Cleaning robot roller processing

Abstract

A coverage robot includes a chassis, a drive system, and a cleaning assembly. The cleaning assembly includes a housing and at least one driven cleaning roller including an elongated core with end mounting features defining a central longitudinal axis of rotation, multiple floor cleaning bristles extending radially outward from the core, and at least one compliant flap extending radially outward from the core to sweep a floor surface. The flap is configured to prevent errant filaments from spooling tightly about the core to aid subsequent removal of the filaments. In another aspect, a coverage robot includes a chassis, a drive system, a controller, and a cleaning assembly. The cleaning assembly includes a housing and at least one driven cleaning roller. The coverage robot includes a roller cleaning tool carried by the chassis and configured to longitudinally traverse the roller to remove accumulated debris from the cleaning roller.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A cleaning brush, comprising:
 a rotation shaft in which multiple rows of bristles are implanted, characterized in that, a squeegee is disposed between each two neighboring rows of the bristles.   
     
     
         2 . The cleaning brush of  claim 1  characterized in that, the height of the bristles is higher than the height of the squeegee. 
     
     
         3 . The cleaning brush of  claim 1 , characterized in that, multiple squeegees are integrally formed into a squeegee assembly. 
     
     
         4 . The cleaning brush of  claim 1 , characterized in that, the multiple rows of bristles have 2 to 5 rows of bristles. 
     
     
         5 . The cleaning brush of  claim 3  wherein the multiple squeegees are configured to prevent errant filaments from spooling tightly about the rotation shaft to aid subsequent removal of the filaments 
     
     
         6 . The cleaning brush of  claim 3  wherein the multiple squeegees extend radially outward from the rotation shaft. 
     
     
         7 . The cleaning brush of  claim 3  wherein the multiple squeegees extend along the rotation shaft in a paddle wheel arrangement parallel to the rows bristles. 
     
     
         8 . The cleaning brush of  claim 7  wherein a diameter of the squeegee about the rotation shaft is less than a diameter of the bristles about the rotation shaft. 
     
     
         9 . The cleaning brush of  claim 3  wherein the multiple squeegees are inner pliable flaps that are self-supporting and attached directly to the rotation shaft. 
     
     
         10 . The cleaning brush of  claim 3  wherein the squeegee assembly comprises a plurality of integral ribs distributed along radial directions about the axis of the rotation shaft and the inner pliable flaps are formed as part of and/or supported by integral ribs. 
     
     
         11 . The cleaning brush of  claim 2 , characterized in that, multiple squeegees are integrally formed into a squeegee assembly. 
     
     
         12 . The cleaning brush of  claim 11 , characterized in that, the multiple rows of bristles have 2 to 5 rows of bristles. 
     
     
         13 . The cleaning brush of  claim 11  wherein the multiple squeegees are configured to prevent errant filaments from spooling tightly about the rotation shaft to aid subsequent removal of the filaments 
     
     
         14 . The cleaning brush of  claim 11  wherein the multiple squeegees extend radially outward from the rotation shaft. 
     
     
         15 . The cleaning brush of  claim 11  wherein the multiple squeegees extend along the rotation shaft in a paddle wheel arrangement parallel to the rows bristles. 
     
     
         16 . The cleaning brush of  claim 15  wherein a diameter of the squeegee about the rotation shaft is less than a diameter of the bristles about the rotation shaft. 
     
     
         17 . The cleaning brush of  claim 11  wherein the multiple squeegees are inner pliable flaps that are self-supporting and attached directly to the rotation shaft. 
     
     
         18 . The cleaning brush of  claim 11  wherein the squeegee assembly comprises a plurality of integral ribs distributed along radial directions about the axis of the rotation shaft and the inner pliable flaps are formed as part of and/or supported by integral ribs. 
     
     
         19 . A coverage robot comprising:
 a chassis;   a drive system mounted on the chassis and configured to maneuver the robot; and   a cleaning assembly carried by the chassis and comprising:
 a cleaning assembly housing; and 
 at least one driven brush rotatably coupled to the cleaning assembly housing and comprising:
 an elongated core defining a central longitudinal axis of rotation; 
 multiple flaps extending radially outward from the core; and 
 multiple rows of floor cleaning bristles extending radially outward from the core, each of the multiple flaps disposed between an associated pair of two neighboring rows of the bristles. 
 
   
     
     
         20 . The coverage robot of  claim 19  wherein a diameter of the flap about the core is less than a diameter of the bristles about the core. 
     
     
         21 . The coverage robot of  claim 19  wherein the multiple flaps are configured to prevent errant filaments from spooling tightly about the core to aid subsequent removal of the filaments 
     
     
         22 . The coverage robot of  claim 19  wherein the multiple flaps extend along the elongated core parallel to the multiple rows of floor cleaning bristles.