Patent Application
20240388110
The present disclosure relates to battery operated devices, and more particularly to battery pack powered tools or accessories.
Embodiments described herein provide a power management system that includes a battery pack powered tool, one or more battery packs coupled to the battery pack powered tool, a first voltage regulator providing a first output voltage, a second voltage regulator providing a second output voltage, and a trigger configured to receive the first output voltage and the second output voltage. The system also includes one or more control lines configured to enable or disable one of the first voltage regulator and the second voltage regulator.
In some aspects, the one or more battery packs include a first battery pack and a second battery pack.
In some aspects, the system also includes a processing unit configured to control at least one of the one or more control lines to enable or disable the one or more of the first voltage regulator and the second voltage regulator.
In some aspects, the system also includes a switch configured to control at least one of the one or more control lines to enable or disable the one or more of the first voltage regulator and the second voltage regulator.
In some aspects, the switch is configured to control at least one of the one or more control lines to enable or disable each of the first voltage regulator and the second voltage regulator.
In some aspects, the one or more of the first voltage regulator and the second voltage regulator being disabled reduces a quiescent current of the battery pack powered tool to less than about seven micro-Amps.
In some aspects, each of the first voltage regulator and the second voltage regulator being disabled reduces a quiescent current of the battery pack powered tool to less than about seven micro-Amps.
Embodiments described herein provide a battery pack powered tool for managing power consumption. The battery pack powered tool includes one or more battery pack interfaces configured to receive one or more battery packs, a first voltage regulator providing a first output voltage, a second voltage regulator providing a second output voltage, a trigger configured to receive the first output voltage and the second output voltage, and a controller including a processor and a memory. The controller is configured to control, by enabling or disabling one or more of the first voltage regulator and the second voltage regulator using one or more control lines, an amount of power the battery pack powered tool consumes.
In some aspects, the one or more battery packs include a first battery pack and a second battery pack.
In some aspects, the controller includes a processing unit configured to control at least one of the one or more control lines to enable or disable the one or more of the first voltage regulator and the second voltage regulator.
In some aspects, the battery pack powered tool further includes a switch configured to control at least one of the one or more control lines to enable or disable the one or more of the first voltage regulator and the second voltage regulator.
In some aspects, the switch is configured to control at least one of the one or more control lines to enable or disable each of the first voltage regulator and the second voltage regulator.
In some aspects, each of the first voltage regulator and the second voltage regulator being disabled reduces a quiescent current of the battery pack powered tool to less than about seven micro-Amps.
In some aspects, one of the first voltage regulator and the second voltage regulator being disabled reduces a quiescent current of the battery pack powered tool to less than about seven micro-Amps.
Embodiments described herein provide a method for managing power consumption of a battery pack powered tool. The method includes receiving power from one or more battery packs coupled to the battery pack powered tool, and providing the power to at least one of a first voltage regulator and a second voltage regulator of the battery pack powered tool. The first voltage regulator is configured to provide a first output voltage and the second voltage regulator configured to provide a second output voltage. The method also includes providing the first output voltage and the second output voltage to a trigger of the battery pack powered tool, and controlling, with a controller, operation of the battery pack powered tool to enable or disable the at least one of the first voltage regulator and the second voltage regulator using one or more control lines.
In some aspects, the method further includes controlling, with the controller, at least one of the one or more control lines to disable each of the first voltage regulator and the second voltage regulator.
In some aspects, the method further includes determining, with the controller, that a trigger of the of the battery pack powered tool is released, and determining, with the controller, whether the battery pack powered tool is not in use based on a time in an idle state associated with the release of the trigger and a temporal threshold.
In some aspects, the method further includes sending, in response to the time in the idle state of the battery pack powered tool exceeding the temporal threshold, a signal over the one or more control lines to disable the at least one of the first voltage regulator and the second voltage regulator using one or more control lines.
In some aspects, when the at least one of the first voltage regulator and the second voltage regulator is disabled, a quiescent current of the battery pack powered tool is reduced to less than about 7 micro-Amps.
In some aspects, each of the first voltage regulator and the second voltage regulator is disabled, a quiescent current of the battery pack powered tool is reduced to less than about 7 micro-Amps.
Before any embodiments are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the embodiments are not limited in application to the details of the configurations and arrangements of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The embodiments are capable of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” or “having” and variations thereof are meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. Unless specified or limited otherwise, the terms “mounted,” “connected,” “supported,” and “coupled” and variations thereof are used broadly and encompass both direct and indirect mountings, connections, supports, and couplings.
