Robot vacuum cleaner having microbe sensing function

Abstract

A robot vacuum cleaner having a microbe sensing function is provided. The robot vacuum cleaner includes: a cleaner body which automatically travels in an area to be cleaned; a suction unit which sucks dust in the area to be cleaned into a specific space included in the cleaner body; a microbe contamination sensor which detects a microbe contamination in the area to be cleaned; and a sterilizing unit which sterilizes a corresponding portion according to a microbe contamination measuring signal generated from the microbe contamination sensor. Accordingly, a robot vacuum cleaner directly measures a level of microbe contamination to perform a sterilizing operation according to the result obtained from measurement. As a result, the sterilizing operation is performed sufficiently in a severely contaminated area, the sterilizing operation is performed in a general manner in other areas, and thus a cleaning operation can be rapidly carried out. Therefore, efficiencies in the cleaning and sterilizing operations are improved.

1 . A robot cleaner comprising:
 a cleaner body which automatically travels in an area to be cleaned;   a suction unit which sucks dust in the area to be cleaned into a specific space included in the cleaner body;   a microbe contamination sensor which detects a microbe contamination in the area to be cleaned; and   a sterilizing unit which sterilizes a corresponding portion according to a microbe contamination measuring signal generated from the microbe contamination sensor.   
   
   
       2 . The robot vacuum cleaner of  claim 1 , wherein the microbe contamination sensor comprises
 a gas sensor which senses a particular smell component produced by a microbe to be detected.   
   
   
       3 . The robot cleaner of  claim 2 , wherein the particular smell component is 1-octen-3-ol. 
   
   
       4 . The robot cleaner of  claim 2 , wherein the gas sensor comprises:
 a substrate;   a sensing layer which is laminated on the substrate and reacts with a particular smell component, thereby causing a resistance variation;   an electrode which is buried on the sensing layer to measure the resistance variation;   a heater which heats the sensing layer to a temperature suitable for measuring the resistance variation;   a filter layer which filters a gas excluding the particular smell component so as not to be mixed into the sensing layer; and   a mesh cap which prevents dust from mixing into the sensing layer.   
   
   
       5 . The robot cleaner of  claim 4 , wherein, as a main material, the sensing layer comprises at least one main material selected from metal oxide materials of SnO2, In2O3, WO3, and SiO2. 
   
   
       6 . The robot vacuum cleaner of  claim 5 , wherein, in the sensing material, as for an additive material, at least one component selected from ZnO, Al2O3, NiO, and TiO2 is added at a ratio of 5˜15 wt % per unit weight of the main material, and as for a catalyst, at least one component of noble metals such as Pt, Pd, and Au is added at a ratio of 0.1˜1 wt % per unit weight of the main material. 
   
   
       7 . The robot vacuum cleaner of  claim 1 , wherein the sterilizing unit comprises an ultraviolet ray lamp and/or a steam generator.