The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Date of Patent:
Jun. 07, 2016

Filed:

Jun. 11, 2013
Applicant:

Sri International, Menlo Park, CA (US);

Inventors:

Karen S. Koenig, San Francisco, CA (US);

Harsha Prahlad, Cupertino, CA (US);

Ronald E. Pelrine, Longmont, CO (US);

Roy D. Kornbluh, Palo Alto, CA (US);

Assignee:

SRI International, Menlo Park, CA (US);

Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
A47L 13/40 (2006.01); B08B 6/00 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
B08B 6/00 (2013.01); A47L 13/40 (2013.01);
Abstract

An electroadhesive cleaning device or system includes electrode(s) that produce electroadhesive forces from an input voltage to adhere debris against an electroadhesive surface, from which the debris is removed when the forces are controllably modified. Controlling the input voltage may designate the size of debris to be cleaned. A power source provides the input voltage, and the electroadhesive surface can be a continuous track across one or more rollers to move the device across a dirty foreign surface. Electrodes can be arranged in an interdigitated pattern having differing pitches that can be actuated selectively to clean debris of different sizes. Sensors can detect the amount of debris adhered to the electroadhesive surface, and reversed polarity pulses can help repel items away from the electroadhesive surface in a controlled manner.


Find Patent Forward Citations

Loading…