US20160088993A1

US20160088993A1 - Floor cleaning system and device

Info

Publication number: US20160088993A1
Application number: US14/588,731
Authority: US
Inventors: Sung-Huei Chuang; Wen-Tsen Yang
Original assignee: AIROS Corp
Current assignee: AIROS Corp
Priority date: 2014-09-29
Filing date: 2015-01-02
Publication date: 2016-03-31
Also published as: TWM495819U

Abstract

A floor cleaning device includes a sensing module, a driving module, a sweeping module and a processing module. When the floor cleaning device moves into a signal area defined within a floor surface by an emitter signal emitted from a signal terminal, the sensing module outputs a sensing signal to the processing module while receiving the emitter signal from the signal terminal. The processing module activates, in response to receipt of the sensing signal, the sweeping module to gather dirt particles from the floor surface, and controls the driving module to operate in a multi-moving mode in such a way that a housing of the floor cleaning device is driven by the driving module to move within the signal area until a duration counting from initial receipt of the sensing signal reaches a cleaning time period.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority of Taiwanese Application No. 103217267, filed on Sep. 29, 2014, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a cleaning device, more particularly to a floor cleaning system and a floor cleaning device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With the development and progress of technology, many intelligent household appliances have been proposed. Autonomous floor-cleaning robots have gained wide popularity among intelligent household appliances for house-cleaning purposes.
However, a conventional autonomous floor-cleaning robot is still unable to detect situations of the surrounding environment well. When activated to clear a floor surface of a house with many rooms, the conventional autonomous floor-cleaning robot often roams about the floor surface randomly and gathers dirt particles from the floor surface. Due to the presence of partition walls in the house, the conventional autonomous floor-cleaning robot may not ensure that the entire floor surface of the house is cleaned, and thus the cleaning effect is relatively poor. Furthermore, in use, a cleaning time for any particular room may not be adjusted as required.
Therefore, there is still room for improvement in the above techniques.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a floor cleaning system and a floor cleaning device that can adaptively perform floor cleaning.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a floor cleaning system is configured to clean a floor surface. The floor cleaning system includes a signal terminal and a floor cleaning device.
The signal terminal includes a signal emitter. The signal emitter is configured to emit an emitter signal so as to define a signal area within the floor surface.
The floor cleaning device includes a housing, a sensing module, a driving module, a sweeping module, a storage module and a processing module. The sensing module is mounted to the housing, and generates a sensing signal while receiving the emitter signal emitted by the signal emitter. The driving module is disposed in the housing, and is operable to drive the housing to move on the floor surface. The sweeping module is mounted to the housing, and is operable to gather dirt particles from the floor surface. The storage module is disposed in the housing, and stores cleaning time data, which includes at least a cleaning time period that is associated with the sensing signal. The processing module is disposed in the housing, and is coupled to the sensing module, the driving module, the sweeping module and the storage module. The processing module controls operations of the driving module and the sweeping module.
Once the sensing module of the floor cleaning device receives the emitter signal, the sensing module outputs the sensing signal generated thereby to the processing module. Upon initial receipt of the sensing signal from the sensing module, the processing module activates the sweeping module so as to gather dirt particles from the floor surface, and controls the driving module to drive the housing to move in such a way that the processing module continues to receive the sensing signal from the sensing module, until a duration counting from the initial receipt of the sensing signal reaches the cleaning time period stored in the storage module.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a floor cleaning device is used to clean a floor surface. A signal emitter is disposed for emitting an emitter signal so as to define a signal area within the floor surface. The floor cleaning device includes a housing, a sensing module, a driving module, a sweeping module, a storage module and a processing module. The sensing module is mounted to the housing, and generates a sensing signal while receiving the emitter signal emitted by the signal emitter. The driving module is disposed in the housing, and is operable to drive the housing to move on the floor surface. The sweeping module is mounted to the housing, and is operable to gather dirt particles from the floor surface. The storage module is disposed in the housing and stores cleaning time data, which includes a cleaning time period associated with the sensing signal. The processing module is disposed in the housing, and is coupled to the sensing module, the driving module, the sweeping module and the storage module. The processing module controls operations of the driving module and the sweeping module.
