The invention relates to an electric work machine having a motor and a control unit inside a motor housing.
With the increasing output of electric tools, there is known a configuration in which a heat generating element or a heat dissipation member connected to the heat generating element is exposed to the outside where cooling air flows through in order to cool the heat generating element (hereinafter referred to as “element exposure configuration”).
In the case of the element exposure configuration, an electric element or a member that may conduct electricity thereto may come into contact with a part, from which the insulating coating is removed, of a wiring such as a power line and cause a problem. In particular, for example, when the above-described element exposure configuration is adopted in a configuration that houses a control unit such as a controller inside a motor housing which houses a motor, the wiring (particularly, the portion with the insulating coating removed) may come into contact with the electricity conducting portion or the heat generating portion of the control unit.
The invention has been made in view of such a situation, and provides an electric work machine capable of preventing contact between the control unit and the wiring provided inside the motor housing.
An embodiment of the invention is an electric work machine. The electric work machine includes a motor housing that houses a motor and a first control unit that controls the motor. An electrical connection part between the motor and the first control unit is positioned outside the motor housing.
The first control unit may include a switching element for conducting electricity to the motor.
A holder may be provided on the electrical connection part side of the motor housing and a plurality of holder through holes may be provided in the holder, and the motor side wiring may be inserted into the holder through hole. In addition, the control unit side wiring may be inserted into the holder through hole at a position different from the holder through hole through which the motor side wiring passes.
A gear case may be connected to one side of the motor housing, and the electrical connection part may be positioned on the other side with respect to the motor housing. A handle housing may be provided on the other side of the motor housing, and the electrical connection part may be positioned inside the handle housing.
A fan rotated by the motor, and an intake port and an exhaust port for generating a flow of air for cooling the motor by the rotation of the fan may be provided. The air flowing in from the intake port may flow into the motor housing through the holder through holes.
The electrical connection part between the motor and the first control unit may have a connector, and a holder that holds the connector may be provided on the other side of the motor housing.
The motor housing may have a cylindrical integral structure that is molded so as not to be divided.
The motor may be a brushless motor, and the first control unit may be an inverter circuit that controls power supply to the motor.
Any combination of the above components and any aspect obtained by converting the expression of the invention between methods and systems are also effective as aspects of the invention.
According to the invention, it is possible to provide an electric work machine capable of preventing contact between a control unit and a wiring provided inside a motor housing.
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The same or equivalent components, members, and the like shown in each drawing are denoted by the same reference numerals, and repeated descriptions will be omitted where appropriate. In addition, the embodiments are exemplary and are not intended to limit the invention, and all the features described in the embodiments and combinations thereof are not necessarily essential to the invention.
With reference to
The electric work machine 1A has an outer shell formed by a motor housing 2, a handle housing (tail cover) 3, and a gear case 4. The handle housing 3 is attached (connected) to the rear end of the motor housing 2 via a holder (intermediate member) 17, and the gear case 4 is attached (connected) to the front end of the motor housing 2. The motor housing 2 and the handle housing 3 are, for example, resin molded bodies. The gear case 4 is made of metal such as aluminum. The gear case 4 supports a bearing 6b that rotatably supports the front portion of the rotation shaft 6a.
The battery pack 14 serving as a power supply source of the electric work machine 1A is detachably installed at the rear end of the handle housing 3. The handle housing 3 constitutes a handle of the electric work machine 1A. A trigger 7 is swingably (rotatably) supported on the lower portion of the handle housing 3. The trigger 7 is an operation part for the user to turn on/off a first switch 11 provided in the current path of the motor 6. The first switch 11 is preferably a mechanical contact switch, and is housed inside the handle housing 3 and positioned above the trigger 7. When the user holds the trigger 7, the trigger 7 swings upward and the first switch 11 is turned on. When the user releases the trigger 7, the trigger 7 swings downward and the first switch 11 is turned off.
