This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application Nos. 2017-206760 filed on Oct. 26, 2017, and 2018-156002 filed on Aug. 23, 2018, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a tool and an electric tool provided with ways for notifying a state of a machine.
A conventional electric tool notifies a state (for example, a remaining amount of consumables and occurrence of errors) of a machine by lighting up/blinking an LED or by sounding a buzzer (see, for example, JP-A-2009-184075).
However, in a case where the LED and the buzzer are used as in the related art, an operator may not notice the notification due to on a working environment. For example, in the case of the LED, there is a problem that it is difficult to distinguish a lighting state in a bright work environment such as an outdoor environment. In the case of the buzzer, there is a problem that it is difficult to listen to a sound in a working environment with a high noise level.
When the operator continues working without noticing the notification, the work efficiency decreases and the risk of machine failure increases. For example, in a case where the operator does not notice the notification even if insufficiency of the remaining amount of the consumables is notified, there are concerns that the consumables may be run out at an incomplete timing and interruption or redoing of work may occur. In addition, in a case where the operator does not notice abnormality such as a high temperature or motor lock of the machine, there is a concern that the risk of failure of the machine may increase. Further, in a case where the operator does not notice a low remaining battery capacity, there is a concern that a battery pack may be used in an over-discharged state, which may lead to a reduction in battery life.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a tool and an electric tool that are easily for an operator to notice notification of information even in a bright work environment or a work environment with a high noise level.
In order to solve the above problems, a tool or an electric tool according to the present invention is portable and is to be used with a grip gripped thereon, and includes a vibration generating device for generating vibration to notify a state of a machine.
The present invention is as described above, and includes the vibration generating device that generates the vibration to notify the state of the machine. Therefore, the operator can notice information by the vibration of the vibration generating device even in a bright work environment or a work environment with a high noise level. In addition, the operator has an unnatural feeling intuitively by using the vibration, so that the notification can be noticed sensuously.
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, as an electric tool 10, a driving tool for injecting a fastener (in the present embodiment, a U-shaped staple needle) from an injection port 20a will be described as an example. However, the driving tool is only an example of the electric tool 10. The electric tool 10 to which the present invention can be applied is at least an electric tool 10 that is portable and is to be used with a grip 21 gripped thereon, and a type of the electric tool 10 is not particularly limited.
As shown in
The output portion 20 is a portion that houses a driver (not shown) for striking out the fastener. The driver can slide in a longitudinal direction of the output portion 20. At a tip end of the output portion 20, the injection port 20a is opened, and the fastener before being striking out is standby in front of the injection port 20a. When a trigger 22 to be described later is operated and the driver slides in a direction of the injection port 20a, the fastener standby in front of the injection port 20a is struck out by the driver from the injection port 20a and driven into a material to be driven.
The grip 21 is a rod-shaped portion that an operator grasps when using the electric tool 10. The grip 21 is connected so as to be substantially orthogonal to the output portion 20. Specifically, the grip 21 is connected to a rear side of the output portion 20 when the output portion 20 is viewed in a striking-out direction of the fastener. The grip 21 is provided with the trigger 22 for operating the electric tool 10. The trigger 22 is disposed at a position where an index finger is applied when the operator grips the grip 21. When the operator pulls the trigger 22, a microswitch 22a (see
In addition, a vibration generating device for generating vibration to notify a state of the machine is disposed inside the grip 21. The vibration generating device according to the present embodiment is configured by attaching a weight to a rotation axis of a vibration motor 35. The weight is attached such that a center of gravity thereof is biased with respect to the rotation axis of the vibration motor 35, and when the vibration motor 35 rotates, vibration is generated by the vibration force of the weight.
As indicated by arrows in
The magazine 23 is a portion for loading the fastener. In the present embodiment, the magazine 23 can be loaded with a coupled fastener in which fasteners are connected in a rod shape. The magazine 23 is connected so as to be substantially orthogonal to the output portion 20, and is disposed substantially in parallel with the grip 21. Specifically, the magazine 23 is connected to a front side of the output portion 20 when the output portion 20 is viewed in the striking-out direction of the fastener. A tip end of the magazine 23 is in connection with an inside of the output portion 20, and is capable of supplying the fastener to the tip end of the output portion 20 (near the injection port 20a).
The motor housing portion 24 is provided adjacent to the magazine 23, and houses the motor 24a as shown in
A light guide portion 30 for guiding light of a light source 28 to be described later is provided on an inner surface (a surface facing the grip 21) of the motor housing portion 24. The light guide portion 30 is made of a transparent or semi-transparent resin, and is a member that allows the light of the light source 28 to be incident and diffuses the incident light internally such that the light can be emitted on the surface. The light guide portion 30 is configured such that the light of the light source 28 can be easily seen by the operator.
The battery mounting portion 25 is a portion for making a battery pack 26 detachable. The battery mounting portion 25 is provided at a lower end of the grip 21 (an end portion on a side opposite to the output portion 20). In other words, the output portion 20 is connected to one end portion of the grip 21, and the battery mounting portion 25 is connected to the other end portion of the grip 21.
In the present embodiment, the battery pack 26 can be attached to and detached from a lower surface of the battery mounting portion 25 by sliding the battery pack 26. Although not specifically shown, a latch is provided on an upper surface of the battery pack 26. When the latch is engaged with a lower surface of the battery mounting portion 25, the battery pack 26 is attached to the electric tool 10. When the battery pack 26 is attached to the electric tool 10, the battery pack 26 and the electric tool 10 are electrically connected, and the electric power stored in the battery pack 26 can be used by the electric tool 10.