Once the sensing module receives the first emitter signal, the sensing module outputs the sensing signal generated thereby to the processing module. Upon initial receipt of the sensing signal from the sensing module, the processing module activates the sweeping module so as to gather dirt particles from the floor surface, and controls the driving module to drive the housing to move in such a way that the processing module continues to receive the sensing signal from the sensing module, until a duration counting from the initial receipt of the sensing signal by the processing module reaches the cleaning time period stored in the storage module.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of this disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a floor cleaning system according to the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a schematic top view illustrating exemplary space allocation used in the floor cleaning system of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an embodiment of a floor cleaning system 1 according to this disclosure is used to clean a floor surface 300. In this embodiment, the floor surface 300 has a plurality of partitions 301 erecting thereon, be them partition walls of a building construction, obstacles or barriers constituted by doors, furniture or the like, or combinations thereof, etc. In the example depicted in FIG. 2, the floor surface 300 and the partitions 301 cooperatively define first and second spaces 100, 101 which are in spatial communication with each other. The first space 100 is defined by corresponding partitions 301 and a first floor surface portion 303 of the floor surface 300. The second space 101 is defined by corresponding partitions 301 and a second floor surface portion 304 of the floor surface 300. The floor cleaning system 1 includes, for example, a first signal terminal 2, a second signal terminal 3, a floor cleaning device 5, a control terminal 6 and a monitor terminal 7. It is noted that, in other embodiments, the number of the signal terminals may vary in other embodiments of this disclosure. For instance, the number of the signal terminals may increase with increase in the number of the spaces confined by the floor surface and the partition walls. in the depicted example, the first signal terminal 2 is disposed in the first space 100, and is disposed against, e.g., fixed on, a corresponding partition 301, i.e., the right partition of FIG. 2. In this embodiment, the first signal terminal 2 includes, for example, a first signal emitter 21, an environment detection module 22, a signal end communication module 23 connected to a wireless communication network 4, and a processor 24 coupled to the first signal emitter 21, the environment detection module 22 and the signal end communication module 23.
The first signal emitter 21 is configured to emit a first emitter signal so as to define a first signal area 3031, in which the first emitter signal is detectable. In other words, the first signal area 3031 is an emitting range of the first signal emitter 21. In this embodiment, the first signal area 3031 is within the first floor surface portion 303 of the floor surface 300. In this embodiment, the first signal emitter 21 includes, but is not limited to, at least one optical signal emitter. The first emitter signal is, for example, an infrared signal, accordingly. It should be noted herein that while infrared signal is exemplified herein, the object of this invention is achievable using other signals, such as radiowaves, X-rays, microwaves, sound waves, etc.
The environment detection module 22 is configured to detect an environmental parameter associated with the first signal area 3031, to determine whether the environmental parameter detected thereby is greater than a predetermined threshold value, and to generate a detecting signal upon determining that the environment parameter is greater than the predetermined threshold value. In this embodiment, the environmental parameter is, for example, the detected amount of dust in the first signal area 3031. The predetermined threshold value is, for example, 0.45 mg per cubic meter.
The processor 24 is operable to control operation of the first signal emitter 21, and generates a cleaning request for additional floor cleaning that is associated with the first emitter signal upon receipt of the detecting signal from the environment detection module 22.