The motor housing 2 has a cylindrical integral structure such as a cylindrical shape that extends in the front-and-back direction and is molded so as not to be divided, and has a front end and a rear end that are open. The motor housing 2 houses the motor 6 and a control unit 13 in the rear portion of the motor 6. The control unit 13 includes an inverter circuit that controls the power supply to the motor 6, a microcomputer (microcontroller) that controls the inverter circuit, etc. The motor 6 is an inner rotor type brushless motor. Further, a fan 10 for cooling the motor 6 and the control unit 13 is provided in the front portion of the motor housing 2. The fan 10 is configured to rotate integrally with the rotation shaft 6a, and by the rotation, generates cooling air from the intake ports 3a provided on the left and right of the handle housing 3 to the exhaust ports 4a provided on the gear case 4. That is, the air flowing into the handle housing 3 from the intake ports 3a due to the rotation of the fan 10 flows into the motor housing 2 as cooling air, and cools the control unit 13 and then cools the motor 6 to be discharged from the exhaust ports 4a to the outside. A deceleration mechanism 5 serving as a rotation transmission mechanism is housed inside the gear case 4. The deceleration mechanism 5 is a combination of a pair of bevel gears. The deceleration mechanism 5 decelerates the rotation of the motor 6 and converts it by 90 degrees and transmits it to a spindle 8. A grindstone 8a serving as a rotation tool (tip tool) is provided at the lower end of the spindle 8 so as to be integrally rotatable. Since the mechanical configuration and operation from the rotation of the motor 6 to the rotation of the grindstone 8a are well known, further detailed descriptions will be omitted.
As shown in
According to the present embodiment, the electrical connection part (connector 23) between the wiring 6w of the motor 6 and the wiring 47w of the control unit 13 is arranged outside the motor housing 2, so it is possible to prevent the electrical connection part from contacting a part of the control unit 13. In particular, even if the elements such as the switching element and the microcomputer constituting the inverter circuit of the control unit 13, other electricity conducting portions, heat sinks, etc. in the motor housing 2 are exposed, it is still possible to prevent the risk of problems caused by contact between these and the parts, from which the insulating coating is removed, of the wirings 6w and 47w. Furthermore, since it is not necessary to take up a space for disposing the connector 23 in the motor housing 2, it is possible to prevent the size of the motor housing 2 from increasing, and the flow of the cooling air passing through the inside of the motor housing 2 in the front-and-back direction is not hindered. Since there is a relatively sufficient space in the handle housing 3 in which the connector 23 is positioned, there is no problem even if the connector 23 is disposed. In addition, since it is possible to dispose the connector 23 inside the handle housing 3 that has a sufficient space, it is possible to adopt a relatively inexpensive but large connector member to realize an inexpensive electric work machine. Further, according to the present embodiment, when the connection work for the wiring 6w and the wiring 47w is performed, the motor 6 and the control unit 13 are both supported by the motor housing 2, so they are prevented from moving relative to each other. Therefore, compared with a case where only one of them is supported, the connection work is very easy to perform.
An electric work machine 1B according to the second embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to
A power cord 9 for connecting to an external AC power supply 50 (
The motor housing 2 houses the motor 6 and houses a bridge/inverter board (drive board) 30 in the rear portion of the motor 6. On the rear surface of the bridge/inverter board 30, switching elements Q (corresponding to the switching elements Q1 to Q6 of
The motor 6 is inserted into the motor housing 2 from the front and assembled. The bridge/inverter board 30 is inserted into the motor housing 2 from the rear and assembled. The holder 17 is fixed to the rear end of the motor housing 2 by screws or the like.
The first switch 11 is provided between the output side of the above-mentioned filter circuit and the input side of the diode bridge 15. The first switch 11 is a two-pole switch, and is capable of opening and closing both between one output terminal of the filter circuit and one input terminal of the diode bridge 15, and between the other output terminal of the filter circuit and the other input terminal of the diode bridge 15. The diode bridge 15 serving as a rectifying circuit full-wave rectifies the output voltage of the above-mentioned filter circuit input via the first switch 11 to convert it into a direct current, and supplies it to the inverter circuit 47. The electrolytic capacitor C2 is for absorbing surge and is provided between the output terminals of the diode bridge 15. The resistor Rs is a detection resistor for detecting the current flowing through the motor 6, and is provided in the current path of the motor 6. The diode bridge 15, the electrolytic capacitor C2, the inverter circuit 47 serving as the first control unit, and the resistor Rs are provided on the bridge/inverter board 30 of
The inverter circuit 47 includes the switching elements Q1 to Q6 such as IGBTs and FETs connected in a three-phase bridge, performs a switching operation according to the control of the calculation part 21 serving as the second control unit, and supplies a drive current to the stator coil 6e (each wiring of U, V, W) of the motor 6. The calculation part 21 detects the current of the motor 6 by the voltage across the resistor Rs. Further, the calculation part 21 detects the rotational position (rotor rotational position) of the motor 6 by the output voltage of a plurality of Hall elements (magnetic sensors) 42. The calculation part 21 controls driving and braking of the motor 6 according to the state (on/off) of the second switch 12 which is interlocked with the operation of the trigger 7. Specifically, when the second switch 12 is turned on by the operation of the trigger 7, the calculation part 21 performs switching control (for example, PWM control) on the switching elements Q1 to Q6 and controls the driving of the motor 6. When the second switch 12 is turned off by the operation of the trigger 7, the calculation part 21 performs control (brake control) that applies a braking force to the motor 6. The brake control is, for example, control for generating an electric braking force by continuously or intermittently turning on at least one of the lower arm side switching elements Q4 to Q6 while keeping the upper arm side switching elements Q1 to Q3 of the inverter circuit 47 off.