In addition, it should be understood that embodiments may include hardware, software, and electronic components or modules that, for purposes of discussion, may be illustrated and described as if the majority of the components were implemented solely in hardware. However, one of ordinary skill in the art, and based on a reading of this detailed description, would recognize that, in at least one embodiment, the electronic-based aspects may be implemented in software (e.g., stored on non-transitory computer-readable medium) executable by one or more processing units, such as a microprocessor and/or application specific integrated circuits (“ASICs”). As such, it should be noted that a plurality of hardware and software based devices, as well as a plurality of different structural components, may be utilized to implement the embodiments. For example, “servers,” “computing devices,” “controllers,” “processors,” etc., described in the specification can include one or more processing units, one or more computer-readable medium modules, one or more input/output interfaces, and various connections (e.g., a system bus) connecting the components.
Relative terminology, such as, for example, “about,” “approximately,” “substantially,” etc., used in connection with a quantity or condition would be understood by those of ordinary skill to be inclusive of the stated value and has the meaning dictated by the context (e.g., the term includes at least the degree of error associated with the measurement accuracy, tolerances [e.g., manufacturing, assembly, use, etc.] associated with the particular value, etc.). Such terminology should also be considered as disclosing the range defined by the absolute values of the two endpoints. For example, the expression “from about 2 to about 4” also discloses the range “from 2 to 4”. The relative terminology may refer to plus or minus a percentage (e.g., 1%, 5%, 10%, or more) of an indicated value.
It should be understood that although certain drawings illustrate hardware and software located within particular devices, these depictions are for illustrative purposes only. Functionality described herein as being performed by one component may be performed by multiple components in a distributed manner. Likewise, functionality performed by multiple components may be consolidated and performed by a single component. In some embodiments, the illustrated components may be combined or divided into separate software, firmware and/or hardware. For example, instead of being located within and performed by a single electronic processor, logic and processing may be distributed among multiple electronic processors. Regardless of how they are combined or divided, hardware and software components may be located on the same computing device or may be distributed among different computing devices connected by one or more networks or other suitable communication links. Similarly, a component described as performing particular functionality may also perform additional functionality not described herein. For example, a device or structure that is “configured” in a certain way is configured in at least that way but may also be configured in ways that are not explicitly listed.
Other aspects of the disclosure will become apparent by consideration of the detailed description and accompanying drawings.
This disclosure relates to a multi-voltage source trigger switch for managing power usage from battery packs coupled to a battery pack powered device, such as a power tool or accessory. The battery pack powered device can be designed to receive one or more battery packs (e.g., two battery packs) which are each managed, for example, with respect to the voltage source trigger switch, for longevity while coupled to the device. It may be beneficial for battery pack powered devices to keep their current consumption to a minimum value to ensure extended battery life of the connected battery packs and to avoid premature battery pack failure due to over-discharge events, in particular, for lithium-ion battery packs. For some devices, it may be preferable to keep standby current consumption to <7 micro-Amps (“uA”) for the battery packs. The standby current consumption can be managed by being able to shut-off, disconnect, or otherwise disable sub circuits or whole groups of sub circuits of the battery pack powered device to lower the quiescent current to <7 uA. By shutting off, disconnecting, or disabling the sub circuits, sub circuits with pull-up resistor values below 1 Megaohm can be used to reduce the overall quiescent current consumption of the circuits when the product is not in use.
In some embodiments, the present disclosure can be implemented in a battery pack powered power tool or accessory.
In some embodiments, the housing 114 and/or the handle 116 may include a battery pack interface or battery pack receiving cavity 118 defined therein. In the illustrated embodiment, the battery pack receiving cavity 118 also extends generally parallel to the longitudinal axis. The battery pack receiving cavity 118 can be configured to receive at least a portion of one or more battery packs. While at least a portion of the battery pack is received in the battery pack receiving cavity 118 in an operational position, at least another portion of the battery pack can be disposed outside of the battery pack receiving cavity 118 (in a direction generally rearwardly of the handle 116 in the illustrated embodiment). The portion of the battery pack outside of the battery pack receiving cavity 118 is disposed radially outwardly from the longitudinal axis at a position that is above the inlet 110. With the battery pack within the battery pack receiving cavity 118, electrical communication can be established between the battery pack and the battery pack powered tool 100. The electrical communication link can be used to provide power from the battery pack to the battery pack powered tool 100, as well as allowing the battery pack powered tool 100 to manage the battery usage.
In some embodiments, the battery packs may be any combination of 12-volt, 18-volt, 36-volt, 40V, 80V, etc., battery packs. In some embodiments, the battery pack receiving cavity 118 can be designed to receive two 18-volt battery packs to provide, for example, a combined 36-volts to the battery pack powered tool 100. The battery pack(s) are provided to provide power to the battery pack powered tool 100 and its various components. In some embodiments, the battery pack(s) can provide a power source for the motor (for powering a fan of the blower), a microcontroller (e.g., controller 400 of
The illustrated battery pack powered tool 100 (e.g., handheld blower 100) may include many other features including, for instance, one or more triggers 150 or other controls disposed on or about the handle 116, a plurality of support feet 152 to allow a user to place the handheld blower 100 on a support surface, a plurality of vibration dampening sections (made of, for instance, a polymer material) connecting the air duct to the housing 114, a plurality of nozzle attachments and extension attachments of various shapes, sizes, and lengths, or the like.