In the depicted example, the second signal terminal 3 is disposed in the second space 101, and is disposed against, e.g., fixed on, a corresponding partition 301, i.e., the left partition 301 of FIG. 2. In this embodiment, the second signal terminal 3, similar to the first signal terminal 2, includes a second signal emitter 31, an environment detection module 32, a signal end communication module 33 connected to the wireless communication network 4, and a processor 34 coupled to the second signal emitter 31, the signal end communication module 33 and the environment detection module 32. It is noted that configurations of the environment detection module 32, the signal end communication module 33 and the processor 34 are similar respectively to those of the environment detection module 22, the signal end communication module 23 and the processor 24 of the first signal terminal 2. The second signal terminal 3 differs from the first signal terminal 2 in that: the second signal emitter 31 is configured to emit a second emitter signal, which is different from the first emitter signal, so as to define a second signal area 3041, in which the second emitter signal is detectable (i.e., the second signal area 3041 is an emitting range of the second signal emitter 31); and the processor 34 generates a cleaning request for additional floor cleaning that is associated with the second emitter signal upon receipt of a detecting signal, which is generated by the environment detection module 32 upon determining that the environment parameter in the second signal area 3041 is greater than the predetermined threshold value. In this embodiment, the second signal area 3041 is within the second floor surface portion 304 of the floor surface 300, and the second signal emitter 31 also includes at least one optical signal emitter with the second emitter signal being an infrared signal, accordingly.
It should be noted herein that in other embodiments of this disclosure, more than one signal terminal may be disposed within a single space, for example, a larger room, as desired. In addition, the signal terminals may be so configured that the signal emitters of the ones that are disposed in the same room emit the same emitter signal so that they cooperatively define a bigger signal area. Of course, it could also be that the signal emitters disposed in the same room are so configured as to emit different emitter signals.
The floor cleaning device 5 includes a housing 51 (see FIG. 2), a sensing module 52, a driving module 53, a sweeping module 54, a storage module 55, a cleaning end communication module 55 connected to the wireless communication network 4, and a processing module 57.
The sensing module 52, such as an optical sensing module, is mounted to the housing 51. The sensing module 52 generates a first sensing signal while receiving the first emitter signal emitted by the first signal emitter 21, e.g., when the housing 51 is located within the first signal area 3031, and generates a second sensing signal which is different from the first sensing signal while receiving the second emitter signal emitted by the second signal emitter 31, e.g., when the housing 51 is located within the second signal area 3041. Generation of the first sensing signal continues as long as the first emitter signal continues to be received by the sensing module 52, and likewise, generation of the second sensing signal continues as long as the second emitter signal continues to be received by the sensing module 52.
The driving module 53 is disposed in the housing 51, and is operable in one of a multi-moving mode and a wall-following mode. When in the wall-following mode, the driving module 53 is capable of driving the housing 51 to move on the floor surface 300 along any one of the partitions 301. When in the multi-moving mode, the driving module 53 drives the housing 51 to move on the floor surface in a known way, for example, along one of a random path, a spiral path, a polygonal spiral path and a zigzag path. Since the feature of this disclosure does not reside in the configuration and operation of the driving module 53, which are known to those skilled in the art, details of the same are omitted herein for the sake of brevity. It is noted herein that while the wall-following mode is so named to include the word “wall”, it should be appreciated that the driving module 53 is not limited to drive the housing 51 to move along an actual wall of a building, but also along any obstacle or barrier (e.g., an actual wall, furniture, etc.) present in its vicinity, when operating in the wall-following mode.
The sweeping module 54 is mounted to the housing 51, and is operable to gather dirt particles from the floor surface 300 in a known manner. Since the feature of this disclosure does not reside in the configuration of the sweeping module 54, which is known to those skilled in the art, details of the same are omitted herein for the sake of brevity.
The storage module 55 is disposed in the housing 51. In this embodiment, the storage module 55 stores, for example, a cleaning schedule table 551. The cleaning schedule table 551 records cleaning time data. The cleaning time data includes, for example, a predetermined first cleaning time period associated with the first sensing signal, a predetermined second cleaning time period associated with the second sensing signal, and a predetermined order of priority of the first and second sensing signals. It should be noted that the order of priority of the first and second sensing signals indicates an order in which cleaning of the first and second signal areas 3031, 3041 is to be carried out, and that the first and second cleaning time periods indicate respectively predefined durations for performing the cleaning of the first and second signal areas 3031, 3041. The following Table 1 shows an example of the cleaning schedule table 551.

