration data stored in the configuration memory 6 may on the one hand be configuration data for the base unit 1 itself or on the other hand configuration data for the accessory device 2. The control device 5 of the base unit 1 initially retrieves all configuration data and then divides it into configuration data for the base unit 1 and configuration data for the accessory device 2. In addition, each configuration datum is stored in a certain configuration table 22, namely either in the update table 25 or in the temporary table 23 in this case. According to the present exemplary embodiment, only configuration data for infrequently used applications of the accessory device 2 is stored in the temporary table 23. Such configuration data is not present in this case. Consequently, the configuration data of the accessory device 2 is entered into the update table 25.

[0039] According to the embodiment described herein, the user of the cleaning system also accesses the configuration data stored in the configuration tables 22 by means of his external terminal 8 and respectively carries out changes or supplements. For example, the user can store preferred configuration data to be applied during the use of the accessory device 2 in the individual table 24. For example, such a configuration datum may be a rotational speed of the surface treatment element 21, which deviates from the specification of the manufacturer stored in the update table 25. The user specification is then used during the operation of the accessory device 2 because the individual table 24 has a higher order of priority than the update table 25. Furthermore, the control device 5 of the base unit 1 may optionally check the configuration data received from the configuration memory 6 of the accessory device 2 with respect to its plausibility, i.e. its usability for controlling the base unit 1. The configuration data is not stored in the configuration table 22 if the control device 5 determines that it cannot be used. If the configuration data is valid, it is entered into the configuration tables 22 and optionally loaded into a main memory of the base unit 1 in order to be available for the treatment process.

[0040] The portions of the configuration data relevant for the accessory device 2 are transmitted to a computing means of the accessory device 2. The computing means then checks if the configuration data can be used for the accessory device 2. If the data is valid, the configuration is acknowledged and a surface treatment can be started. If the configuration data is not valid, the computing means of the accessory device 2 declares it invalid and transmits corresponding information to the control device 5 of the base unit 1. Subsequently, the control device 5 can once again search for configuration data for the accessory device 2, particularly in the other configuration tables 22, wherein the configuration tables 22 are searched in the defined priority sequence. In this case, the search takes place in the sequence temporary table 23, individual table 24, update table 25, default table 26. If no valid configuration datum can be retrieved from all configuration tables 22 collectively, a system error is defined and the user is informed accordingly, e.g. by means of the external terminal 8. The user then has the option of respectively transmitting self-formulated configuration data to the control device 5 of the base unit 1 or entering this configuration data into the individual table 24.

TABLE-US-00001 List of Reference Symbols 1 Base unit 2 Accessory device 3 Detection device 4 Base memory 5 Control device 6 Configuration memory 7 Communication interface 8 External terminal 9 Accessory control device 10 Communication interface 11 Connection interface 12 Suction nozzle 13 Wheel 14 Shaft 15 Handle 16 Input device 17 Dust chamber 18 Fan 19 Air flow channel 20 Air flow channel 21 Surface treatment element 22 Configuration table 23 Temporary table 24 Individual table 25 Update table 26 Default table