Referring to
In some embodiments, the controller 400 includes a plurality of electrical and electronic components that provide power, operational control, and protection to the components and modules within the controller 400 and/or the battery pack powered tool 100. For example, the controller 400 includes, among other things, a processing unit 455 (e.g., a microprocessor, a microcontroller, an electronic processor, an electronic controller, or another suitable programmable device), a memory 460, input units 465, and output units 470. The processing unit 455 includes, among other things, a control unit 475, an arithmetic logic unit (“ALU”) 480, and a plurality of registers 485 (shown as a group of registers in
The memory 460 is a non-transitory computer readable medium and includes, for example, a program storage area and a data storage area. The program storage area and the data storage area can include combinations of different types of memory, such as a ROM, a RAM (e.g., DRAM, SDRAM, etc.), EEPROM, flash memory, a hard disk, SSD, an SD card, or other suitable magnetic, optical, physical, or electronic memory devices. The processing unit 455 is connected to the memory 460 and executes software instructions that are capable of being stored in a RAM of the memory 460 (e.g., during execution), a ROM of the memory 460 (e.g., on a generally permanent basis), or another non-transitory computer readable medium such as another memory or a disc. Software included in the implementation of the battery pack powered tool 100 can be stored in the memory 460 of the controller 400. The software includes, for example, firmware, one or more applications, program data, filters, rules, one or more program modules, and other executable instructions. The controller 400 is configured to retrieve from the memory 460 and execute, among other things, instructions related to the control processes and methods described herein. In other constructions, the controller 400 includes additional, fewer, or different components.
The indicators 430 include one or more visual, audio or haptic feedbacks to provide feedback to a user as of the status of the battery pack powered tool 100 and/or battery pack 200. For example, indicators 430 can include one or more light-emitting diodes (“LEDs”). The indicators 430 can be configured to display conditions of, or information associated with, the battery pack powered tool 100. For example, the indicators 430 are configured to indicate measured electrical characteristics of the battery pack powered tool 100, the status of the battery pack(s) 200, etc. The user input module 435 is operably coupled to the controller 400 to, for example, select a forward mode of operation or a reverse mode of operation, a torque and/or speed setting for the battery pack powered tool 100 (e.g., using torque and/or speed switches), etc. In some embodiments, the user input module 435 includes a combination of digital and analog input or output devices required to achieve a desired level of operation for the battery pack powered tool 100, such as one or more knobs, one or more dials, one or more switches, one or more buttons, one or more touch or pressure sensitive sensors, etc.
In some embodiments, the controller 400 can include one or more power management systems for controlling power draw from one or more sub-systems of the battery pack powered tool 100, for example, as depicted in
In some embodiments, a combination of the processing unit 455 and the trigger 150 and/or switch 415 can control activation/deactivation of the sub circuits of the battery pack powered tool 100. For example, the sub circuits can be disabled by sending a deactivation or disable signal to a voltage regulator 510 or other switch/regulator providing power to those sub circuits. In some embodiments, the processing unit 455 can be coupled to the control lines for another voltage regulator 510 while the trigger 150 and/or switch 415 can be coupled to one or more other sub circuits. The trigger 150/switch 415 can also be coupled to the processing unit 455 and the components for the battery pack powered tool 100. The control lines between the processing unit 455 and the trigger and/or switch 415 can be provided to control when the various control lines to the trigger 150/switch 415 are activated/deactivated. The enable lines can be used to disable either of the sub circuits individually or all circuits as a group. In some embodiments, the trigger 150/switch 415 include multiple (e.g., two or more) input power lines. One input power line comes from the voltage regulator 510. A second input power line comes from the voltage regulator 512.
By disabling or deactivating one or some of the sub circuits or the whole battery pack powered tool 100, a power saving mode is implemented that lowers the quiescent current of the battery pack powered tool 100 to below a threshold value (e.g., less than 7 uA). Specifically, being able to shut-off/disconnect/disable one of the plurality of sub circuits or whole groups of sub circuits, enables sub circuits with pull-up resistor values below 1 Megohm to be used that reduce the overall quiescent current consumption of the circuits when the product is not in use.
In some embodiments, power from one or more of multiple battery packs 200 can be provided to power a plurality of sub circuits. The power management system can be designed such that a combination of battery packs 200 can be used for powering the processing unit 455 and the trigger 150 and/or switch 415, and the various other sub circuits of the battery pack powered tool 100. For example, a combination of two 18V battery packs 200 can be used in combination and/or individually to power the processing unit 455 and the trigger 150 and/or switch 415 and/or different sub circuits.