TABLE 1

	Order of
Sensing Signal	Priority	Cleaning Time Data

first sensing	1^st	10 mins/
signal		first cleaning time
		period
second sensing	2^nd	5 mins/
signal		second cleaning time
		period

The processing module 57 is disposed in the housing 51, is coupled to the sensing module 52, the driving module 53, the sweeping module 54 and the storage module 55, and controls operations of the driving module 53 and the sweeping module 54.
The control terminal 6, such as a mobile phone, a personal computer or the like, is connected to the wireless communication network 4, and is operable to generate a control request for updating the cleaning time data as desired. The control terminal 6 is capable of transmitting the control request generated thereby to the floor cleaning device 5 via the wireless communication network 4. The processing module 57 of the floor cleaning device 5 updates the cleaning time data stored in the cleaning schedule table 551 of the storage module 55 in response to receipt of the control request from the control terminal 6 through the cleaning end communication module 56 via the wireless communication network 4.
The monitor terminal 7, such as a mobile phone, a personal computer or the like, is connected to the wireless communication network 4, and is operable to generate a cleaning data request as required. The monitor terminal 7 is capable of transmitting the cleaning data request generated thereby to the floor cleaning device 5 via the wireless communication network 4.
It should be noted herein that the control terminal 6 and the monitor terminal 7 may be implemented by a single device in some embodiments.
The following details exemplarily illustrate how the floor cleaning system of the embodiment performs basic floor cleaning of the floor surface 300 using the cleaning schedule table 551 as shown in Table 1. In this example, the first sensing signal has a first priority and the second sensing signal has a second priority.
In the beginning, upon being activated, in the case where the floor cleaning device 5 is not located within the first signal area 3031, the processing module 57 controls the driving module 53 to operate in the wall-following mode until the processing module 57 receives the first sensing signal, which is generated by the sensing module 52 in response to receipt of the first emitter signal, that is to say, until the floor cleaning device 5 moves into the first signal area 3031 since the first sensing signal has the first priority. It should be noted that the sensing module 52 outputs the first sensing signal generated thereby to the processing module 57 while the first emitter signal from the first signal emitter 21 is being sensed, and continues to do so as long as the first emitter signal is sensed.
Upon initial receipt of the first sensing signal from the sensing module 52, the processing module 57 activates the sweeping module 54 so as to gather dirt particles from the floor surface 300, and controls the driving module 53 to switch from the wall-following mode to the multi-moving mode so that the driving module 53 operating in the multi-moving mode drives the housing 51 of the floor cleaning device 5 to move within the first signal area 3031 until a first duration counting from the initial receipt of the first sensing signal reaches the first cleaning time period of 10 minutes.
It is worth to mention that, when the processing module 57 determines that the first duration has not yet reached the first cleaning time period, the processing module 57 controls the driving module 53, which still operates in the multi-moving mode, such that the housing 51 of the floor cleaning device 5 is driven to move within the first signal rear 3031 along an appropriate one of the random path, the spiral path, the polygonal spiral path and the zigzag path. For example, in the case where the processing module 57 suddenly stops receiving the first sensing signal, that is to say, the housing 51 of the floor cleaning device 5 has moved past the boundary of the first signal area 3031 while the processing module 57 determines that the first duration has not yet reached the first cleaning time period, the processing module 57 controls the driving module 53 operating in the multi-moving mode in a known way to drive the housing 51 of the floor cleaning device 5 to move, for example, backward by a predetermined distance. As a result, the floor cleaning device 5 is driven to move in a direction opposite to the previous motion direction by the predetermined distance, thereby enabling the floor cleaning device 5 to be located back within the first signal area 3031, such that the processing module 57 receives the first sensing signal again. In other words, while performing the basic floor cleaning of the first signal area 3031, the processing module 57 continues to monitor receipt of the first sensing signal and appropriately controls the driving module 53 to ensure that receipt of the first sensing signal continues for at least the first predetermined cleaning time period, i.e., to ensure that sweeping of dirt particles from the floor surface 300 is performed within the first signal area 3031 for at least the first predetermined cleaning time period, so that the basic floor cleaning of the first signal area 3031 may be completed as scheduled in accordance with the cleaning schedule table 551. It is pointed out herein that throughout this disclosure, the terms “continues,” “continually”, “continuously”, and the like are used to encompass situations where short interruptions, like the abrupt non-receipt of the first sensing signal discussed in the above example, may be present.
