Patent Description:
Traditional service robots adopt an installation form that a fastener passes through a robot housing from the outside and fastens the robot housing on a robot main body, causing a part of the fastener to be exposed outside the robot housing, which may be intuitively observed by external people, thus reducing the beauty and integrity of the overall appearance of the service robot, which has room for improvement.

<CIT> discloses a coverage robot including a chassis, multiple drive wheel assemblies disposed on the chassis, and a cleaning assembly carried by the chassis. Each drive wheel assembly including a drive wheel assembly housing, a wheel rotatably coupled to the housing, and a wheel drive motor carried by the drive wheel assembly housing and operable to drive the wheel. The cleaning assembly including a cleaning assembly housing, a cleaning head rotatably coupled to the cleaning assembly housing, and a cleaning drive motor carried by cleaning assembly housing and operable to drive the cleaning head. The wheel assemblies and the cleaning assembly are each separately and independently removable from respective receptacles of the chassis as complete units.

<CIT> discloses a character skin for a toy robot has an outer cover having an inner surface that is shaped to conform to an outer surface of a robot body housing of a selfpropelled, toy robot. The outer cover can be fitted onto the robot body housing to cover an outer surface thereof and then removed from the housing, preferably with requiring a tool. The outer cover has an identification mechanism that provides an identification of a robot character software program, wherein the identification is electronically detected by the toy robot and in response the robot character software program is executed by the toy robot which changes behavior of the toy robot, whenever the outer cover is fitted onto the robot body housing. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.

<CIT> discloses a robot head structure and a robot. The robot head structure comprises a shell and an image display assembly, and the image display assembly comprises a projector, a reflector and a display screen. The projector is arranged inside the shell and electrically connected to a controller, a vivid and rich man-machine interaction image can be displayed on the projector, the singleness of image display is avoided, and the experience of the expression interaction function is enhanced; the reflector is arranged inside the shell and is matched with the projector in an included angle, and is used for reflecting the image on the projector, the display screen is arranged on the outer surface of the shell and is matched with the shape of the shell, the display screen is matched with the reflector in an included angle, and the display screen is used for displaying the image reflected by the reflector; and the image on the projector is reflected to the display screen through the reflector, a user observes the image through the display screen, the display screen is matched with the shape of the shell, the attractiveness and the display effect of the shell are not influenced, and the production cost is reduced. The robot comprises the robot head structure.

<CIT> relates to an intelligent education service robot system and a robot terminal thereof. The robot terminal comprises a mobile chassis, a robot body, a robot head and a robot control device; the robot control device comprises a communication module, a local server, a human-computer interaction module and a main control unit; personal information and interactive records of a user are stored in the local server; in addition, the main control unit can generate matching information of the user according to the personal information and the interactive records; the communication module acquires multimedia data from a cloud server side according to the data downloading request and can screen the multimedia data according to the matching information, and therefore multimedia data matched with the attribute and interests of the user can be obtained. Therefore, the intelligent education service robot system and the robot terminal thereof have the advantage of being high in pertinency.

The present disclosure intends to solve at least one of the above technical problems in related art to a certain extent. Therefore, the present disclosure proposes a service robot, which blocks fasteners exposed outside a robot housing by means of a shielding structure, so as to effectively improve the aesthetics and integrity of the overall appearance of the service robot.

The service robot according to the invention includes: a service robot, including: a robot housing, the robot main body being arranged in the robot housing, and the robot housing being configured to be fixed on the robot main body by means of a fastener; a shielding structure being configured to be fit on the robot housing to block the fastener. The shielding structure includes a second shielding member. The robot housing has a display through-hole, and the service robot also has a front display that faces directly the display through-hole. An inner wall of the display through-hole is connected with a fixed edge extending to the inside of the robot housing. The fixed edge is configured to be fastened with the robot main body by means of the fastener, and the second shielding member is configured to be fitted with the display through-hole to shield the fixed edge and the fastener.

The service robot according to embodiments of the present disclosure shields the fastener exposed outside the robot housing by means of the shielding structure, thereby effectively improving the aesthetics and integrity of the overall appearance of the service robot.

