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Robot cleanerRelated Patent Categories: Brushing, Scrubbing, And General Cleaning, Machines, With Air Blast Or Suction, With Automatic ControlRobot cleaner description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20050251947, Robot cleaner. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2004-33371 filed on May 12, 2004, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates generally to a robot vacuum cleaner, and more specifically to a robot vacuum cleaner that is capable of more efficient collection of dust and contaminants from hard to access corners. [0004] 2. Description of the Related Art [0005] Generally, a robot vacuum cleaner draws in contaminants, such as dust from a surface to be cleaned, while automatically traveling an area without being manually guided by a user. [0006] These types of robot vacuum cleaners may detect an obstacle, such as furniture, appliances, a wall in the area to be cleaned, or the distance to the obstacle, by a distance sensor or a photographing unit, such that the robot vacuum cleaner can clean the area to be cleaned while avoiding a crash or maneuvering to avoid any obstruction. [0007] The conventional robot vacuum cleaner comprises left and right driving wheels and driven wheels disposed underneath a main body. Each driving wheel is connected to a driving motor to provide a driving force to the wheels. A control part controls the driving motor such that the direction of travel of the main body can be changed by appropriate guidance of the wheels. [0008] A suction port is disposed also underneath the main body to draw in contaminants and dust from the surface to be cleaned. A separate suction motor, disposed within the main body, provides suction force that is applied to the suction port. The suction port is connected with a separate dust collection chamber disposed in the main body. The contaminants in the air drawn in to the suction port are collected in the dust collection chamber. [0009] The conventional robot vacuum cleaner having the above-described structure cleans contaminants from the surface to be cleaned while automatically traveling in a predetermined travel pattern. In corner areas, defined between the floor and obstacles, such as furniture and walls, dust or contaminants gather in greater abundance than in other places because of the lack of air circulation. [0010] However, conventional robot vacuum cleaners have the suction port only partially exposed underneath the main body, and therefore, the contaminants in a corner area are difficult to remove completely. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0011] The present invention has been conceived to solve the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and an aspect of the present invention is to provide a robot vacuum cleaner having an advanced structure, that is capable of guiding contaminants found in a corner area surface to a suction port so as to collect the contaminants into the vacuum cleaner. [0012] In order to achieve the above aspects, there is provided a robot vacuum cleaner, comprising a main body having a driving wheel, a suction port provided underneath the main body for drawing in contaminants on a surface to be cleaned, and a guide member disposed underneath the main body for guiding contaminants on the cleaning surface to be cleaned toward the suction port. [0013] A pair of the guide members may be mounted on opposite ends of the suction port. [0014] The guide member is in contact with the surface to be cleaned and extends laterally beyond the driving wheel. [0015] The guide member may be made of resiliently transformable material, such as Thermoplastic Poly Urethane (TPU). [0016] The guide member may comprise a support connected underneath the main body, and a guiding part extending upwardly from the support, and configured to contact the cleaning surface to be cleaned. [0017] The upper portion of the guiding part connection with the support of the main body may be thicker than the extended portion configured for contact with the surface to be cleaned. [0018] The guide member may extend away from the suction port and toward that side of the main body for which the guide portion is intended to clean. [0019] The guide member may be shaped and configured to collect the contaminants on the surface to be cleaned toward the suction port. [0020] The suction port may be provided behind the driving wheels in relation to the direction of expected travel of the main body. [0021] The suction port extends for a predetermined length in a direction parallel to the rotation axis of the driving wheel and the guide member may be extend from the opposite ends of the suction port. Continue reading about Robot cleaner... Full patent description for Robot cleaner Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Robot cleaner patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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