ES2899453A1 - Operating procedure for cleaning robot and/or disinfection with ozone generation (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding) - Google Patents

Abstract

Operating procedure for cleaning robot and/or disinfection with ozone generation, comprising, at least; media and/or disinfection; ozone generation means; Autonomous or semi-autonomous displacement means; surface measuring means; Volume and mapping measuring means; and an operating unit of information processing; characterized in that the cleaning robot and/or disinfection, in its operating information processing unit comprises, at least, a computer implemented method, which allows an efficient ozone generation according to the type of stay, as well as the achievement of are. (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding)

Description

DESCRIPTION

OPERATING PROCEDURE FOR ROBOT CLEANING AND/OR

DISINFECTION WITH OZONE GENERATION

TECHNICAL SECTOR

The present invention relates to cleaning and/or disinfection robots with autonomous or semi-autonomous means of movement with the capacity to generate ozone, and more specifically to the operating procedures of such robots.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Currently, self-moving cleaning devices are known in the state of the art that have the function of sucking up the dirt present on the floor to carry out cleaning operations autonomously. With the technological development that this type of small appliance has undergone, models have appeared that are capable of mapping the surface on which they operate with mechanisms such as LASER, cameras and gyroscopic sensors, among others.

The realization of the plan of the work area allows to know the geometry and dimensions of the rooms. Likewise, it allows the robot to be sent to a specific room or work in a specific area of the map.

On the other hand, the population's vulnerability to pathogenic agents and/or organisms has led to the use of ozone generators to sanitize the environments in which human beings live. Ozone disinfection requires a certain minimum concentration in air, generally referred to parts per million (hereinafter, ppm), to be effective. The number of ppm in a room is not controlled by the ozone generators present in the state of the art, which operate for a time generating a known mass flow of ozone, that is, the variation of the mass with respect to time in a specific area, usually expressed in g/h. This type of operation is completely inefficient, because in certain operations the environmental concentration of ozone may be higher than necessary, making excessive use of energy and causing an air stabilization time longer than required, since an environment with a high ozone concentration is harmful to humans. Furthermore, in other operations, the concentration may be lower than necessary, causing incomplete disinfection of the environment and, therefore, not eliminating the pathogenic agents that cause diseases.

The following documents belong to the state of the art:

- KR100654324B1;

-CN110089980A;

- CN210408277U.

EXPLANATION OF THE INVENTION

To overcome the drawbacks described in the previous section, the invention proposes an adjustment of the robot's movement algorithm in order to regulate the generation of ozone precisely, so that the concentration of ozone in the volume of air confined in the room reaches a specific value, thus adapting to each room according to its dimensions. In this way, it is proposed to make changes in the movement speed of the robot, repeating a certain cleaning pattern n times, to regulate the mass flow of ozone generated in each room or to remain a certain additional time in a certain room after having carried out a single cleaning. repetition of the movement pattern.

Said ozone generation could be produced by installing a type C ultraviolet spectrum light, with a predominant radiation wavelength of around 180 nm. Another possibility would be the inclusion of a pair of high-voltage electrodes with a dielectric material (glassy or ceramic in nature) that, by generating a high potential difference between them, are capable of breaking the oxygen molecules in the environment through the corona effect. Both solutions would generate ozone by separating oxygen molecules into simple atoms of the same element, for their subsequent union with whole oxygen molecules (O2), thus generating the desired ozone molecules (O3).

The previously mentioned settings, in order to be applied in the present invention, are defined in the following options (AD):

- Option A.-Speed adjustment:

Once the dimensions of the area extracted from the map created by the robot itself are known (L and W, the room being rectangular or capable of being divided into rectangles until the surface of the room is completed), the volume of the room is estimated with the average height of the room. roof (H). Thus, with the objective ozone concentration value (C) to eradicate a certain virus, it is possible to determine the mass of ozone that must be generated in a certain room and, knowing the mass flow of ozone generated per unit of time (Q), you can extract the time that the robot must remain in the room to achieve the desired concentration of ozone in the cabin. These steps are collected in the following equations:

Once the time that the robot must stay in the room is obtained, the length that the robot will travel with a certain movement pattern in said room is calculated and, finally, the movement speed is adjusted.

For a movement pattern making borders, zig-zag, zig-zag in the reverse direction and borders, the route depending on the width and length of the room (being rectangular or capable of being divided into rectangles until completing the surface of the room ) would be the following:

The speed adjustment would be made taking into account the time needed to generate the required amount of ozone and the space to be covered by the robot in the room, being as follows:

^* 2(2L 2W) W - Q L-( W)

V ~ t ^ V ~ C- L W- H

Q

Where the symbolic variables correspond to the following terms:

• x: space traveled by the robot during the operation

• L: length of stay

• W: width of the room

• h: width of the robot movement

• t: required action time of the robot

• H: height of the room

• v: robot movement speed

• C: ozone concentration required to eliminate a certain pathogenic agent

• Q: mass flow of ozone generated by the device

- Option B.- Calculation of the number of times of repetition of the cleaning pattern.