Additionally, the service robot according to embodiments of the present disclosure can have the additional technical features as follows.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the shielding structure includes: a first shielding member. The robot housing has a groove recessed inwardly, and the fastener is configured to pass through the groove to be fastened with the robot main body. The first shielding member is configured to be fitted with the groove to shield the fastener in the groove.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first shielding member is configured to be fixed in the groove by snap-fitting.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, after the first shielding member is fitted in the groove, an outer surface of the first shielding member is flush with an outer surface of the robot main body.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the groove is configured as a long groove and allows a plurality of fasteners to pass and be fastened at the same time, the first shielding member has a long strip structure, and the first shielding member of the long strip structure is closely fitted with the long groove to shield the fasteners in the long groove.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the robot housing includes a front housing and a rear housing, one of the front housing and the rear housing has a snap, while the other one thereof has a snap slot, and when the snap is fitted in the snap slot, the front housing and the rear housing are fixed together.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, each of the front housing and the rear housing is provided with the groove recessed inwardly.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the rear housing includes a rear upper housing and a rear lower housing, the groove of the rear housing is formed in the rear lower housing, and the fastener is configured to pass through the groove to be fastened with a base of the robot main body.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the second shielding member is configured to be snap-fitted with the display through-hole.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the color of the shielding structure and the color of the robot housing are the same, and the shielding structure is a flexible structure.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, an inner wall surface of at least one of the front housing and the rear housing is provided with fastening studs with internal threads, a plurality of fastening plates extend from the robot main body, and the fastening studs and the fastening plates are configured to be fastened together by means of fastening bolts.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the robot main body includes a robot skeleton, a motion mechanism, a control mechanism and a drive mechanism. The motion mechanism is arranged below the robot skeleton, and the drive mechanism and the control mechanism are arranged on the robot skeleton. The control mechanism is configured to control the drive mechanism to drive the motion mechanism to move.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the robot housing is provided with a SLAM sensor, an obstacle avoidance sensor and a vision sensor.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the robot main body includes a robot head driving portion and a robot arm driving portion. The robot head driving portion is arranged on top of the robot skeleton, and the robot arm driving portion is arranged on both sides of the robot skeleton. A robot head is configured to pass through the robot housing so as to be connected with the robot head driving portion, and a robot arm is configured to pass through the robot housing so as to be connected with the robot arm driving portion.

service robot <NUM>, robot main body <NUM>, robot housing <NUM>, shielding structure <NUM>, first shielding member <NUM>, groove <NUM>, second shielding member <NUM>, display through-hole <NUM>, fixed edge <NUM>, front display <NUM>, robot skeleton <NUM>, motion mechanism <NUM>, fastening plate <NUM>, robot head driving portion <NUM>, robot arm driving portion <NUM>, robot head <NUM>, robot arm <NUM>, front housing <NUM>, rear housing <NUM>, rear upper housing <NUM>, rear lower housing <NUM>, fastening stud <NUM>.

Embodiments of the present disclosure are further described. Examples of the embodiments are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The same or similar elements and the elements having same or similar functions are denoted by like reference numerals throughout the descriptions. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary, are intended to be used to explain the present disclosure, and cannot be construed as limitation to the present disclosure.

In the specification of the present disclosure, it is to be understood that, terms such as "central," "longitudinal," "lateral," "length," "width," "thickness," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," "clockwise," and "counterclockwise" indicate the orientation or position relationship based on the orientation or position relationship illustrated in the drawings only for convenience of description or for simplifying description of the present disclosure, and do not alone indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a particular orientation or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and hence cannot be construed as limitation to the present disclosure.

In addition, terms such as "first" and "second" are used herein for purposes of description and are not intended to indicate or imply relative importance or significance or to imply the number of indicated technical features. Thus, the feature defined with "first" and "second" may comprise one or more of this feature. In the description of the present disclosure, the term "a plurality of" means at least two, such as two, three and so on, unless specified otherwise.

In the present disclosure, unless specified otherwise, terms "mounted," "coupled," "connected," "fixed" and the like are used broadly. For example, fixed connections, detachable connections, or integral connections; may also be mechanical or electrical connections or communication connections; may also be direct connections or indirect connections via intervening structures; may also be inner communications or interactions of two elements, which may be understood by those skilled in the related art according to specific situations.

