Dust canister and robot vacuum including same

Abstract

A robot vacuum comprises a main body including a suction part for suctioning dust, and a dust canister, attachable to and detachable from the main body, and which separates dust from the air suctioned through the suction part and stores same. The dust canister includes: a first chamber which separates dust from the air flowing in from the suction part and storing same, and which includes an inclined surface so that the lower area thereof becomes narrower than the upper area thereof; and a second chamber which includes a cyclone unit and which separates dust from the air flowing in from the first chamber and stores same, and the first chamber can further include ribs formed along the inclined surface to facilitate discharge of dust so as to prevent the dust stored in the first chamber from becoming stuck, due to bottlenecking, in the lower area of the first chamber.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A robot vacuum comprising:
 a main body including a suction part configured to suction dust; and   a dust canister, attachable to and detachable from the main body, to separate dust from air suctioned through the suction part and store the separated dust, wherein the dust canister includes:
 a first chamber which is configured to separate dust from air introduced from the suction part and store the separated dust, the first chamber including an inclined surface so that a lower area of the first chamber is narrower than an upper area of the first chamber, and 
 a second chamber which includes a cyclone unit, the second chamber being configured to separate dust from air introduced from the first chamber and store the separated dust, and 
 wherein the first chamber further includes a rib formed along the inclined surface to facilitate discharge of dust along the lower area of the first chamber. 
   
     
     
         2 . The robot vacuum of  claim 1 , wherein the first chamber includes a side surface that faces the inclined surface that includes the rib, and a distance between the rib and the side surface is substantially uniform between an upper side of the rib and a lower side of the rib. 
     
     
         3 . The robot vacuum of  claim 1 , wherein the cyclone unit includes a cyclone separator configured to separate the dust from the air introduced from the first chamber using a centrifugal force of a vortex; and
 the cyclone separator includes:
 a cyclone inlet formed by a side surface of the cyclone separator to allow air to enter; 
 a cyclone dust outlet formed by a lower surface of the cyclone separator to allow discharge of dust separated from air introduced through the cyclone inlet; and 
 a cyclone outlet formed by an upper surface of the cyclone separator to allow discharge of the air introduced through the cyclone inlet. 
   
     
     
         4 . The robot vacuum of  claim 3 , wherein:
 the cyclone unit further includes a cyclone upper cover on an upper side of the cyclone separator; and   the cyclone upper cover covers an upper portion of an outer side of the cyclone separator in the second chamber.   
     
     
         5 . The robot vacuum of  claim 4 , wherein:
 the dust canister further includes a cyclone holder coupleable to the cyclone separator so that the cyclone separator is fixed inside the second chamber; and   while the cyclone holder is coupled to the cyclone separator, the cyclone holder forms a cyclone chamber in the second chamber, together with the cyclone separator and the cyclone upper cover.   
     
     
         6 . The robot vacuum of  claim 5 , wherein:
 the dust canister further includes a partition configured to partition the first chamber and the second chamber from each other and a protruding portion formed to protrude from the partition toward the first chamber; and   the protruding portion includes a plurality of cyclone holes to allow dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber to be discharged from the cyclone chamber to the first chamber.   
     
     
         7 . The robot vacuum of  claim 5 , wherein the cyclone holder is positioned lower than the cyclone inlet and higher than the cyclone dust outlet. 
     
     
         8 . The robot vacuum of  claim 6 , wherein the cyclone holder is inclined downward toward the protruding portion to guide dust accumulated in the cyclone chamber to the protruding portion. 
     
     
         9 . The robot vacuum of  claim 5 , wherein:
 the second chamber includes a dust chamber below the cyclone chamber to store dust discharged through the cyclone dust outlet; and   the dust chamber and the cyclone chamber are partitioned to be separated from each other.   
     
     
         10 . The robot vacuum of  claim 9 , wherein:
 the first chamber further includes a first dust outlet in a lower surface of the first chamber to discharge dust stored in the first chamber;   the second chamber further includes a second dust outlet in a lower surface of the dust chamber to discharge dust stored in the dust chamber; and   the dust canister further includes an outlet cover to allow the first dust outlet and the second dust outlet to simultaneously open or close.   
     
     
         11 . The robot vacuum of  claim 4 , wherein:
 the dust canister further includes a filter to filter dust from air discharged through the cyclone outlet via the cyclone separator; and   the filter is disposed to face the cyclone upper cover.   
     
     
         12 . The robot vacuum of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the dust canister further includes a grille portion between the first chamber and the second chamber, the grille portion to filter dust from air introduced into the first chamber; and   the grille portion extends from one side surface of the first chamber to an upper surface of the first chamber.   
     
     
         13 . The robot vacuum of  claim 12 , wherein the grille portion includes at least one bent portion to increase a surface area of the grille portion. 
     
     
         14 . The robot vacuum of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the main body includes a pair of wheels to move the main body and configured to rotate about an axis of rotation; and   the dust canister is between the pair of wheels while mounted on the main body.   
     
     
         15 . The robot vacuum of  claim 14 , wherein the first chamber and the second chamber are side by side along a direction in which the axis of rotation extends.