Patent Grant
9746860
The present invention relates to an electric tool adaptor configured to be disposed between an electric tool and a battery pack and attached detachably with respect to the electric tool and the battery pack, and an electric tool system using the same.
Conventionally, there is known a configuration which allows attachment of a battery pack which can be directly attached to an electric tool and attachment of a battery pack different from the above battery pack by, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-73799 (hereinafter referred to as “Document 1”). In the electric tool of Document 1, placement of an electric tool adaptor between the electric tool and the battery pack allows a plurality of types of battery packs to be attached to the electric tool.
The electric tool adaptor of Document 1 allows the battery pack, which cannot be directly attached to the attachment portion of the electric tool due to a difference in shape, to be attached to the electric tool via the adaptor simply by configuring the shape of the adaptor such that the shape thereof fits the battery pack and the electric tool.
By connecting the electric tool and the battery pack with the electric tool adaptor having the above configuration disposed between the electric tool and the battery pack, it becomes possible to attach a plurality of types of battery packs to a specific electric tool.
By the way, if the above electric tool adaptor is used, even when the voltage of the battery pack is different from the rated voltage of the electric tool, a user can use the electric tool. However, the rated voltage indicates a voltage at which the electric tool can be safely used, and hence, when the battery pack having a voltage higher than the rated voltage is used, there have been chases where heat generated by a motor in the electric tool is increased and the electric tool breaks down. On the other hand, when the battery pack having a voltage lower than the rated voltage is used, there have been cases where performance required by the user cannot be exhibited.
The present invention has been achieved in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an electric tool adaptor capable of excellently driving an electric tool even when a battery pack having a voltage different from the rated voltage of the electric tool is used, and an electric tool system using the same.
An adaptor of the present invention is configured to be disposed between an electric tool and a battery pack and attached detachably with respect to the electric tool and the battery pack. The adaptor comprises a DC-DC converter configured to increase or reduce a voltage of the battery pack to convert the voltage thereof to a drive voltage of the electric tool and supply the drive voltage to the electric tool.
In an embodiment, the drive voltage is a rated voltage of the electric tool, and the DC-DC converter is a step-up/down converter.
In an embodiment, the step-up/down converter is configured to convert the voltage of the battery pack to a plurality of levels of the rated voltage.
In an embodiment, the electric tool and the battery pack are a first electric tool configured to use a first battery pack and a second battery pack for a second electric tool, respectively. The first battery pack for the first electric tool is configured to generate a first electromotive force for driving the first electric tool while the second battery pack for the second electric tool is configured to generate a second electromotive force for driving the second electric tool. The first electromotive force and the second electromotive force correspond to a first drive voltage of the first electric tool and a second drive voltage of the second electric tool, respectively and are different from each other.
In an embodiment, the electric tool adaptor further includes a tool connection portion configured to be detachably attached to the first electric tool, and a battery connection portion configured to be detachably attached to the second battery pack.
In an embodiment, the first and second electric tools comprise first and second attachment portions for providing attachment of the first and second battery packs to the first and second electric tools, respectively. The first and second battery packs comprise first and second attached portions configured to be attached to the first and second attachment portions, respectively. The tool connection portion has a shape corresponding to the first attached portion while the battery connection portion has a shape corresponding to the second attachment portion.
In an electric tool system of the present invention, the adaptor described above is used, and any one of a plurality of types of battery packs which are different from each other can be attached to an electric tool having a predetermined rated voltage.
In an electric tool system of the present invention, the adaptor described above is used, and any one of a plurality of types of battery packs which are different from each other can be attached to any one of a plurality of types of electric tools having different rated voltages.
According to the electric tool adaptor of the present invention and the electric tool system using the same, it is possible to excellently drive the electric tool even when the battery pack having a voltage different from the rated voltage of the electric tool is used.
Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described in further details. Other features and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings where:
As shown in
As shown in
The electric tool 1 and the battery pack 2 are a first electric tool configured to use a first battery pack (not shown) and a second battery pack for a second electric tool (not shown), respectively. The first electric tool 1 includes the first attachment portion 15 for providing attachment of the first battery pack to the first electric tool 1. Similarly, the second electric tool includes a second attachment portion for providing attachment of the second battery pack 2 to the second electric tool. The first battery pack includes a first attached portion (see 33 of
Consequently, either the first battery pack or the second battery pack can be selectively attached to the attachment portion 15 of the electric tool (the first electric tool) 1 directly or via the adaptor 3. The attachment portion 15 of the electric tool (the first electric tool) 1 in the present embodiment has a concave portion 16 provided in a lower end surface of the handle 12 and a terminal provided on a bottom-side surface of the concave portion 16, and serves as what is called a plug-in attachment portion 15. The attachment portion of the second electric tool is also configured substantially similarly to the attachment portion 15. As shown in
For example, as shown in
The electric tool system of the present embodiment includes a plurality of types of the (at least first and second) electric tools that include a plurality of types of the (at least first and second) battery packs, and voltages thereof are different from each other. Note that the battery packs in the electric tool system of the present embodiment have the plug-in portions having substantially the same shape and the attachment methods thereof are identical.
The adaptor 3 is disposed between the electric tool 1 and the battery pack 2 and is attached detachably with respect to the electric tool 1 and the battery pack 2, and is configured to convert the voltage of the battery pack 2 to the drive voltage (e.g., a rated voltage) of the electric tool 1. As shown in
The adaptor 3 includes, in its internal portion, a DC-DC converter configured to increase or reduce the voltage of the battery pack 2 to convert the voltage thereof into the drive voltage (e.g., the rated voltage) of the electric tool 1, and supply (apply) the drive voltage to the electric tool 1. In the present embodiment, the DC-DC converter is a step-up/down converter 4. Note that the DC-DC converter of the present invention may also be a step-up converter or a step-down converter. As shown in
The control circuit 45 controls the individual transistors such that a voltage Vout between the first output-side terminal 36 and the second output-side terminal 37 has a value corresponding to the drive voltage (e.g., the rated voltage) of the electric tool 1. When the voltage between the first input-side terminal 38 and the second input-side terminal 39 is assumed to be Vin and a voltage drop value of the diode 42 is assumed to be Vf, if Vin−Vf<rated voltage is satisfied, the control portion controls the individual transistors to perform step-up control. The control portion controls the PNP transistor 43 such that the PNP transistor 43 is turned OFF and controls the NPN transistor 44 such that ON/OFF of the NPN transistor 44 is repeated, thereby storing electromagnetic energy in the coil 41. Subsequently, at the time point when predetermined energy is stored in the coil 41, the control portion controls the NPN transistor 44 such that the NPN transistor 44 is turned OFF, and controls the PNP transistor 43 such that the PNP transistor 43 is turned ON. As a result, the electromagnetic energy stored in the coil 41 is released, the output voltage of the adaptor 3 is thereby increased, and the increased voltage is applied to the electric tool 1 through the smoothing capacitor 46.
If Vin−Vf≧rated voltage is satisfied, the control portion controls the individual transistors to perform step-down control. The control portion controls the NPN transistor 44 such that the NPN transistor 44 is turned OFF, and controls the PNP transistor 43 such that ON/OFF of the PNP transistor 43 is repeated. As a result, voltages during ON/OFF are smoothed by the smoothing capacitor 46 and the output voltage is thereby reduced.
The values of Vin and the rated voltage are detected by tool voltage detection means (not shown) for detecting a tool-side voltage and power source voltage detection means (not shown) for detecting a power source-side voltage. These voltage detection means are connected to the control circuit 45, and the control circuit 45 performs arithmetic calculation on the basis of the detected values to perform the above controls.
Note that the values of Vin and the rated voltage may also be directly inputted to the control circuit 45 by the manual operation of a user.
In the electric tool system including various (at least the first and second) electric tools provided by the adaptor 3 described above, the various electric tools can share the battery packs for the various electric tools. That is, even when a user uses the battery pack 2 having a voltage higher than a rated voltage, the adaptor 3 of the present embodiment is capable of preventing the breakdown of the electric tool 1 caused by overheating. In addition, even when the user uses the battery pack 2 having a voltage lower than the rated voltage, the adaptor 3 of the present embodiment is capable of causing the electric tool 1 to fully exhibit its performance. Even when any one of the battery packs having different voltages is used, it is possible to apply a voltage corresponding to a rated voltage to the electric tool 1.