In the descriptions of the present disclosure, unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, a structure in which a first feature is "on" or "below" a second feature may include an embodiment in which the first feature is in direct contact with the second feature, and may also include an embodiment in which the first feature and the second feature are not in direct contact with each other, but are contacted via an additional feature formed therebetween. Furthermore, a first feature "on," "above," or "on top of' a second feature may include an embodiment in which the first feature is right or obliquely "on," "above," or "on top of" the second feature, or just means that the first feature is at a height higher than that of the second feature; while a first feature "below," "under," or "on bottom of" a second feature may include an embodiment in which the first feature is right or obliquely "below," "under," or "on bottom of" the second feature, or just means that the first feature is at a height lower than that of the second feature.

A service robot <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to <FIG>.

The service robot <NUM> according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may include a robot main body <NUM>, a robot housing <NUM> and a shielding structure <NUM>.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the robot main body <NUM> is arranged in the robot housing <NUM>, and the robot housing <NUM> is used to protect the robot main body <NUM> and improve an overall aesthetic appearance of the service robot <NUM>. The robot housing <NUM> is configured to be fixed on the robot main body <NUM> by means of a fastener, so as to stably arrange the robot housing <NUM> on the robot main body <NUM>, thereby ensuring the overall stability of the service robot <NUM>.

The fastener may be a fastening bolt, which is more convenient to fasten and mount.

Since the traditional service robots adopt an installation form that a fastener passes through a robot housing from the outside and fastens the robot housing on a robot main body, causing a part of the fastener to be exposed outside the robot housing, which may be intuitively observed by external people, thus reducing the aesthetics and integrity of the overall appearance of the service robot.

Therefore, the embodiment of the present disclosure is provided with the shielding structure <NUM>. The shielding structure <NUM> is configured to be fit on the robot housing <NUM> to block the fastener. As the fastener is blocked by the shielding structure <NUM> arranged on the robot housing <NUM>, the exposed fastener will not be observed by external people, and the aesthetics and integrity of the overall appearance of the service robot <NUM> will be improved effectively.

The service robot <NUM> according to the embodiments of the present disclosure blocks the fastener exposed outside the robot housing <NUM> by means of the shielding structure <NUM>, so as to effectively improve the aesthetics and integrity of the overall appearance of the service robot <NUM>.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the shielding structure <NUM> includes: a first shielding member <NUM>. The robot housing <NUM> includes: a front housing <NUM> and a rear housing <NUM>. The front housing <NUM> and the rear housing <NUM> are engaged, and assembled in the form of snap-fit fixation to form a complete robot housing <NUM>. For example, one of the front housing <NUM> and the rear housing <NUM> has a snap, while the other one thereof has a snap slot fitted with the snap. When the snap is fitted in the snap slot, the front housing <NUM> and the rear housing <NUM> are stably fixed together. Therefore, by the snap-fit fixation of the front housing <NUM> and the rear housing <NUM>, the number of fasteners used additionally to the service robot <NUM> may be effectively decreased, thereby further effectively reducing the overall weight of the service robot <NUM> and ensuring the aesthetics and integrity of the overall appearance of the service robot <NUM>.

