Alfred Kaercher Gmbh & Co. Kg

Alfred Kärcher Se Co. Kg

Alfred Kärcher Gmbh Co. Kg

Gottfried Benzler

Maic Hensel

Daniel Eckstein

Thorsten Langen

Ralph Diehl

Sven Dirnberger

Christian Stewen

Martin Schmidgall

Joachim Keppler

Timo Spengler

Jacob Janzen

Roger Skoumal

Martin Wegner

Matthias Mack

Jakob Janzen

Daniel Krohm

Manuel Berroth

Markus Dünne

Günther Erbel

Bernd Gruber

Benedikt Klein

Helmut Meiser

Ulrich Rauleder

The invention relates to a sensor apparatus for a self-propelled floor cleaning appliance for detecting a down step, having a transmission unit and a reception unit for infrared radiation and having evaluation electronics for evaluating the intensity of the radiation received. To develop the sensor apparatus in such a manner that a down step or a steep downslope of the floor surface can be determined more reliably, while the sensor apparatus can be produced at low cost, according to the invention it is proposed that the sensor apparatus has the reception unit and a first and a second transmission unit, the second transmission unit being disposed at a distance from a connecting straight line running through the reception unit and the first transmission unit. The invention also proposes a floor cleaning appliance having a sensor apparatus of this type.

Sensor apparatus and self-propelled floor cleaning appliance having a sensor apparatus

The invention relates to a floor treatment system with a self-propelled and self-steering floor treatment unit, which comprises an electrically driven floor treatment assembly and also a rechargeable power supply unit and an electrical control system, and with a central charging station for recharging the power supply unit, the charging station having a transmitting device for emitting an infrared target radiation, and it being possible for the target radiation to be sensed in a directionally dependent manner by a receiving device of the floor treatment unit for the automatic alignment and positioning of the floor treatment unit at the charging station. In order to develop the floor treatment system in such a way that the floor treatment unit can reliably steer toward the central charging station, it is proposed according to the invention that the transmitting device has a first transmitting unit for the formation of a far field of the target radiation and a second transmitting unit for the formation of a near field of the target radiation, the near field extending over a wider and shorter area from the charging station than the far field.

Floor treatment system

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Kirchberg, Germany

Gottfried Benzler