Thereafter, when the processing module 57 determines that the first duration reaches the first cleaning time period, the processing module 57 stops counting the first duration, and controls the driving module 53 to switch from the multi-moving mode to the wall-following mode until the processing module 57 stops receiving the first sensing signal (i.e., the floor cleaning device 5 has moved out of the first signal area 3031) and starts receiving the second sensing signal, which is generated by the sensing module 52 in response to receipt of the second emitter signal, that is to say, until the floor cleaning device 5 has moved into the second signal area 3041. It should be noted that the sensing module 52 outputs the second sensing signal generated thereby to the processing module 57 while the second emitter signal from the second signal emitter 31 is being sensed, and continues to do so as long as the second emitter signal is sensed.
Upon initial receipt of the second sensing signal from the sensing module 52, the processing module 57 activates the sweeping module 54 so as to gather dirt particles from the second signal area 3041, and controls the driving module 53 to switch from the wall-following mode to the multi-moving mode so that the driving module 53 operating in the multi-moving mode drives the housing 51 of the floor cleaning device 5 to move within the second signal area 3041 until a second duration counting from the initial receipt of the second sensing signal reaches the second cleaning time period of 5 minutes. Similarly, starting from the initial receipt of the second sensing signal, the processing module 57 continues to monitor receipt of the second sensing signal and appropriately controls the driving module 53 to ensure that receipt of the second sensing signal continues for at least the second predetermined cleaning time period, i.e., to ensure that sweeping of dirt particles from the floor surface 300 is performed within the second signal area 3041 for at least the second predetermined cleaning time period, so that the basic floor cleaning of the second signal area 3041 may be completed as scheduled in accordance with the cleaning schedule table 551. Once the processing module 57 determines that the second duration reaches the second cleaning time period, the floor cleaning device 5 has completed the basic floor cleaning of the floor surface 300, and the processing module 57 stops counting the second duration.
Moreover, during the basic floor cleaning, in the case where the processor 24 of the first signal terminal 2 generates, in response to receipt of the detecting signal from the environment detection module 22, the cleaning request associated with the first emitter signal, and transmits the cleaning request to the floor cleaning device 5, the processing module 57 of the floor cleaning device 5 further controls, after finishing the basic floor cleaning of the floor surface 300, the driving module 53 to operate in the wall-following mode again in response to the cleaning request from the first signal terminal 2 until the processing module 57 receives the first sensing signal again. At this instant, the processing module 57 activates the sweeping module 54, controls the driving module 53 to switch from the wall-following mode to the multi-moving mode so as to enable the housing 51 to move within the first signal area 3031, and begins the counting of the first duration again for a predetermined period of time of, for example, 5 minutes. In short, when the environment detection module 22 of the first signal terminal 2 determines that the amount of dust in the first signal area 3031 is greater than the predetermined threshold value, the floor cleaning device 5 will move into the first signal area 3031 again and sweep the first signal area 3031 for an additional period of time that equals the predetermined period of time. Similarly, when the environment detection module 32 of the second signal terminal 3 determines that the amount of dust in the second signal area 3041 is greater than the predetermined threshold value, the floor cleaning device 5 will move into the second signal area 3041 again and sweep the second signal area 3041 for the predetermined period of time, in which case the processing module 57 resumes the counting of the second duration for the predetermined period of time.
In the event that the floor cleaning device 5 does not receive any one of the cleaning requests from the first and second signal terminals 2, 3, the floor cleaning device 5 may operate in one of a standby mode and a charging mode. It is noted that, in each of the standby and charging modes, the processing module 57 is capable of further generating a power saving request and transmitting the power saving request to each of the first and second signal terminals 2, 3 through the cleaning end communication module 56 via the wireless communication network 4. In response to receipt of the power saving request from the floor cleaning device 5, the processors 24, 34 of the first and second signal terminals 2, 3 deactivate the first and second signal emitters 21,31 to terminate emission of the first and second emitter signals. Therefore, power consumption of each of the first and second signal terminals 2, 3 can be decreased. However, in this case, the environment detection modules 22, 23 of the first and second signal terminals 2, 3 are still under normal operation. When any one of the environment detection modules 22, 23 of the first and second signal terminals 2, 3 generates and outputs the detecting signal to the processor 24, 34, the corresponding processor 24, 34 not only transmits the cleaning request generated thereby to the floor cleaning device 5, but also activates the corresponding first or second signal emitter 21, 31 to emit the corresponding first or second emitter signal again in response to receipt of the detecting signal. Afterward, the floor cleaning device 5 executes the corresponding additional floor cleaning as above-mentioned.