Both of the front housing <NUM> and the rear housing <NUM> are provided with grooves <NUM> recessed inwardly to the inside of the robot housing <NUM> (towards the robot main body <NUM>), and the rear housing <NUM> also includes: a rear upper housing <NUM> and a rear lower housing <NUM>. The groove <NUM> of the rear housing <NUM> is formed on the rear lower housing <NUM>, and the fastener is configured to pass through the groove <NUM> to be fastened with a base of the robot main body <NUM>. When the fastener is exemplified as a fastening bolt, a rod portion of the fastening bolt will pass through a bottom wall of the groove <NUM> and be fastened with the base of the robot main body <NUM>, while a head portion of the fastening bolt will stay in the groove <NUM> to be exposed outside the robot housing <NUM>. However, the first shielding member <NUM> is configured to cooperate with the groove <NUM> to shield the fastener (the head portion of the fastening bolt) in the groove <NUM>, such that external people cannot observe the exposed fastener from outside, thereby effectively improving the aesthetics and integrity of the overall appearance of the service robot <NUM>.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first shielding member <NUM> may be of a long strip structure (refer to <FIG> and <FIG>), and the groove <NUM> may be a long groove <NUM>, such that the groove <NUM> can allow a plurality of fasteners to pass and be fastened at the same time. The first shielding member <NUM> in the long strip shape may also be closely fitted with the long groove <NUM> to shield the fasteners in the long groove <NUM>.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first shielding member <NUM> is configured to be snap-fitted in the groove <NUM>. As a result, the mounting becomes convenient, and no separate fastener needs to be provided to fasten the first shielding member <NUM> and the groove <NUM>, which may effectively save the mounting time.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, after the first shielding member <NUM> is fitted in the groove <NUM>, an outer surface of the first shielding member <NUM> is flush with an outer surface of the robot main body <NUM>. Therefore, the robot housing <NUM> will not appear uneven due to the mounting of the first shielding member <NUM> on the robot housing <NUM>, which may further improve the aesthetics and integrity of the overall appearance of the robot housing <NUM>.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the shielding structure <NUM> includes a second shielding member <NUM>. The robot housing <NUM> has a display through-hole <NUM>. The service robot <NUM> also has a front display <NUM>, and the front display <NUM> faces directly the display through-hole <NUM>, such that external person may observe the front display <NUM> by means of the display through-hole <NUM>. An inner wall of the display through-hole <NUM> is connected with a fixed edge <NUM> extending to the inside of the robot housing <NUM>. The fixed edge <NUM> is configured to be fastened with the robot main body <NUM> by means of the fastener, so as to allow the robot housing <NUM> to be fastened to the robot main body <NUM>. The second shielding member <NUM> is configured to cooperate with the display through-hole <NUM> to shield the fixed edge <NUM> and the fastener, such that external people cannot observe the fastener, thereby effectively improving the aesthetics and integrity of the overall appearance of the service robot <NUM>.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the second shielding member <NUM> may be of an annular structure (refer to <FIG> and <FIG>). Thus, the second shielding member <NUM> may be fitted with the display through-hole <NUM> better and more compactly, and the front display <NUM> may be revealed from a through-hole in the second shielding member <NUM> to avoid shielding the front display <NUM>.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the second shielding member <NUM> is configured to be snap-fitted with the display through-hole <NUM>. Thus, the mounting becomes convenient, and it is not necessary to arrange a separate fastener to fasten the second shielding member <NUM> and the display through-hole <NUM>, which may effectively save the mounting time.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the color of the shielding structure <NUM> is the same as that of the robot housing <NUM>. Thus, the appearance color of the robot housing <NUM> mounted with the shielding structure <NUM> can keep consistent, and will not appear abrupt, thereby further effectively improving the aesthetics and integrity of the overall appearance of the robot housing <NUM>.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the shielding structure <NUM> is a flexible structure, which is more convenient to mount. Compared with a rigid structure, the flexible structure can be fit on the robot housing <NUM> better and more closely to ensure the integrity of the robot housing <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG> and in combination with the embodiment illustrated in <FIG>, an inner wall surface of at least one of the front housing <NUM> and the rear housing <NUM> is provided with fastening studs <NUM> with internal threads. A plurality of fastening plates <NUM> configured to be connected with the fastening studs <NUM> extend from the robot main body <NUM>, and the fastening plates <NUM> and the fastening studs <NUM> are configured to be fastened together by means of fastening bolts. That is, the fastening bolt is configured to pass through the fastening plate <NUM> to be threadedly fastened and connected with the fastening stud <NUM>.

The fastening stud <NUM> is of a blind-hole structure with internal threads. After the fastening stud <NUM> is threadedly fastened with the fastening bolt, the fastening bolt will not penetrate the robot housing <NUM> to the outside and hence will not be observed by external people, thus realizing a function of concealing the fastener. As a result, not only the fastening of the robot main body <NUM> and the robot housing <NUM> can be realized, but also the fastener can be concealed to avoid diminish the aesthetics and integrity of the overall appearance of the service robot <NUM>.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the fastening studs <NUM> can be reasonably distributed on the inner wall of the front housing <NUM> and/or the rear housing <NUM> according to the specific structure of the robot main body <NUM>, so as to effectively improve the connection stability of the robot main body <NUM> and the robot housing <NUM>.

