Maintenance system and cleaning system having the same

Abstract

A maintenance system and a cleaning system having the same, the maintenance system including a maintenance station provided at indoors to mount a robot cleaner having a first dust container thereon, a suction port to suck dust of the first dust container, and a dust removing apparatus connected to the suction port while being disposed at outdoors, so that the cleaning performance is maintained regardless of existence of dust in the dust container of the robot cleaner while enhancing the spatial efficiency at indoors.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A maintenance system comprising:
 a maintenance station provided at indoors to mount a robot cleaner having a first dust container thereon;   a suction pipe connected to the maintenance station to guide dust of the first dust container to outside of the maintenance station; and   a dust removing apparatus disposed at outdoors to store dust while being connected to the suction pipe.   
     
     
         2 . The maintenance system of  claim 1 , further comprising an exhaust pipe being connected to the maintenance station and configured to float dust through air being introduced by blowing air in the first dust container. 
     
     
         3 . The maintenance system of  claim 2 , wherein the maintenance station is provided at an inside thereof with a suction duct and an exhaust duct that communicate with the suction pipe and the exhaust pipe, respectively. 
     
     
         4 . The maintenance system of  claim 3 , wherein the maintenance station is provided with a second opening at a position corresponding to a first opening extending from the first dust container, and
 a suction port and at least one exhaust port, which communicate with the suction duct and the exhaust duct, respectively, are provided at the second opening.   
     
     
         5 . The maintenance system of  claim 4 , wherein the at least one exhaust port and the suction port are disposed at opposite sides to each other with respect to the second opening. 
     
     
         6 . The maintenance system of  claim 4 , wherein the at least one exhaust port has a cross section smaller than a cross section of the suction port to increase a speed of flow at the at least one exhaust port. 
     
     
         7 . The maintenance system of  claim 2 , wherein the suction pipe and the exhaust pipe are disposed while passing through a wall that divides the indoors from the outdoors. 
     
     
         8 . The maintenance system of  claim 2 , wherein the maintenance station is provided at an end portion thereof with a coupling part being inserted into the wall that divides the indoors from the outdoors, and
 the suction pipe and the exhaust pipe are coupled to the coupling part.   
     
     
         9 . The maintenance system of  claim 1 , wherein the dust removing apparatus has a second dust container to store dust being discharged from the first dust container. 
     
     
         10 . The maintenance system of  claim 2 , wherein the dust removing apparatus further comprises a blower unit configured to blow in air at the at least one exhaust port and suck air at the suction port. 
     
     
         11 . The maintenance system of  claim 10 , wherein the dust removing apparatus further comprises a filter to prevent dust of the second dust container from being introduced into the blower unit. 
     
     
         12 . The maintenance system of  claim 4 , wherein the first opening and the second opening are disposed to match each other so that the first dust container, the suction port, the suction pipe, the dust removing apparatus, the exhaust pipe and the at least one exhaust port form a closed loop in cooperation with one another. 
     
     
         13 . The maintenance system of  claim 1 , wherein the maintenance station further comprises:
 a docking inducing apparatus provided to guide the robot cleaner to be docked at the maintenance station; and   a charging apparatus to charge the robot cleaner.   
     
     
         14 . A maintenance system comprising:
 a maintenance station disposed at indoors to mount a robot cleaner having a first dust container thereon;   a suction pipe communicating with the maintenance station to discharge dust of the robot cleaner;   a dust removing apparatus disposed at outdoors to store the dust being discharged through the suction pipe; and   an exhaust pipe configured to introduce air into the maintenance station so as to float dust at an inside the first dust container, the exhaust pipe having one end portion communicating with the maintenance station and the other end portion communicating with the dust removing apparatus,   wherein the dust removing apparatus further comprises a blower unit configured to allow air to be discharged through the exhaust pipe while allowing dust and air to be sucked through the suction pipe.   
     
     
         15 . The maintenance system of  claim 14 , wherein:
 the maintenance station is provided with a second opening corresponding to a first opening communicating with the first dust container of the robot cleaner,   a suction port is disposed at the second opening so that the second opening communicates with the suction pipe, and   at least one exhaust port is disposed at the second opening so that the second opening communicates with the exhaust pipe.   
     
     
         16 . The maintenance system of  claim 15 , wherein a center line of the at least one exhaust port is disposed to be deviated from a center line of the suction port to prevent air being discharged from the at least one exhaust port from being directly introduced into the suction port. 
     
     
         17 . The maintenance system of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one exhaust port has a cross section smaller than a cross section of the suction port to increase a speed of flow at the at least one exhaust port. 
     
     
         18 . The maintenance system of  claim 14 , wherein the dust removing apparatus comprises: a second dust container into which air and dust are introduced through the suction pipe; and a filter disposed between the second dust container and the blower unit so as to introduce air into the blower unit. 
     
     
         19 . A cleaning system comprising:
 a robot cleaner having a first opening and a first dust container communicating with the first opening;   a maintenance station on which the robot cleaner is mounted and having a second opening disposed at a position corresponding to the first opening;   a suction pipe communicating with the second opening while communicating with an outside of the maintenance station; and   a dust removing apparatus connected to the suction pipe and having a second dust container to store dust, the dust removing apparatus disposed outdoors,   wherein the dust of the first dust container is discharged to the second opening through the first opening; and   dust of the second opening is collected through the suction pipe into the second dust container of the dust removing apparatus at outdoors.   
     
     
         20 . The cleaning system of  claim 19 , further comprising an exhaust pipe having one end portion connected to the dust removing apparatus provided at outdoors and the other end portion connected to the maintenance station provided at indoors so as to float dust through air being introduced by blowing air into the first dust container. 
     
     
         21 . The maintenance system of  claim 4 , wherein the at least one exhaust port is disposed at a corner of the second opening and the suction port is disposed in a center portion of the second opening. 
     
     
         22 . The maintenance system of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one exhaust port is disposed at a corner of the second opening and the suction port is disposed in a center portion of the second opening. 
     
     
         23 . The maintenance system of  claim 4 , wherein the at least one exhaust port is disposed at a side portion of the second opening and the suction port is disposed in a center portion of the second opening. 
     
     
         24 . The maintenance system of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one exhaust port is disposed at a side portion of the second opening and the suction port is disposed in a center portion of the second opening.