In addition, when the processing module 57 receives the cleaning data request from the monitor terminal 7 through the cleaning end communication module 56 via the wireless communication network 4, the processing module 57, in response, transmits a reply that includes, for example, the first duration and the second duration currently of record to the monitor terminal 7 through the cleaning end communication module 56 via the wireless communication network 4. In the case where the cleaning data request is received during the basic floor cleaning, the first and second durations may still be kept track of and be smaller than the predetermined first and second cleaning time periods, respectively. In the case where the cleaning data request is received after the basic floor cleaning has been completed but before the additional floor cleaning(s) has/have been completed, the first duration would equal to, for example, the sum of the first cleaning time period and a duration, if any, for which the additional floor cleaning associated with the first emitter signal has been carried out, and the second duration would equal to, for example, the sum of the second cleaning time period and a duration, if any, for which the additional floor cleaning associated with the second emitter signal has been carried out. Lastly, if the cleaning data request is received after the basic floor cleaning and the additional floor cleaning(s) have all been completed, then the first duration would equal the sum of the first cleaning time period and the predetermined period of time if the additional floor cleaning associated with the first emitter signal is requested, or simply equal the first cleaning time period should no additional floor cleaning associated with the first emitter signal be requested, while the second duration would equal the sum of the second cleaning time period and the predetermined period of time if the additional floor cleaning associated with the second emitter signal is requested, or simply equal the second cleaning time period should no additional floor cleaning associated with the second emitter signal be requested. It would be appreciated that the additional floor cleaning associated with first/second emitter signal may be requested more than once, depending upon the actual situation.
It should be noted herein that in cases where the first sensing area 3031 and the second sensing area 3041 partially overlap so that the first and second emitter signals may sometimes be simultaneously sensed by the sensing module 57 of the floor cleaning device 5 to simultaneously generate the first and second sensing signals, and in cases where the floor cleaning device 5 is initially disposed at a location where the second emitter signal is received by the sensing module 52 thereof, e.g., is located within the second sensing area 3041, with the predetermined order of priority so defined that the first sensing signal has a priority higher than that of the second sensing signal, the processing module 57 will ignore its receipt of the second sensing signal and proceed with the basic floor cleaning associated with the first emitter signal before moving to perform the basic floor cleaning associated with the second emitter signal. In other words, the processing module 57 ignores receipt of one of the first and second sensing signals with a lower order of priority until completion of the basic floor cleaning associated with one of the first and second emitter signals that corresponds to the other of the first and second sensing signals with a higher order of priority.
In view of the above, the floor cleaning system 1 of the disclosure can enable the floor cleaning device 5 to sweep the first signal area 3031 and the second signal area 3041 based on the cleaning schedule table 551 stored in the storage module 55. Besides, the cleaning time data of the cleaning schedule table 551 can be updated based on the control request from the control terminal 6. Moreover, due to the presence of the environment detection modules 22, 32 of the first and second signal terminals 2, 3, additional floor cleaning for the first and second signal areas 3031, 3041 can be adaptively achieved. Furthermore, cleaning data associated with execution of the floor cleaning device 5 can be remotely and wirelessly transmitted to the monitor terminal 7, thereby facilitating remote monitoring of execution of the floor cleaning device 5.
While the disclosure has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical embodiment, it is understood that the disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A floor cleaning system for cleaning a floor surface, said floor cleaning system comprising:

a first signal terminal including a first signal emitter configured to emit a first emitter signal so as to define a first signal area within the floor surface; and

a floor cleaning device including

a housing,

a sensing module mounted to said housing, and generating a first sensing signal while receiving the first emitter signal emitted by said first signal emitter,

a driving module disposed in said housing, and operable to drive said housing to move on the floor surface,

a sweeping module mounted to said housing, and operable to gather dirt particles from the floor surface,

a storage module disposed in said housing for storing cleaning time data, the cleaning time data including at least a first cleaning time period that is associated with the first sensing signal, and

a processing module disposed in said housing, coupled to said sensing module, said driving module, said sweeping module and said storage module, and controlling operations of said driving module and said sweeping module;

wherein, once said sensing module of said floor cleaning device receives the first emitter signal, said sensing module outputs the first sensing signal generated thereby to said processing module, and

upon initial receipt of the first sensing signal from said sensing module, said processing module activates said sweeping module so as to gather dirt particles from the floor surface, and controls said driving module to drive said housing to move in such a way that said processing module continues to receive the first sensing signal from said sensing module, until a first duration counting from the initial receipt of the first sensing signal by said processing module reaches the first cleaning time period stored in said storage module, at which time basic floor cleaning associated with the first emitter signal is completed.

2. The floor cleaning system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first signal emitter includes at least one optical signal emitter, and the first emitter signal is an infrared signal.

3. The floor cleaning system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said driving module is operable in a multi-moving mode, in which said housing is driven to move on the floor surface along one of a random path, a spiral path, a polygonal spiral path and a zigzag path, said processing module controlling said driving module to operate in the multi-moving mode upon the initial receipt of the first sensing signal from said sensing module until the first duration reaches the first cleaning time period.

4. The floor cleaning system as claimed in claim 1, the floor surface having a plurality of partitions erecting thereon, wherein:

said first signal terminal is disposed against one of the partitions;

said driving module is operable in a wall-following mode where said housing is driven to move on the floor surface along any one of the partitions; and

when the first duration reaches the first cleaning time period, said processing module controls said driving module to operate in the wall-following mode at least until said processing module no longer receives the first sensing signal from said sensing module.

5. The floor cleaning system as claimed in claim 4, further comprising a second signal terminal to be disposed against another one of the partitions, said second signal terminal including a second signal emitter that is configured to emit a second emitter signal, which is different from the first emitter signal, so as to define a second signal area within the floor surface;

wherein said sensing module generates a second sensing signal that is different from the first sensing signal while receiving the second emitter signal emitted by said second signal emitter;

wherein the cleaning time data stored in said storage module further includes a second cleaning time period that is associated with the second sensing signal;

wherein, once said sensing module of said floor cleaning device receives the second emitter signal, said sensing module outputs the second sensing signal generated thereby to said processing module, and

upon initial receipt of the second sensing signal from said sensing module, said processing module activates said sweeping module so as to gather dirt particles from the floor surface, and controls said driving module to drive said housing to move in such a way that said processing module continues to receive the second sensing signal from said sensing module, until a second duration counting from the initial receipt of the second sensing signal by said processing module reaches the second cleaning time period stored in said storage module, at which time basic floor cleaning associated with the second emitter signal is completed.

6. The floor cleaning system as claimed in claim 5, wherein:

the cleaning time data stored in said storage module further includes a predetermined order of priority of the first and second sensing signals; and

said processing module ignores receipt of one of the first and second sensing signals with a lower order of priority until completion of the basic floor cleaning associated with one of the first and second emitter signals that corresponds to the other of the first and second sensing signals with a higher order of priority.

7. The floor cleaning system as claimed in claim 5, wherein said second signal emitter includes at least one optical signal emitter, and the second emitter signal is an infrared signal.