In combination with the embodiment illustrated in <FIG>, the robot main body <NUM> includes: a robot skeleton <NUM>, a motion mechanism <NUM>, a control mechanism and a drive mechanism. The motion mechanism <NUM> is arranged below the robot skeleton <NUM> to facilitate contact with the ground so as to realize the overall motion of the service robot <NUM>. The drive mechanism and the control mechanism are arranged on the robot skeleton <NUM>, and the robot skeleton <NUM> is used to support the drive mechanism and the control mechanism. The control mechanism may be a controller, and the drive mechanism may be a drive motor. The control mechanism is configured to control the drive mechanism to drive the motion mechanism <NUM> to move, such that the service robot <NUM> can move as a whole.

The motion mechanism <NUM> may be a plurality of rollers which facilitates the movement of the service robot <NUM>.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the robot housing <NUM> is provided with a SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) sensor, an obstacle avoidance sensor and a vision sensor. The SLAM sensor is used for real-time positioning and map building. The obstacle avoidance sensor and the vision sensor are used to enable the service robot <NUM> to avoid obstacles successfully. The above three sensors will transfer the detected information to the control mechanism, and the control mechanism can make a reasonable judgment on road condition information after receiving the signals, and then control the drive mechanism to drive the motion mechanism <NUM> to move reasonably, thereby achieving the obstacle avoidance movement of the service robot <NUM> successfully.

Referring to <FIG>, the robot main body <NUM> includes: a robot head driving portion <NUM> and a robot arm driving portion <NUM>. The robot head driving portion <NUM> and the robot arm driving portion <NUM> may be drive motors respectively. The robot head driving portion <NUM> can drive a robot head <NUM> to rotate, and the robot arm driving portion <NUM> can drive a robot arm <NUM> to move and swing. The robot head driving portion <NUM> is arranged on top of the robot skeleton <NUM> to facilitate the connection with the robot head <NUM>, while the robot arm driving portion <NUM> is arranged on both sides of the robot skeleton <NUM> to facilitate the connection with the robot arms <NUM>. The robot head <NUM> is configured to pass through the robot housing <NUM> so as to be connected with the robot head driving portion <NUM>, and the robot arm <NUM> is configured to pass through the robot housing <NUM> so as to be connected with the robot arm driving portion <NUM>, thereby realizing the assembling of the service robot <NUM>.

Reference throughout this specification to terms "an embodiment," "some embodiments," "an example", "a specific example," or "some examples," means that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the present disclosure. In this specification, exemplary descriptions of aforesaid terms are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment or example. Moreover, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any configured manner in one or more embodiments or examples. Furthermore, those skilled in the art may combine and incorporate the different embodiments or examples described in this specification.

Claim 1:
A service robot (<NUM>), comprising:
a robot main body (<NUM>);
a robot housing (<NUM>), the robot main body (<NUM>) being arranged in the robot housing (<NUM>), and the robot housing (<NUM>) being configured to be fixed on the robot main body (<NUM>) by means of a fastener; and
a shielding structure (<NUM>) being configured to be fit on the robot housing (<NUM>) to block the fastener,
characterized in that the shielding structure (<NUM>) comprises a second shielding member (<NUM>), the robot housing (<NUM>) has a display through-hole (<NUM>), the service robot further has a front display (<NUM>), the front display (<NUM>) faces directly the display through-hole (<NUM>), an inner wall of the display through-hole (<NUM>) is connected with a fixed edge (<NUM>) extending to the inside of the robot housing (<NUM>), the fixed edge (<NUM>) is configured to be fastened with the robot main body (<NUM>) by means of the fastener, and the second shielding member (<NUM>) is configured to be fitted with the display through-hole (<NUM>) to shield the fixed edge (<NUM>) and the fastener.