In addition, in the electric tool system of the present embodiment, any one of a plurality of types of the battery packs which are different from each other can be attached to the electric tool 1 and the adaptor 3 having the step-up/down converter 4 is disposed between the battery pack and the electric tool 1, and hence it is possible to prevent the breakdown of the electric tool 1 caused by erroneous attachment.
In an embodiment, the electric tool system includes, as the second electric tool, a high-voltage electric tool having a drive voltage (e.g., a rated voltage) higher than that of the first electric tool 1, and a low-voltage electric tool having a drive voltage (e.g., a rated voltage) lower than that of the second electric tool. For example, the drive voltage of the first electric tool is 18 V, the drive voltage of the high-voltage electric tool is 21.6 V, and the drive voltage of the low-voltage electric tool is 14.4 V. In this embodiment, when the high-voltage electric tool is attached, the DC-DC converter of the adaptor 3 reduces the voltage (21.6 V) of the battery pack for the high-voltage electric tool to convert the voltage thereof to the drive voltage (18 V) of the first electric tool, and supplies the drive voltage (18 V) to the first electric tool 1. In addition, when the low-voltage electric tool is attached, the DC-DC converter increases the voltage (14.4 V) of the battery pack for the low-voltage electric tool to convert the voltage thereof to the drive voltage (18 V) of the first electric tool, and supplies the drive voltage (18 V) to the first electric tool 1.
In the electric tool system of the present embodiment, although the plug-in battery packs are used as the plurality of types of the battery packs, the attachment method of the battery pack is not limited thereto. For example, even when the battery pack 2 shown in
The battery pack 2 shown in
The adaptor (not shown) having the input-side terminals 38 and 39 connected to the input-side terminals 23 and 24 is connected to the battery pack 2 having the above configuration. Although this adaptor 3 is different in shape from the above adaptor 3, this adaptor 3 has the same step-up/down converter 4 as that in the above embodiment. The adaptor 3 has protrusion portions (not shown) inserted into the slide grooves 52. Note that the portion connected to the electric tool 1 is the same as that in the above embodiment. In short, the battery connection portion 34 of the adaptor 3 is configured such that the upper portion of the battery pack 2 shown in
The battery pack 2 having the above configuration is slid laterally relative to the adaptor 3 to be thereby attached to the adaptor 3, and it is possible to construct the electric tool system similar to that of the present embodiment by using this battery pack 2.
In addition, as another example, it is also possible to use, e.g., a plug pack 2A shown in
The adaptor 3 has the step-up/down converter 4 which increases or reduces the voltage of the plug pack 2A of
By the step-up/down converter, an AC voltage inputted from the battery pack 2 is rectified and smoothed, and then the voltage is increased or reduced as in the above embodiment. This voltage is applied to the electric tool 1 and the electric tool 1 is thereby driven.
Next, another embodiment will be described. Note that the most part of the present embodiment is the same as the above embodiment so that the description of the same part will be omitted and the different part thereof will be mainly described. Note that, although the depiction of the same part as the above embodiment will be omitted in the present embodiment, the description of the same part as the above embodiment will be given with reference to the drawings of the above embodiment.
An electric tool system of the present embodiment has a plurality of types of (at least first and second) battery packs having different voltages, a plurality of types of (first and second) electric tools having different drive voltages (e.g., rated voltages), and the adaptor 3. In the electric tool system of the present embodiment, any one of the plurality of types of battery packs can be attached to any one of the plurality of types of electric tools 1 directly or via the adaptor 3.
The adaptor 3 of the present embodiment has a setting button which sets a value of Vout. The setting button is capable of setting a plurality levels of the voltage (e.g., 50 V/100 V/150 V . . . ), and is connected to the control circuit 45 of the step-up/down converter 4. When a user performs the setting by using the setting button, the setting button transmits setting information to the control circuit 45. The control circuit 45 having received the setting information controls the transistors 43 and 44 on the basis of the setting information, and causes the value of Vout to approach the set value (see
The electric tool system of the present embodiment can achieve an extremely wide application range of the electric tool 1 and the battery pack 2, and reduce a restriction on the combination of the electric tool 1 and the battery pack 2.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, various amendments and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the essential spirit and scope of the invention, i.e., without departing from the scope of claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-175634 | Aug 2010 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2011/066594 | 7/21/2011 | WO | 00 | 1/29/2015 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2012/017833 | 2/9/2012 | WO | A |
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