Patent No. EP4373377 (titled "Self-Propelled And Self-Steering Floor Cleaning Apparatus, And Floor Cleaning System") was filed by Alfred Krcher on Jul 23, 2021. The application was issued on Jul 16, 2025.
A self-propelled, self-steering floor cleaning apparatus comprises a running gear, at least one cleaning device, a control device, and a sensor device. The control device performs localization and navigation based on sensor signals. The sensor device, positioned on the apparatus's front side relative to its forward direction, includes a first distance measuring unit comprising a stereo camera system and a second distance measuring unit comprising a structured light scanning unit. Both units have overlapping viewing areas directed forward. The second distance measuring unit is positioned above the first distance measuring unit along a height direction. The system may include a docking station for supplying consumable components. The control unit evaluates, supplements, or plausibility-checks data from both overlapping distance measuring units to increase operational reliability.

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