Patent Grant
11728102
The present application claims the priority of the Chinese patent applications: serial No. 202010701627.5, filed on Jul. 20, 2020; the disclosures of which is hereby incorporated by reference in it entirely.
The disclosure relates to a switch assembly, a control method of the switch assembly and a power tool, belonging to the field of garden tools.
At present, power tools usually have a switch on the handle gripped by the user. However, when the power tool is used, it occurs that the switch may be pressed unintentionally, causing the power tool to start under abnormal conditions when the user only needs to hold it instead of using it, so that dangerous situations occur, and a safety switch needs to be arranged in a conventional switch assembly which can prevent accidental actuation of the switch assembly without the user having to work with the tool.
The conventional starting switch is arranged below the handle and faces downwards, when the power tool is used, the power tool can be started by pressing the starting switch upwards while holding the handle, and the existing safety switch is mainly of a linkage type, that is, if the starting switch needs to be activated, the safety switch needs to be firstly pressed, toggled or rotated, at the moment, the locking of the safety switch to the starting switch is released, and then a user can activate the starting switch to start the tool. The switch assembly designed on the basis of the above technology is widely applied to the field of power tools, wherein the gripping type switch assembly is most common, the safety switches of the switch assembly are arranged on the opposite upper portion of the handle starting switch and are arranged upwards, when a user uses the handle of the tool, the safety switch can be pressed and then the starting switch can be pressed, therefore, the gripping type switch is simple in structure and convenient to use, and the gripping type switch assembly is widely applied to the field of power tools.
However, the use of the above-described gripping type switch assembly has the disadvantage that the actuation of the safety switch and the starting switch cannot be distinguished significantly, which leads to the occurrence of dangerous situations due to the erroneous actuation of the starting switch, and the potential unsafe factors of such gripping type switch assemblies limit their future use on tools in the case of new tool use safety regulations.
In view of this, there is a need for improvements to existing safety switches to address the above problems.
This disclosure provides a switch assembly which is in a locked state in a non-use state without being inadvertently depressed to cause abnormal activation.
The disclosure provides a switch assembly which comprises a housing, a main control switch accommodated in the housing, a locking switch and a trigger switch, wherein the locking switch and the trigger switch are arranged on the housing, one end of the trigger switch is exposed outside the housing, the other end of the trigger switch is accommodated in the housing and is in contact with the main control switch, one end of the locking switch is exposed outside the housing, and the other end of the locking switch is in contact with the trigger switch. The locking switch is provided with a locking position and a releasing position, when the locking switch is in the locking position, the locking switch is opposite to the trigger switch and limits the action of the trigger switch, the trigger switch is in a locked state, and the main control switch cannot be started; when the locking switch is located at a releasing position, the locking switch is located beside the trigger switch and limits are removed, the trigger switch is in a release state, and the main control switch can be started.
As a further improvement of the disclosure, the trigger switch comprises a contact portion contacted with the main control switch and a holding portion exposed outside the housing, the locking switch comprises a pressing portion exposed outside the housing and an abutting portion contacted with the trigger switch, and when the locking switch is in a locking position, the abutting portion abuts against the inner side wall of the holding portion; when the locking switch is located at the releasing position, the abutting portion is shifted to the side of the holding portion and propped is released, and after the holding portion is operated, the contact portion triggers the main control switch, so that the main control switch is started.
As a further improvement of the disclosure, the holding portion is internally provided with an accommodating cavity, and in a locked state, the abutting portion is in contact with the top wall of the holding portion; and in a release state, the abutting portion is positioned above the accommodating cavity.
As a further improvement of the disclosure, the locking switch further comprises a rotating portion connecting the pressing portion and the abutting portion, the rotating portion is mounted on the housing and can be offset and rotated relative to the housing, and when the pressing portion is pressed, the abutting portion rotates synchronously.
As a further improvement of the disclosure, a first elastic piece and a second elastic piece which are used for driving the locking switch to reset are arranged in the housing, one end of the first elastic piece is abutted against the inner side wall of the housing, the other end of the first elastic piece is abutted against the rotating portion, when the locking switch deviates relative to the housing, the first elastic piece deforms, and the abutting portion moves to the accommodating cavity; the second elastic piece is sleeved on the rotating portion, one end of the second elastic piece is abutted against the inner side wall of the housing, the other end of the second elastic piece is fixed with the pressing portion, when the pressing portion is pressed, the second elastic piece deforms, and the abutting portion enters the accommodating cavity and synchronously rotates in the accommodating cavity.