The other diode bridge 16 serving as a rectifying circuit full-wave rectifies the output voltage of the above-mentioned filter circuit input not via the first switch 11 to convert it into a direct current. The electrolytic capacitor C3 is for absorbing surge and is provided between the output terminals of the diode bridge 16. An IPD circuit 22 is provided on the output side of the diode bridge 16. The IPD circuit 22 is a circuit constituted by an IPD element, a capacitor, or the like, which is an intelligent power device, and is a DC-DC switching power supply circuit that steps down the voltage rectified and smoothed by the diode bridge 16 and the surge absorbing electrolytic capacitor C3 to, for example, about 18V. The IPD circuit 22 is an integrated circuit and has an advantage of low power consumption and energy saving. The output voltage of the IPD circuit 22 is further stepped down to, for example, about 5V by a regulator 26 and supplied to the calculation part 21 as an operating voltage (power supply voltage Vcc). The diode bridge 16, the electrolytic capacitor C3, the calculation part 21, the IPD circuit 22, the regulator 26, etc. are provided on the auxiliary power supply/control board 20.
In the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the electrical connection part (interconnection part of the connectors 6n and 47n) between the wiring 6w of the motor 6 and the wiring 47w extending from the bridge/inverter board 30 is disposed outside the motor housing 2. Therefore, even if the electricity conducting portions such as the switching elements constituting the inverter circuit of the bridge/inverter board 30, heat sinks, etc. in the motor housing 2 are exposed, it is still possible to prevent the risk of problems caused by contact between these and the parts, from which the insulating coating is removed, of the wirings 6w and 47w. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, because the auxiliary power supply/control board 20 is disposed in the front portion of the handle housing 3 (the space where the connector 23 is disposed in
Although the invention has been described above with the embodiments as examples, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to each component or process of the embodiments within the scope of the claims. Hereinafter, modified examples will be described.
The electric work machine of the invention may be an electric work machine other than the grinder illustrated in the embodiments, and in particular, it is suitable for an electric work machine having a motor housing that has a cylindrical integral structure and is molded so as not to be divided.
1A, 1B . . . electric work machine, 2 . . . motor housing, 3 . . . handle housing (tail cover), 4 . . . gear case, 5 . . . deceleration mechanism (rotation transmission mechanism), 6 . . . motor, 6n . . . connector, 6w . . . wiring, 7 . . . trigger, 8 . . . spindle, 8a . . . grindstone, 9 . . . power cord, 11 . . . first switch (contact switch), 12 . . . second switch (electronic switch), 13 . . . control board, 14 . . . battery pack, 15, 16 . . . diode bridge, 17 . . . holder (intermediate member), 17a . . . rib, 17b . . . recess, 20 . . . controller, 21 . . . calculation part (second control unit), 22 . . . IPD circuit, 23 . . . connector (wiring member), 26 . . . regulator, 27 . . . heat sink (heat dissipation member), 28 . . . bearing, 30 . . . bridge/inverter board (drive board), 40 . . . sensor board, 42 . . . Hall element (magnetic sensor), 47 . . . inverter circuit (first control unit), 47n . . . connector, 47w . . . wiring, 50 . . . AC power supply
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2018-172169 | Sep 2018 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2019/035217 | 9/6/2019 | WO | 00 |