Knowing the dimensions of the area extracted from the map created by the robot itself (L and W being rectangular or capable of being divided into rectangles until completing the surface of the room), the volume of the room is estimated with the average height of the ceiling (H ). Thus, with the objective ozone concentration value (C) to eradicate a certain virus, it is possible to determine the mass of ozone that must be generated in a certain room and, knowing the mass flow of ozone generated per unit of time (Q), you can extract the time that the robot must remain in the room to achieve the desired concentration of ozone in the cabin.

These steps are collected in the following equations:

m = C ■ L ■ W ■ H

For a movement pattern making borders, zig-zag, zig-zag in the reverse direction and borders, the route depending on the width and length of the room (being rectangular or capable of being divided into rectangles until completing the surface of the room ) would be the following:

In this solution, the robot would calculate the number of times that it can repeat the previously proposed cleaning pattern in order to spend in the room the time necessary for the complete filtering of the equivalent volume of air circulating at a constant speed set in the robot settings. The calculation of the number of times would be given by the following equation:

Where the symbolic variables correspond to the following terms:

• n: number of repetitions of the cleaning pattern

• L: length of stay

• W: width of the room

• h: width of the robot movement

• H: height of the room

• v: robot movement speed

• C: ozone concentration required to eliminate a certain pathogenic agent

• Q: mass flow of ozone generated by the device

If the result of the proposed calculation gave a non-integer number of repetitions of the cleaning pattern, the proposed system would calculate the robot's movement speed so that the time necessary to carry out the complete filtering of the air would be distributed in an integer number of passes. . The new movement speed would result from the following operation, where n would be the integer rounded to the lower unit, obtained from the previous equation:

- Option C.- Adjustment of the mass flow of ozone generated.

The present invention also proposes the possibility of adjusting the mass flow of ozone generated, either by adjusting the power of the UV-C lamp or by regulating the potential difference between the high voltage electrodes. In this way, the robot moves at a constant speed that is registered in its operating settings and knows precisely the distance it has to travel, performing a sequence cleaning pattern: edges, zig-zag, reverse zig-zag and edges. . With these data, its microprocessor can calculate the time that the robot will spend traveling through a certain room and, knowing the concentration value that must be reached for the successful eradication of pathogenic agents, the necessary mass flow of the ozone generator can be determined. This mass flow is given by the following expression:

Where the symbolic variables correspond to the following terms:

• L: length of stay

• W: width of the room

• h: width of the robot movement

• H: height of the room

• v: robot movement speed

• C: ozone concentration required to eliminate a certain pathogenic agent

• Q: mass flow of ozone generated by the device

- Option D.- Static time in the center of the room.

Lastly, the invention proposes an adjustment of the algorithm that consists of the single execution of the movement pattern followed by a time lapse in the center of the room to generate the remaining mass of ozone necessary to reach the required concentration. Thus, once the dimensions of the area extracted from the map created by the robot itself (L and W) are known, the volume of the room is estimated with the average height of the ceiling (H). In a similar way to the previous procedures presented in this invention, the robot establishes the necessary time that it must remain in the room by means of the target ozone concentration values (C), the generated ozone mass flow (Q) and the dimensions of the room. room to disinfect, being the following:

For a movement pattern making borders, zig-zag, zig-zag in the reverse direction and borders, the route depending on the width and length of the room (being rectangular) would be the following:

Once this distance that the robot must travel is obtained, the time in movement to carry out the previously indicated pattern is obtained, taking into account the movement speed stored in the robot's memory.

Obtained this time in movement and taking into account the total time to generate the amount of ozone necessary for the disinfection task, the additional time that the robot would have to remain static in the room would be calculated. During this period of time, the robot would remain in the center of the room, generating the nominal ozone mass flow that characterizes it.

^static ^full ^mov

The advantage of the proposed invention is the precise adjustment of the concentration of ozone in the air to carry out disinfecting tasks in an optimized manner, minimizing energy consumption and the risks of users in the face of high concentrations of ozone that are harmful to their health. Likewise, this algorithm guarantees precise disinfection when a specific value of ozone concentration in air is reached that could not be controlled with other solutions present in the state of the art. These advantages are achieved by making use of the technology for generating maps of the work environment that state-of-the-art self-moving robots have.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To complement the description that is being made and in order to help a better understanding of the characteristics of the invention, a set of drawings is attached as an integral part of said description, where for illustrative and non-limiting purposes, the following has been represented: following:

Figure 1.- Shows a general view of an ozone disinfection robot, with a UV-C lamp on top.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawing which forms a part of this specification, and in which is shown, by way of illustration and among others, specific preferred embodiments in which the invention can be carried out. . These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is understood that other embodiments may be used and logical structural, mechanical, electrical, and/or chemical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. To avoid details not necessary to enable those skilled in the art to carry out the detailed description should therefore not be taken in a limiting sense.