8. The floor cleaning system as claimed in claim 1, the floor surface having a plurality of partitions erecting thereon, wherein:

said floor cleaning device further includes a cleaning end communication module coupled to said processing module and connected to a wireless communication network;

said first signal terminal further includes

a signal end communication module connected to the wireless communication network,

an environment detection module configured to detect an environmental parameter associated with the first signal area, to determine whether the environmental parameter detected thereby is greater than a predetermined threshold value, and to generate a detecting signal upon determining that the environmental parameter is greater than the predetermined threshold value, and

a processor coupled to said first signal emitter, said signal end communication module and said environment detection module, said processor generating, upon receipt of the detecting signal from said environment detection module, a cleaning request for additional floor cleaning that is associated with the first emitter signal, and transmitting the cleaning request to said floor cleaning device through said signal end communication module via the wireless communication network;

said driving module of said floor cleaning device is operable in a wall-following mode where said housing is driven to move on the floor surface along any one of the partitions; and

when said processing module of said floor cleaning device receives the cleaning request from said first signal terminal through said cleaning end communication module via the wireless communication network while the first sensing signal is not received from said sensing module, said processing module controls said driving module to operate in the wall-following mode until said processing module receives the first sensing signal, at which time said processing module activates said sweeping module and controls said driving module to drive said housing to move in such a way that said processing module continues to receive the first sensing signal for a predetermined period of time so as to perform the additional floor cleaning associated with the first emitter signal.

9. The floor cleaning system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the environmental parameter is the amount of dust.

10. The floor cleaning system as claimed in claim 9, wherein said processing module of said floor cleaning device is capable of generating a power saving request, when said processing module transmits the power saving request generated thereby to said first signal terminal through said cleaning end communication module via the wireless communication network, said processor of said first signal terminal deactivates said first signal emitter in response to receipt of the power saving request from said floor cleaning device.

11. The floor cleaning system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a control terminal connected to a wireless communication network and operable to generate a control request for updating the cleaning time data;

wherein said floor cleaning device further includes a cleaning end communication module coupled to said processing module and connected to the wireless communication network; and

wherein, when said control terminal transmits the control request to said floor cleaning device via the wireless communication network, said processing module of said floor cleaning device updates the cleaning time data stored in said storage module in response to receipt of the control request from said control terminal through said cleaning end communication module via the wireless communication network.

12. The floor cleaning system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a monitor terminal that is connected to a wireless communication network and that is operable to generate a cleaning data request;

wherein, when said monitor terminal transmits the cleaning data request to said floor cleaning device via the wireless communication network, said processing module of said floor cleaning device transmits a reply including at least the first duration currently of record to said monitor terminal through said cleaning end communication module via the wireless communication network in response to receipt of the cleaning data request from said monitor terminal.

13. A floor cleaning device for cleaning a floor surface, a signal emitter being disposed for emitting an emitter signal so as to define a signal area within the floor surface, said floor cleaning device comprising:

a housing;

a sensing module mounted to said housing, and generating a sensing signal while receiving the emitter signal emitted by the signal emitter;

a driving module disposed in said housing, and operable to drive said housing to move on the floor surface;

a sweeping module mounted to said housing, and operable to gather dirt particles from the floor surface;

a storage module disposed in said housing for storing cleaning time data, the cleaning time data including a cleaning time period that is associated with the sensing signal; and

wherein, once said sensing module receives the first emitter signal, said sensing module outputs the sensing signal generated thereby to said processing module, and

upon initial receipt of the sensing signal from said sensing module, said processing module activates said sweeping module so as to gather dirt particles from the floor surface, and controls said driving module to drive said housing to move in such a way that said processing module continues to receive the sensing signal from said sensing module, until a duration counting from the initial receipt of the sensing signal by said processing module reaches the cleaning time period stored in said storage module.

14. The floor cleaning device as claimed in claim 13, the emitter signal being an infrared signal, wherein said sensing module is an optical sensing module.

15. The floor cleaning device as claimed in claim 13, wherein said driving module is operable in a multi-moving mode, in which said housing is driven to move on the floor surface along one of a random path, a spiral path, a polygonal spiral path and a zigzag path when operating in the multi-moving mode, said processing module controlling said driving module to operate in the multi-moving mode upon the initial receipt of the sensing signal from said sensing module until the duration reaches the cleaning time period.