As a further improvement of the disclosure, the first elastic piece and the second elastic piece are respectively arranged on two sides of the rotating portion, limiting blocks for limiting and fixing the first elastic piece and the second elastic piece are arranged on two sides of the rotating portion, a fixing block is formed on the pressing portion, and the fixing block is arranged in an inverted L shape to form a fixing cavity between the fixing block and the pressing portion; and the other end of the second elastic piece is limited and accommodated in the fixing cavity.
As a further improvement of the disclosure, the trigger switch further comprises a connecting portion for connecting the contact portion and the holding portion, wherein the connecting portion is installed on the housing and can rotate relative to the housing, so that when the holding portion is operated, the contact portion is synchronously driven to trigger the main control switch, and the main control switch is started.
As a further improvement of the disclosure, the main control switch is arranged in a pressing mode and comprises a body portion and a telescopic arm connected with the body portion, and the contact portion of the trigger switch is positioned above the telescopic arm so as to start the main control switch when the contact portion presses the telescopic arm downwards.
The disclosure aims to provide a method for starting a switch assembly, so that the switch assembly cannot be started in a non-use state, and abnormal starting caused by unintentional pressing is avoided.
The disclosure provides a method for starting the switch assembly, which mainly comprises the following steps:
toggling the locking switch towards one side, so that the locking switch deviates relative to the housing, the locking switch moves from a relative position of the trigger switch to a side position, the limit between the locking switch and the trigger switch is released, and the locking switch is located at a releasing position;
operating the locking switch to enable the locking switch to rotate relative to the housing;
operating a first end of the trigger switch to enable the trigger switch to rotate relative to the housing until a second end of the trigger switch triggers the main control switch, and the main control switch is started.
The disclosure aims to provide a power tool in which a switch assembly of the power tool is locked in a non-use state without being inadvertently pressed to cause abnormal activation.
The disclosure provides a power tool comprising a motor and a switch assembly for controlling activation or deactivation of the motor;
the switch assembly comprises:
a housing;
a main control switch accommodated in the housing;
a trigger switch arranged on the housing, wherein one end of the trigger switch is exposed outside the housing, and the other end of the trigger switch is accommodated in the housing and is in contact with the main control switch; and
a locking switch arranged on the housing, wherein
one end of the locking switch is exposed outside the housing, and the other end of the locking switch is in contact with the trigger switch,
the locking switch is provided with a locking position and a releasing position,
when the locking switch is in the locking position, the locking switch is opposite to the trigger switch and limits the action of the trigger switch, the trigger switch is in a locked state, and the main control switch cannot be started, and
when the locking switch is located at the releasing position, the locking switch is located beside the trigger switch and limits are removed, the trigger switch is in a release state, and the main control switch can be started.
The beneficial effects of the disclosure are: under the non-use state, the locking switch is located at the locking position and the trigger switch is in the locking state, by the mutual abutting of the trigger switch and the locking switch, and at the moment, the main control switch cannot be started; during normal starting, the locking switch is firstly biased towards one side until the locking switch and the trigger switch are released from abutting, and then the main control switch can be started by respectively pressing the locking switch and the trigger switch; compared with the prior art, the switch assembly is not only simple in structure and convenient to operate, but also the switch assembly is always in the locked state in the non-use state, and will not cause abnormal activation due to unintentional pressing, and has a higher safety factor.
In order to make objects, aspects, and advantages of the disclosure more apparent, the disclosure will describe in detail with the drawings and specific embodiment.
The disclosure provides a power tool, which can be a hedge trimmer, an electric saw, a blower, a chain saw or a string trimmer, or other types of hand-held power tools.
In
As shown in
As shown in
A first inserting piece 115 and a limiting piece 116 arranged around the first inserting piece 115 are arranged on the inner side wall of the first housing 111, and the first inserting piece 115 is arranged close to the top of the first housing 111 and used for installing the locking switch 13; the limiting piece 116 is spaced from the first inserting piece 115 to form a spacing cavity 117 between the first inserting piece 115 and the limiting piece 116. The inner side wall of the second housing 112 is provided with a second inserting piece 118 disposed near the middle of the second housing 112 for mounting the trigger switch 14. In the present disclosure, the first inserting piece 115 and the second inserting piece 118 are arranged in a cylindrical shape.
