BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The drawings show:
FIG. 1 a partial cross-sectional view of a main handle with a safety lock in the normal position;
FIG. 2 a partial cross-sectional view of the main handle according to FIG. 1 with the safety lock in the release position; and
FIG. 3 a partial cross-sectional view of the main handle according to FIG. 2 in which the grip of a motor switch is pressed.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
FIG. 1 shows an end of an electrically operated hand-held power tool 2 in the form of a severing tool or grinding tool, which end is remote of a tool holder, not shown. This hand-held power tool 2 has a tool housing 4 which forms an arc-shaped main handle 6 at this end. A grip 8 for actuating a motor switch 10 by a hand holding the main handle 6 by means of a switching member 12 is provided on this main handle 6. The motor switch 10 is arranged in a housing interior 14 which is defined by the tool housing 4. The grip 8 is formed by a switch pawl that is held so as to be swivelable along a swiveling direction S around a swiveling axis AS. Actuation of the motor switch 10 is possible in various positions of the hand holding the main handle 6 by means of this grip 8. In FIG. 1, the grip 8 is in a passive position in which the motor switch 10 is not actuated.
Further, a safety lock, designated in its entirety by 16, is provided at the main handle 6. This safety lock 16 substantially comprises a two-legged turning element 18 which is held at the tool housing 4 so as to be swivelable around an axis of rotation AD. The turning element 18 has actuating means in the form of an actuating leg 20 which projects out of the tool housing 4 through a housing opening 22 in the normal position shown in FIG. 1 by an outer actuating portion 24 shown in dash-dot lines. The actuating portion 24 and the housing opening 22 are arranged in a trough-shaped depression 25 of the tool housing 4 so that the actuating leg 20 is protected against jamming. At the same time, however, the actuating portion can easily be actuated by a finger, particularly the thumb, or the ball of a hand holding it. In addition, the turning element 18 is biased in the normal position by a leg spring 26 which acts on the tool housing 4 on one side and at a corresponding stop 28 of the turning element 18 on the other side.
In this normal position, a blocking leg 30 of the turning element 18 is arranged in a movement path of a contact area 32 of the grip 8 with respect to the swiveling direction S. In the normal position, this contact area 32 of the grip 8 contacts a blocking area 34 of the blocking leg 30 that is formed by a surface so that a swiveling movement of the grip 8 into the housing interior 14 is blocked according to FIG. 1. Accordingly, the grip 8 is held in the passive position and prevents the motor switch 10 from being actuated.
By applying a pressing force F to the actuating portion 24, the turning element 18 can be rotated into a release position against the force of the leg spring 26 around the axis of rotation AD along a rotating direction D as is shown in FIG. 2. A relatively large swiveling movement of the blocking area 34 is generated by a relatively slight swiveling movement of the actuating portion 24 because the actuating portion 24 is at a distance a from the axis of rotation AD that is less than the distance b between the blocking area 34 and the axis of rotation AD.
In the release position according to FIG. 2, the blocking leg 30 is arranged so as to be offset in swiveling direction S relative to the movement path of the contact area 32 so that the grip 8 is no longer blocked by the blocking area 34. By applying an actuating pressure B to the grip 8, this grip 8 can accordingly be swiveled around the swiveling axis AS in the swiveling direction S into the housing interior 14 into an active position.
In this active position according to FIG. 3, the grip 8 presses against the switching member 12 which in turn actuates the motor switch 10. In this way, the hand-held power tool 2 is put into operation. The blocking area 34 is arranged in a recess 36 of the grip 8 which is formed adjacent to the contact area 32 and is limited on one side by a rotary stop 38 which is contacted by the blocking leg 30 due to the force of the leg spring 26. The safety lock 16 is held in the release position by this contact even without applying a pressing force F to the actuating portion 24 as long as the motor switch 10 is actuated by applying the actuating pressure B to the grip 8.
As soon as the actuating pressure B is removed from the grip 8 to stop the hand-held power tool, the grip 8 swivels out of its active position back into the passive position. Since the rotary stop 38 is at a distance from the blocking leg 30, the turning element 18 can simultaneously be swiveled back by the leg spring 26 into the normal position shown in FIG. 1 in which an unintended switching on of the motor switch 10 by unintentionally pressing on the grip 8 is blocked.
Though the present invention was shown and described with references to the preferred embodiment, such is merely illustrative of the present invention and is not to be construed as a limitation thereof and various modifications of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is therefore not intended that the present invention be limited to the disclosed embodiment or details thereof, and the present invention includes all variations and/or alternative embodiments within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
Patent Application
20080011592
