This application is a National Stage Application of PCT/EP2018/082545, filed 26 Nov. 2018, and which application is incorporated herein by reference. To the extent appropriate, a claim of priority is made to the above-disclosed application.
The present application relates to an electromechanical or electrohydraulic tool for portable use such as a spreading device, cutting device, or combined device with cutting and spreading function or a lifting cylinder (or rescue cylinder). The aforementioned are preferably used for rescue operations.
Portable, motor-driven electromechanical or electrohydraulic tools or rescue devices of the type of interest in this case are used in a wide variety of applications. For example, there are spreading devices, cutting devices or so-called combined devices, i.e. devices with cutting and spreading functions, as well as rescue cylinders that are used by emergency services (fire brigade), for example, to rescue injured people from accident vehicles or to rescue earthquake victims. The type of tool or rescue device is varied in this case. There are electrohydraulically or electromechanically driven tools or rescue devices with, preferably hardened, tool inserts for cutting, spreading, or pressing. Such devices are exposed to extremely high mechanical requirements in use and are subject to a wide variety of environmental influences (heat, cold, moisture) depending on the place of use.
It is of particular importance in this case that rescue devices in particular ensure particularly high operational reliability when in use, since rescue operations always have to be carried out quickly and sudden operational failures can therefore have fatal consequences.
In addition, in specific rescue situations, a tool must also be operated underwater, for example if an accident vehicle has crashed into a lake, river, or stream. In such situations, it has been extremely difficult to recover trapped people from their vehicle wrecks. In addition, in such a situation there is even less time for a rescue due to the possible ingress of water. However, the previous devices were not suitable for underwater use.
G 93 10 597.5 discloses a battery-operated underwater electrical device in the form of, for example, a pump. The underwater electrical device has a watertight tubular housing into which a housing end part equipped with O-sealing rings inserted in circumferential grooves is pressed. The construction is very complex.
The object of the present invention is to provide a tool which, on the one hand, allows use under water and, on the other hand, can be implemented with simple structural means.
Relatively simple structural measures can ensure that the portable tool can also be operated if water should penetrate the interior of the housing, because a brushless direct-current motor is provided as the electric motor, the electronic components of the printed circuit board are enclosed with potting compound to prevent water from entering, and the connection elements of the control cable are protected against the ingress of water. In particular, it is possible to operate the tool under water if necessary. Compared to a conventional tool, only comparatively minor design changes are necessary to ensure this additional considerable functional advantage. The tool according to the invention can in particular also be used for rescue purposes, for example in a vehicle surrounded by water in which people are still located. People can be rescued from a vehicle wreck very quickly with the new tool.
Either a plug-in connection or a soldered connection can be provided as the connection means for the control cable on the printed circuit board. The sealing of the soldered connection against the ingress of water takes place by encapsulating the soldered connection with potting compound.
In particular, the tool according to the invention allows that no protective and/or sealing measures against the ingress of water into the interior of the housing have to be provided on the housing of the tool when immersing the housing in water. Such protective or sealing measures, especially in the case of complicated housings, are often very complex and costly in terms of construction.
In particular, the tool according to the invention has connection means for connecting a control line, the connection means being protected against the ingress of water. The control line itself usually has a waterproof insulation. Each control line expediently has a correspondingly sealed connection means. A part of the respective connection means can be arranged on the printed circuit board side and preferably also partially embedded there. The opposite part of the connection means is located on the control line. The connection means can be a plug-in connection or a plug-in/rotary connection, which is sealed, for example, using an O-ring.
Advantageously, the housing cannot include any protective and/or sealing measures against the ingress of water into the interior of the housing when immersing the housing in water.
The electronic open-loop and closed-loop control unit expediently comprises a display and/or control panel having a further printed circuit board on which electronic components can be arranged, which are also enclosed with potting compound to prevent water from entering. This further printed circuit board can be connected to the main printed circuit board arranged remotely in the housing via a control line described above.
The electronic open-loop and closed-loop control unit can comprise a sensor having a further printed circuit board on which electronic components are also arranged, which are also enclosed with potting compound to prevent water from entering. This additional printed circuit board can also be controlled via a control line described above or connected to the main printed circuit board arranged remotely in the housing.
Furthermore, two printed circuit boards can consist of the same printed circuit board base material or printed circuit board base plate equipped with electronic components, one printed circuit board being defined as a removal region from the other printed circuit board (remainder of the printed circuit board base material or printed circuit board base plate) and the two printed circuit boards being already connected in the scope of the assembly via a control cable. A soldered connection can be provided as the connection means of the control cable or cables. This makes it possible to produce the two printed circuit boards including control cables in one manufacturing process and to protect not only the electronic components as such but also the connection means for the control line for both printed circuit boards against the ingress of water in a simple manner by means of the potting compound.
An electrical contact between the electric motor and the wiring of the energy supply is expediently unprotected from water. This simplifies the construction to a considerable extent.
In particular, the electrical connections for power cables for the energy supply to the electric motor can, which are at a sufficient distance from one another, which distance ensures that, in the event that the connections are surrounded by water during electrical operating conditions of the tool, (e.g. with a nominal voltage of 24 volts) no electrical short-circuit occurs via the water as the electrical conduction medium.
The power cables preferably have a total of three strands (three phases).