The first housing 111 and the second housing 112 are assembled to form a handle 110, the locking switch 13 is positioned at the top of the handle 110 and partly protrudes out of the handle 110, the trigger switch 14 is positioned at the bottom of the handle 110 and partly protrudes out of the handle 110, when the switch assembly 10 is started, the handle 110 is directly held, and the trigger switch 14 is pressed upwards by an index finger while the locking switch 13 is pressed downwards; the starting of the main control switch 12 can be realized, and the operation is simple and convenient.
As shown in
As shown in
The contact portion 141 is located above the telescopic arm 122 and has a smaller thickness, and the lower surface of the contact portion 141 is substantially planar, so that when the holding portion 142 is gripped, the contact portion 141 can be synchronously driven to trigger the telescopic arm 122 of the main control switch 12 downwards, and the main control switch 12 can be stably started. The connecting portion 143 is arranged in a substantially semicircular shape so as to rotate in the housing 11; the connecting portion 143 is provided with a through hole 144 for the second inserting piece 118 to pass through, the second inserting piece 118 and the through hole 144 are arranged in a circular shape, the diameter of the through hole 144 is larger than that of the second inserting piece 118, and the trigger switch 14 can conveniently rotate around the second inserting piece 118. Since the holding portion 142 needs to protrude outside the housing 11, the thickness of the holding portion 142 is larger, so that it is convenient for an operator to perform a gripping operation.
An accommodating cavity 145 is formed in the holding portion 142 of the trigger switch 14 and communicates the connecting portion 143 with the holding portion 142. The accommodating cavity 145 is arranged so that a first side wall 146 and a second side wall 147 are formed on the trigger switch 14, and the accommodating cavity 145 is positioned between the first side wall 146 and the second side wall 147; in other words, the accommodating cavity 145 is formed to be recessed downward from a top middle position of the trigger switch 14.
As shown in
The pressing portion 131 is of a T-shaped structure and comprises a pressing plate 1311 horizontally extending in a flat plate shape and an extending plate 1312 vertically extending downwards from the middle position of the bottom of the pressing plate 1311, and the pressing plate 1311 is exposed outside the housing 11 and can be manually pressed by an operator; the extending plate 1312 is partly exposed outside the housing 11 in an initial state, and the extending plate 1312 is retracted into the housing 11 after an operator manually presses the pressing plate 1311. A fixing block 1313 is formed at the bottom of the extending plate 1312, and the fixing block 1313 is arranged in an inverted L shape to form a fixing cavity 1314 between the fixing block 1313 and the pressing portion 131.
The abutting portion 132 extends in a vertical direction for abutting the trigger switch 14 in a vertical direction. The rotating portion 133 and the abutting portion 132 are both contained in the housing 11, the rotating portion 133 is provided with a perforation hole 1331 through which the first inserting piece 115 passes, the first inserting piece 115 and the perforation hole 1331 are both circularly arranged, and the diameter of the perforation hole 1331 is larger than that of the first inserting piece 115, so that the locking switch 13 can conveniently rotate around the first inserting piece 115.
Limiting blocks 1332 are arranged on two sides of the rotating portion 133, the number of the limit block 1332 on each side can be one, two or more, and preferably, two limit blocks 1332 are arranged on each side of the rotating portion 133. The rotating portion 133 is further provided with a cylindrical sleeve 1333, the perforation hole 1331 penetrates through the sleeve 1333, and the sleeve 1333 and the fixing block 1313 are positioned on the same side of the locking switch 13.
A first elastic piece 15 and a second elastic piece 16 are further arranged in the housing 11, and the first elastic piece 15 and the second elastic piece 16 are respectively arranged on two sides of the rotating portion 133 and are used for driving the locking switch 13 to reset when the locking switch 13 is deviated and rotated. Specifically, the first elastic piece 15 is installed in the horizontal direction, one end of the first elastic piece 15 penetrates through the first inserting piece 115 and is limited and contained in a spacing cavity 117 between the first inserting piece 115 and the limiting piece 116 in a limiting way, so that the first elastic piece 15 is abutted against the inner side wall of the first housing 111; the other end of the first elastic member 15 is limited by a limiting block 1332 on the rotating portion 133 so as to be abutted against the rotating portion 133. The second elastic piece 16 is sleeved on the sleeve 1333 in the horizontal direction and limited by limiting block 1332 on the same side, one end, located in the vertical direction, of the second elastic piece 16 abuts against the inner side wall of the second housing 112, and the other end, located in the vertical direction, is limited and accommodated in the fixing cavity 1314.