In a preferred embodiment, the invention comprises a self-moving robot with at least one LED type lamp, with a type C ultraviolet emission spectrum, whose predominant wavelength is 185 nm. This lamp would be arranged vertically on the main body of the robot, inside a protection structure with a height of approximately 85 cm, as can be seen in Figure 1. This lamp, powered by portable power units, has a electrical power of 40 W, achieving an ozone mass flow of 6 g/h. This robot is configured to adjust its movement speed automatically so that the necessary ozone concentration is reached to optimally carry out the disinfection task.

In another preferred embodiment, the invention presents a specific operation, where said robot is ordered and directed to disinfect a room of 32 m2, whose ceiling is located at a height of 2.5 m, resulting in the total volume of the room being 80 m3. This disinfection task is directed against a certain pathogenic agent that, experimentally, has been shown to be neutralized in a logarithmic unit with an ozone concentration of 0.15 g/m3 in air. With these data, the microprocessor of the disinfectant device calculates the time needed to reach that concentration and the space to cover in the proposed work environment, the results of these variables being as follows:

With these two data, the microprocessor would establish the displacement speed applying the procedure presented in this invention, being this:

Claims (6)

1. Operating procedure for a cleaning and/or disinfection robot with ozone generation, comprising, at least; - means of cleaning and/or disinfection; - ozone generation means; - autonomous or semi-autonomous means of movement, - surface measuring means - volume measurement means; and - an operational information processing unit; Characterized in that the cleaning and/or disinfection robot, in its information processing operating unit, comprises at least the following method implemented by computer, obeying the following logic; - Before and/or during a cleaning and/or disinfection operation, the cleaning and/or disinfection robot will access the information available for this purpose on the room, physically or electronically, to know the perimeter and volume of at least the room in which the robot is located and, if it is unable to access said information, the cleaning and/or disinfection robot will activate the surface measurement means and the volume measurement and mapping means to calculate the volume of contained air in the room; - the cleaning and/or disinfection robot will then perform a reading of the mass flow of ozone generated and a measurement of the surface of the cleaning and/or disinfection means in effective contact with the surface to be cleaned and/or disinfected; - estimation of target ozone concentration in the room from a range of 0.001 ppm to 100ppm; - calculation of the mass of ozone needed in the room; - mass flow reading of ozone generated per unit of time, by the means of ozone generation; - estimation of the time required to stay in the room until the concentration of ozone (ppm) contained in said room is completed; - calculation of the length that the cleaning and/or disinfection robot will travel following the movement pattern selected for this purpose; and - depending on the data received and the modifications of the parameters functional in a general cleaning and/or disinfection operation, the cleaning and/or disinfection robot will opt for one of the following reaction alternatives: o Option A.- Robot makes an adjustment in the speed of movement, so that when completing the total length of a normal cleaning operation, according to the movement pattern, it adjusts to the time necessary for the robot to generate the necessary ozone to combat the previously established pathogenic agent. o Option B.- Knowing the robot the length traveled with the selected movement pattern, it rounds up the number of passes necessary to complete the stay, so that it will perform n number of repetitions until the robot generates ozone necessary to combat the previously established pathogenic agent. o Option C.- Knowing the robot the length traveled with the selected movement pattern, an adjustment of the ozone mass flow is made, either by adjusting the power of the UV-C lamp, or by regulating the potential difference between the electrodes; o Option D.- Knowing the robot the length traveled with the movement pattern in progress, the robot performs its normal cleaning operation without altering the functional parameters, so that when the cleaning operation ends it is located in the approximate center of stay, until the means of ozone generation reach the desired concentration. 2. Operating procedure for a cleaning and/or disinfection robot with ozone generation, according to claim 1, characterized in that, depending on the information actually received, by physical or telematic means, the cleaning and/or disinfection robot will carry out the option of cleaning and/or disinfection that provides the most optimal result, choosing between: I) variation of the functional parameter of movement speed of the cleaning and/or disinfection robot. II) Variation of the number of repetitions of the movement patterns, installed as movement logics in the information operating unit. III) Variation of the position, in an achievement of movements belonging to the movement logic that the robot is executing in a specific cleaning and/or disinfection operation, placing itself in the approximate center of the room, once the cleaning and/or disinfection operation has been completed. the surface, until the effective achievement of the target ozone concentration. 3. Operating procedure for a cleaning and/or disinfection robot with ozone generation, characterized in that when the entire volume of air in a room has been filtered, the robot continues with its general cleaning and/or disinfection operation, or stops , in your case. 4. Operating procedure for a cleaning and/or disinfection robot with ozone generation, according to previous claims, characterized in that it can apply the method object of the invention to any other method or navigation logic for a cleaning and/or disinfection device with autonomous or semi-autonomous means of displacement. 5. Operating procedure for a cleaning and/or disinfection robot with ozone generation, according to previous claims, characterized in that the operational performance of the air purification system takes advantage of the functional movements and autonomous movement of the cleaning robot over the entire surface to clean, discovering, getting to know and remembering each of the rooms that may exist on a surface to be treated. 6. Operating procedure for a cleaning and/or disinfection robot with ozone generation, according to previous claims, characterized in that depending on the registered, consulted and/or issued values; Through the air purification system, the cleaning robot reconfigures its navigation planning, so that the result of a need for air purification in a room prevails over the usual surface cleaning operations.