Furthermore, a control panel can be provided on the tool. This can comprise a waterproof membrane keyboard, i.e. a membrane layering. A printed circuit board can be provided in the region of or below the control panel or the membrane keyboard.
This additional printed circuit board can also be controlled via a control line described above or connected to the main printed circuit board arranged remotely in the housing.
The front edge of the control panel, preferably the membrane keyboard, can also be covered by potting compound. The potting compound thus hermetically seals the membrane layering laterally along the circumference of the control panel.
In particular, in the region of the front edge of the control panel to the surrounding housing for receiving potting compound, a gap can be provided that preferably runs
Furthermore, the gap can be covered on the outside by a protrusion of the control panel, i.e. it can be overlapped. This makes it possible to cast the arrangement “upside down” with potting compound, since the protrusion prevents the potting compound from “running out.”
To accommodate the rechargeable battery, an insertion slot having open contact pins located therein that are not protected from water is preferably provided for making contact with the rechargeable battery.
The contact pins are expediently also at a sufficient distance from one another, which ensures that in the event that the contact pins are surrounded by water, no electrical short-circuit occurs during the above-mentioned electrical operating conditions of the tool via the water as the electrical conduction medium.
Control lines of the type described can connect the printed circuit boards to one another.
A membrane switch can be provided as an on and off switch.
A potting compound based on PU, epoxy, or silicone is preferably used as the potting compound. A silicone-based potting compound is particularly suitable when elevated temperatures occur.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail. For the sake of clarity, recurring features are provided only once with a reference sign. In the drawings:
Reference sign 1 in
In the example shown, two tool halves 35a, 35b, which are cutting tool halves in the embodiment shown in
The embodiment of the control valve 6 shown in
The tools in question in this case are able to be operated in any spatial arrangement or orientation.
Instead of the cutting device described above, the invention can also be designed as a spreading device, a combined device having cutting and spreading functions, or as a lifting or rescue cylinder. A piston rod that is guided in a cylinder, for example a hydraulic cylinder, is used in all of these devices.
The delivery flow branches in the further course in the direction of the switching valve 6 and the pressure shut-off valve 31. The pressure shut-off valve 31 is set to the permissible system pressure by means of spring force. If the pressure exceeds the set permissible system pressure, the pressure shut-off valve 31 opens and allows the delivery flow to flow back into the tank until the pressure falls below the permissible pressure again.
The control valve 6 is operated manually by the user by means of a star handle (see
The hydraulic cylinder 4 has a branch to safety valves 29, 30 at both connections. These safety valves 29, 30 ensure that the pressure in the cylinder chambers cannot rise higher than permitted. If the pressure in one or in both cylinder chambers rises above the safety-related permissible pressure, these valves open a connection to the tank 19 so that the pressure can decrease again. The pressure inside the hydraulic cylinder 4 can increase, for example, because forces acting on the piston of the hydraulic cylinder 4 from outside additionally compress the hydraulic oil. Devices are attached to the piston rod 5 of the hydraulic cylinder 4 which move, for example, a shear knife, a spreader, or the like. The tank 19 can, for example, be designed as a flexible rubber bellows and at the same time serves as a compensating device.
The control lines 10a and/or 10b are each lines via which control signals are sent. A direct connection to the printed circuit board is provided in the embodiment according to
Furthermore, in the region of the printed circuit board 8, power cables for the energy supply of the electric motor 3 are arranged, which are in electrical connection with contact pins 27 for the rechargeable battery or an energy supply unit. In the example shown, there is a three-phase connection with three power cables 23a, 23b and 23c. In particular, the electrical connections 24a to 24c of the power cables 23a, 23b and 23c for the energy supply of the electric motor 3 can be spaced apart by a sufficient distance from one another, which ensures that, in the event that the connections 24a to 24c are surrounded by water during electrical operating conditions of the tool, (e.g. with a nominal voltage of 24 volts), no electrical short-circuit occurs via the water as the electrical conduction medium. Corresponding connections are also provided on the electric motor 3, but cannot be seen in
In the region of the insertion slot 28, open contact pins 27, which are unprotected from water, are provided for electrical contact with a rechargeable battery (not shown in
From the enlarged partial representation of
The enlarged partial representation of
The present invention makes it possible to operate the tool 1 also under water without the housing 12 having to be sealed. This new, important functionality can thus be achieved without complex conversion measures or without any significant increase in manufacturing costs.
The electronic components of the printed circuit board 8, 20, and/or 22 are in particular microcontrollers, frequency converters, memory modules, electronic switches, measuring devices such as, for example, integrated semiconductor temperature sensors and/or LEDs.
The display 14 includes a display device, which in turn can include, for example, a load display and/or operating status display and/or temperature display.
The rechargeable battery 18 has a waterproof housing or at least an independent waterproof encapsulation.
The on/off switch 13 is a waterproof on/off switch, for example a membrane switch or a push button switch.
A potting compound based on PU, epoxy, or silicone can preferably be used as the potting compound. A silicone-based potting compound is particularly suitable if elevated temperatures occur during operation of the tool 1.
As an alternative to the rechargeable battery 18, an energy supply unit (not shown in the drawings), which is connected to the network via a cable, can also be inserted into the insertion slot 26.
It is expressly pointed out that the combination of individual features and sub-features is also to be regarded as substantial to the invention and is included in the disclosure content of the application.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/EP2018/082545 | 11/26/2018 | WO |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2020/108727 | 6/4/2020 | WO | A |
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