US5402051A — Floor cleaning robot and method of controlling sa…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 197 words

A robot for cleaning a floor of a railroad vehicle while automatically traveling over the floor, the vehicle having seats and entrance-exit doors along both side walls of the vehicle, the robot having a robot body equipped with a cleaning mechanism and comprising: a travel mechanism controllable for locomotion in a desired direction, distance detecting means arranged as directed at least toward the front and opposite sides of the robot body for measuring the distance to an obstacle or a wall, map storing means having stored therein a cleaning region of the floor previously as a two-dimensional map, path storing means having stored therein a predetermined path of travel for cleaning the floor as expressed in coordinates on the map, first control means for recognizing the coordinates of the position of the robot body on the map based on outputs from the distance detecting means when the robot body is placed at an end portion of the floor, and second control means for correcting the course of the robot body based on outputs from the distance detecting means while the robot body travels from the coordinate position recognized by the first control means along the predetermined path.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 197 words

A robot for cleaning a floor of a railroad vehicle while automatically traveling over the floor, the vehicle having seats and entrance-exit doors along both side walls of the vehicle, the robot having a robot body equipped with a cleaning mechanism and comprising: a travel mechanism controllable for locomotion in a desired direction, distance detecting means arranged as directed at least toward the front and opposite sides of the robot body for measuring the distance to an obstacle or a wall, map storing means having stored therein a cleaning region of the floor previously as a two-dimensional map, path storing means having stored therein a predetermined path of travel for cleaning the floor as expressed in coordinates on the map, first control means for recognizing the coordinates of the position of the robot body on the map based on outputs from the distance detecting means when the robot body is placed at an end portion of the floor, and second control means for correcting the course of the robot body based on outputs from the distance detecting means while the robot body travels from the coordinate position recognized by the first control means along the predetermined path.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 60 words

A floor cleaning robot as defined in claim 1 wherein the robot is to clean a floor of a railroad vehicle while automatically travelling over the floor, the seats of the vehicle being elongated in the direction of advance of the vehicle and entrance-exit doors, the seats and the doors being arranged alternately along both side walls of the vehicle.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 79 words

A floor cleaning robot as defined in claim 2 wherein the robot body further comprises: means for distinguishing between two types of vehicles based on outputs from the distance detecting means, the two types of vehicles being a motor vehicle having a driver's cab at one end thereof and a passenger vehicle having no driver's cab, and means for correcting the map in the map storing means according to the type of vehicles based on the result of distinction.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 36 words

A robot as defined in claim 1 wherein map storing means stores therein a plurality of predetermined maps respectively representing cleaning regions of floors of different types of room in a form representing a two-dimensional map.

Claim 6

Independent Claim 244 words

A method of controlling a robot for cleaning a floor of a railroad vehicle wile automatically traveling over the floor, the vehicle having seats and entrance-exit doors along both side walls of the vehicle, the robot having a robot body and comprising a travel mechanism controllable for locomotion in a desired direction, distance detecting means arranged as directed at least toward the front and opposite sides of the robot body for measuring the distance to the seat or the wall, map storing means having stored therein a cleaning region of the floor as a two-dimensional map, and path storing means having stored therein a predetermined path of travel for cleaning the floor as expressed in coordinates on the two-dimensional map, the method comprising: the first step of causing the robot body as placed in the interior of the vehicle to travel to an end portion of the vehicle along the direction of advance of the vehicle, the second step of recognizing at the vehicle end portion the coordinates of the position of the robot body on the map based on outputs from the distance detecting means, the third step of setting the recognized coordinate position as a reference point of automatic travel of the robot body on the map, and the fourth step of correcting the course of the robot body automatically traveling along the predetermined path based on outputs from the distance detecting means so that the robot body travels the predetermined path.

Claim 7

Independent Claim 244 words

A method of controlling a robot for cleaning a floor of a railroad vehicle wile automatically traveling over the floor, the vehicle having seats and entrance-exit doors along both side walls of the vehicle, the robot having a robot body and comprising a travel mechanism controllable for locomotion in a desired direction, distance detecting means arranged as directed at least toward the front and opposite sides of the robot body for measuring the distance to the seat or the wall, map storing means having stored therein a cleaning region of the floor as a two-dimensional map, and path storing means having stored therein a predetermined path of travel for cleaning the floor as expressed in coordinates on the two-dimensional map, the method comprising: the first step of causing the robot body as placed in the interior of the vehicle to travel to an end portion of the vehicle along the direction of advance of the vehicle, the second step of recognizing at the vehicle end portion the coordinates of the position of the robot body on the map based on outputs from the distance detecting means, the third step of setting the recognized coordinate position as a reference point of automatic travel of the robot body on the map, and the fourth step of correcting the course of the robot body automatically traveling along the predetermined path based on outputs from the distance detecting means so that the robot body travels the predetermined path.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 57 words

A controlling method as defined in claim 5 wherein in the fourth step, the robot body detects the current position thereof at a suitable time from outputs delivered from the distance detecting means to thereby check whether the robot body is actually traveling the predetermined path and corrects the course thereof only when deviating from the path.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 37 words

A controlling method as defined in claim 5 wherein map storing means stores therein a plurality of predetermined maps respectively representing cleaning regions of floors of different types of room in a form representing a two-dimensional map.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 59 words

A controlling method as defined in claim 5, wherein the robot is to clean a floor of a railroad vehicle while automatically travelling over the floor, the seats of the vehicle being elongated in the direction of advance of the vehicle and entrance-exit doors, the seats and the doors being arranged alternately along both side walls of the vehicle.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 80 words

A controlling method as defined in claim 7 wherein in the fourth step, the robot body further distinguishes between two types of vehicles one of which is a motor vehicle having a driver's cab at one end thereof and the other of which is a passenger vehicle having no driver's cab, based on outputs from the distance detecting means, and corrects the map in the map storing means according to the type of vehicles based on the result of distinction.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1998-03-27	1998-09-26	1999-03-28	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2002-03-27	2002-09-26	2003-03-28	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2006-03-27	2006-09-26	2007-03-28	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Floor cleaning robot and method of controlling same

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