By arranging the fixing block 1313, the limiting block 1332 and the sleeve 1333 on the locking switch 13, the first elastic piece 15 and the second elastic piece 16 can be limited and fixed. In the embodiment, the first elastic piece 15 is a compression spring and the second elastic piece 16 is a torsion spring, mainly used for driving the locking switch 13 to reset. Instead of the first elastic piece 15 and the second elastic piece 16, other components capable of performing the reset function as well can be used.
In this disclosure, the locking switch 13 has a locking position and a releasing position, when the locking switch 13 is in the locking position, the locking switch 13 is opposite to the trigger switch 14 and limits the action of the trigger switch 14, the trigger switch 14 is in a locked state, the main control switch 12 cannot be started, the motor cannot rotate, and the power tool cannot work normally; when the locking switch 13 is located at the releasing position, the locking switch 13 is located at the side of the trigger switch 14 and the limiting relationship between the locking switch 13 and the trigger switch 14 is released, the main control switch 12 can be started, if the trigger switch 14 is pressed at the moment, the main control switch 12 is started, the motor starts to rotate, and the power tool starts to work normally.
As shown in
When the locking switch 13 is switched from the locking position to the releasing position, only the abutting portion 132 needs to be offset to a certain distance towards one side of the accommodating cavity 145 until the abutting portion 132 is positioned above the accommodating cavity 145, the locking state between the locking switch 13 and the trigger switch 14 is immediately released, the locking switch 13 is positioned in the releasing position, and the trigger switch 14 is in the releasing state. With regard to the first elastic piece 15 and the second elastic piece 16, when the locking switch 13 deviates towards one side of the accommodating cavity 145 (which means deviates relative to the housing 11), the first elastic piece 15 is compressed to deform, and the abutting portion 132 moves above the accommodating cavity 145; when the pressing portion 131 is pressed, the second elastic piece 16 is forcibly opened to deform, and the abutting portion 132 enters the accommodating cavity 145 and synchronously rotates in the accommodating cavity 145.
As shown in
As shown in
When the power tool needs to be used, firstly, the whole locking switch 13 is moved towards the left side (close to one side of the accommodating cavity 145) by a certain distance, so that the abutting portion 132 of the locking switch 13 is just above the accommodating cavity 145, and at the moment, the first elastic piece 15 is compressed and deformed; then, the pressing portion 131 of the locking switch 13 is pressed downwards, the abutting portion 132 enters the accommodating cavity 145 and synchronously rotates in the accommodating cavity 145, and the second elastic piece 16 is forced to open under the action of the fixing block 1313 to deform; finally, the holding portion 142 is pressed (grasped) upward to rotate the trigger switch 14 as a whole with respect to the housing 11 until the contact portion 141 presses the telescopic arm 122 downward to start the main control switch 12 (as shown in
After use, the locking switch 13 and the trigger switch 14 are freed at the same time, and the trigger switch 14 can be restored to the initial state under the restoring force of the telescopic arm 122; meanwhile, under the action of the elastic force of the second elastic piece 16, the locking switch 13 integrally reversely rotates until the abutting portion 132 is positioned above the accommodating cavity 145 again, and then under the action of the elastic force of the first elastic piece 15, the locking switch 13 integrally deflects towards the right side (the side far away from the accommodating cavity 145) until the abutting portion 132 abuts against the top of the second side wall 147 of the trigger switch 14 again. At this time, the locking switch 13 and the trigger switch 14 are again in a mutual locking state.
In summary, in the non-use state of the switch assembly 10, the locking switch 13 can be located in the locking position and the trigger switch 14 can be in the locking state, by the mutual abutting of the trigger switch 14 and the locking switch 13, at the moment, the main control switch 12 cannot be started, and the power tool is kept in the non-use state; during normal starting, the locking switch 13 is firstly biased towards one side until the locking switch 13 and the trigger switch 14 are released from abutting, and then the main control switch 12 can be started by respectively pressing the locking switch 13 and the trigger switch 14, so that the power tool works normally. Compared with the prior art, this disclosure is not only simple in structure and convenient to operate, but also the switch assembly 10 is always in the locked state in the non-use state, and will not cause abnormal activation due to unintentional pressing, and has a higher safety factor.
Although the disclosure has been described in detail with reference to preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without deportioning from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202010701627.5 | Jul 2020 | CN | national |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20220020542 A1 | Jan 2022 | US |