The control board 27 for controlling the operation of the electric tool 10 is incorporated in the battery mounting portion 25. As shown in
The light source 28 mounted on the control board 27 is controlled to be lighting up to notify the state of the machine. The sound source mounted on the control board 27 is controlled to be output to notify the state of the machine. Further, as described above, the vibration motor 35 vibrates in order to notify the state of the machine. Accordingly, in the electric tool 10 according to the present embodiment, the state of the machine can be notified by a plurality of notification ways including the vibration motor 35, the light source 28, and the sound source.
The plurality of notification ways notify, for example, a state of the remaining amount of the fastener, a charge state of the battery pack 26, a temperature state of the battery pack 26, an abnormal state of the machine, or the like. The notification of the state of the remaining amount of the fastener is a notification to be performed when it is detected that the fastener in the magazine 23 has decreased. The notification of the charge state of the battery pack 26 is a notification to be performed when it is detected that the charge of the battery pack 26 is lowered. The notification of the temperature state of the battery pack 26 is a notification to be performed when it is detected that the battery pack is heated to a high temperature. The notification of the abnormal state of the machine is a notification to be performed in a case where a machine abnormality is detected, such as when the machine is heated to a high temperature or when the motor 24a is locked.
Accordingly, in the present embodiment, a plurality of notification ways and a plurality of notification contents (the state of the remaining amount of the fastener, the charge state of the battery pack 26, and the abnormal state of the machine) are provided. In such an embodiment, which one of the plurality of notification ways is to be used can be automatically switched according to the notification contents.
For example, as shown in
Accordingly, if the notification ways operating according to the notifying content are made different, the state of the machine can be grasped depending on which one of the notification ways is activated. The mode shown in
In addition, when notifying the state of the machine, one of the plurality of notification ways to be used can be manually switched by manipulating a switch or the like attached to a main body of the electric tool 10.
For example, as shown in
Accordingly, if one of the plurality of notification ways to be used can be manually switched, the notification ways can be selected according to the preference of the operator and the working environment. In the above example shown in
In the above embodiment, the vibration motor 35 and the sound source are incorporated in the electric tool 10. However, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto, and the vibration motor 35 and the sound source may be incorporated in an external terminal 40 that is wirelessly connected to the electric tool. 10. That is, as shown in
As described above, according to the present embodiment, a vibration generating device (vibration motor 35) that vibrates to notify the state of the machine is provided. According to such a configuration, the operator can notice the information by the vibration of the vibration generating device even in an environment difficult to notice the notification by the light source 28 or the sound source, that is, a bright work environment or a work environment with a high noise level. In addition, the operator has an unnatural feeling intuitively by using the vibration, so that the notification can be noticed sensuously.
In addition, since the vibration generating device is disposed inside the grip 21, the vibration can be given directly to the hand of the operator, and the operator can easily notice the notification.
Since the vibration generating device is disposed so as to vibrate in the direction substantially orthogonal to the axial direction of the grip 21, the vibration is easily transmitted to the hand holding the grip 21, and the operator can easily notice the notification.
It is desirable that the vibration generating device be disposed inside the grip 21 at a position where the palm of the operator is in contact with when the operator grips the grip 21. By disposing the vibration generating device inside the position with which the palm is in contact, the operator can more easily notice the vibration of the vibration generating device as compared with a case where the vibration generating device is disposed inside the position with which the fingertip is in contact. For example, as shown in
In addition, the light source 28 controlled to be lit up to notify the state of the machine and the sound source controlled to be output to notify the state of the machine are provided, and the state of the machine can be notified by the plurality of notification ways including at least two of the vibration motor 35, the light source 28 and the sound source. According to such a configuration, the operator can easily notice the notification by using the plurality of notification ways.
In the above embodiment, the vibration motor 35, the light source 28 and the sound source are provided as the notification ways, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and either the light source 28 or the sound source may not be provided. In addition, notification ways other than these three may also be provided.
In addition, in the above embodiment, the vibration generating device (vibration motor 35) is provided in the electric tool 10 using the motor 24a as a drive source, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and a vibration generating device may be provided in a tool operated by a different drive source.
For example,
Since the grip 21 is often used as a pressure vessel in the pneumatic tool 45, it is desirable that the vibration motor 35 be disposed near the grip 21 (for example, so as to cross through a boundary between the grip 21 and the output portion 20).
In addition, the pneumatic tool 45 generally does not use electricity. Therefore, it is necessary to incorporate a battery for driving the vibration motor 35. However, since the vibration motor 35 for information transmission is sufficiently small, a small battery is also sufficiently small, and a vibration generating device including the vibration motor 35 and a battery can be mounted. Accordingly, the vibration generating device can be mounted even with a tool that does not use electricity.
Since a fan for stirring fuel or a battery for driving an ignition device are mounted in the gas combustion type nailing machine 46, it is unnecessary to add a battery for driving the vibration motor 35. Therefore, the vibration generating device can be mounted without increasing the size of the tool.
In the above embodiment, an example in which the vibration generating device (vibration motor 35) is provided on a tool that uses consumables such as a fastener has been described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and a vibration generating device may be provided in a tool that does not use the consumables.
For example,
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2017-206760 | Oct 2017 | JP | national |
2018-156002 | Aug 2018 | JP | national |