In some embodiments, the processing unit 455 and the trigger 150 and/or switch 415 can be coupled to control lines for controlling the enabling/disabling of the switches and/or voltage regulators providing power to the different sub circuits. The switches and/or voltage regulators can each include an enable pin for turning the control of the switches and/or regulators on or off. The enable pins can be coupled to control lines connected to a combination of the processing unit 455, the trigger 150, and/or the switch 415. The processing unit 455, the trigger 150, and/or switch 415 can provide enable (e.g., wake) and/or disable (e.g., sleep) signals depending on how the power management system is configured.
In some embodiments, the processing unit 455 can be coupled to control lines for the voltage regulator 510 while the trigger 150 and/or switch 415 can be coupled to a control line for a high side switch (e.g., in a main power line of the battery pack powered tool 100). Depending on operation of the battery pack powered tool 100, the different control lines can be activated/deactivated to control load from the respective sub circuits. The control lines may be analog, digital, and/or any other communication type and control lines that may, but are not limited to enable or disable the circuits that source and/or control the supply voltage to multiple cascaded sub circuits at once or individual sub circuit groups individually. For example, a first plurality of sub circuits and a second plurality of sub circuits can be arranged in a cascaded manner in which deactivation of a switch (e.g., a switched mode power supply) will result in the deactivation of both the first and second plurality of sub circuits. Using the control lines, improvement to the longevity and operation of the battery packs 200 connected to the battery pack powered tool 100 can be achieved because they lower the current consumption of the battery pack(s) 200 by deactivating circuits when they are not in use. Additionally, the longevity and operation of the battery packs 200 can be improved through a combination of power sequencing (e.g., selectively turning on and off sub circuits that power the trigger 150/switch 415) and reduced quiescent current to extend battery shelf life.
Referring to
Each of the first and second supply voltages could be configured to be turned on or off at any time and/or can be permanently active. The first and second supply voltages may also be individually controlled and/or controlled based on an active/inactive state of the other supply voltages. For example, if VDD_3V3 at pin 605 is turned off or otherwise disconnected/disabled, the supply voltage for VDD_3V3_MCU at pin 630 may be turned on or otherwise connected/enabled. This can include switching voltage supplies between the two sources or the VDD_3V3 at pin 630 may provide its supply voltage permanently, while the VDD_3V3_MCU at pin 605 is selectively provided based on other factors or conditions of the battery pack powered tool 100 (e.g., whether the trigger 150 is pulled, an elapsed idle time reaching a threshold value, etc.). As such, for a trigger switch circuit 600 that includes two voltage input pins, power to one or both of those voltage input pins can be selectively disabled to reduce the quiescent current of the battery pack powered tool 100. In some embodiments, the first and second supply voltages (e.g., VDD_3V3 at pin 630 and VDD_3V3_MCU at pin 605) can be sourced from the same battery pack supply or separate battery pack supplies. For example, the first supply voltage (e.g., VDD_3V3 at pin 630) can be sourced from one battery pack while the second supply voltage (e.g., VDD_3V3_MCU at pin 605) can be sourced from a second battery pack.
The voltage supplies at pin 605 and pin 630 do not need to be provided specifically from the voltage regulators 510, 512. Instead, the voltages can be provided by, for example, the processing unit 455, the controller 400, a logic circuit, or another circuit that outputs voltages. The supply or sourcing signal may be continuous or discontinuous in the signal time domain. For example, the supply signal may be a DC signal, an AC signal, or in another form that is modulated or encoded. This contrasts with previous circuits which have utilized permanently connected supply voltages that resulted in higher quiescent current when the products are not in use.
In operation, the battery pack powered tool 100 can receive one or more battery pack(s) 200, for example, in the battery pack receiving cavity 118. The one or more battery pack(s) 200 can provide power to the battery pack powered tool 100 and its various components. The battery pack(s) 200 can be in communication with the one or more switches and/or voltage regulators which provide power to each of the sub circuits of the battery pack powered tool 100. For example, the battery pack(s) 200 can provide power to the voltage regulator 510, 512 to power the processing unit 455 and trigger 150/switch 415. The power can be provided on demand based on activation of the battery pack powered tool 100, for example, actuation of the trigger 150.
To prevent the inserted battery pack(s) 200 from being depleted/damaged while connected to the battery pack powered tool 100, the power management system described herein can be implemented to minimize the current consumption of the battery pack powered tool 100. The power management system of the present disclosure can reduce current consumption by implementing the circuit designs discussed with respect to
As depicted in
Although the disclosure has been described in detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments, variations and modifications exist within the scope and spirit of one or more independent aspects of the disclosure as described.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/248,702, filed Sep. 27, 2021, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/US22/44819 | 9/27/2022 | WO |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63248702 | Sep 2021 | US |
