Power tool, system, and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11701723-B2
Application number	US-202117487793-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 28, 2021
Priority date	Jul 24, 2017
Publication date	Jul 18, 2023
Grant date	Jul 18, 2023

Abstract

A power tool with a rotatable tool designed as a saw blade or a milling cutter, including a sensor device for detecting a mechanical quantity, the mechanical quantity having a force, an acceleration, a velocity, a deflection, a deformation and/or a mechanical stress, and the mechanical quantity being dependent on a force emanating from the tool, and a control device communicatively coupled to the sensor device, which control device is adapted to recognize a kickback event based on the detected mechanical quantity, where the control device is adapted to selectively determine a first recognition function or a second recognition function different from the first recognition function based on a function determination information, and to perform the recognition of the kickback event based on the detected mechanical quantity using the determined recognition function.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A power tool with a rotatable tool, wherein the rotatable tool is designed as a saw blade or a milling cutter, comprising wherein the power tool comprises:
a drive device for rotating the rotatable tool;
a sensor device for detecting a mechanical quantity, the mechanical quantity comprising a force, an acceleration, a velocity, a deflection, a deformation and/or a mechanical stress, and the mechanical quantity being dependent on a force emanating from the rotatable tool that is designed as the saw blade or the milling cutter, and
a control device communicatively coupled to the sensor device, which control device is adapted to recognize a kickback event based on the detected mechanical quantity,
wherein the control device is adapted to selectively determine, based on a function determination information, a first recognition function or a second recognition function different from the first recognition function, and to perform the recognition of the kickback event based on the detected mechanical quantity using the determined recognition function,
wherein the power tool further comprises a positioning device adapted to selectively position the rotatable tool in an operating position or a safety position and the control device is adapted to control the positioning device in response to the detected kickback event so that the rotatable tool is positioned in the safety position, and
wherein the rotatable tool is positioned in the safety position further into a power tool than in the operating position.

2. The power tool according to claim 1 , wherein the two recognition functions differ in their sensitivity.

3. The power tool according to claim 1 , wherein the first recognition function comprises a comparison of the detected mechanical quantity with a first threshold and the second recognition function comprises a comparison of the detected mechanical quantity with a second threshold different from the first threshold.

4. The power tool according to claim 1 , wherein the control device is adapted to perform a calibration of at least one recognition function.

5. The power tool according to claim 1 , wherein the power tool comprises a drive device for driving the tool and the control device is adapted to control the drive device in response to the detected kickback event in order to change the driving of the tool.

6. The power tool according to claim 5 , wherein the control device is adapted to control the drive device in response to the detected kickback event in order to brake the tool.

7. The power tool according to claim 1 , wherein the control device is a microcontroller.

8. The power tool according to claim 1 , wherein the mechanical quantity is a mechanical vector quantity which lies in a plane perpendicular to an axial direction of an output shaft for driving the saw blade.

9. A method for recognizing a kickback event of a power tool with a rotatable tool designed as a saw blade or a milling cutter and a positioning device adapted to selectively position the rotatable tool in an operating position or a safety position, the method comprising the steps:
driving the rotatable tool by a drive device;
detecting a mechanical quantity, wherein the mechanical quantity comprises a force, an acceleration, a velocity, a deflection, a deformation and/or a mechanical stress and the mechanical quantity depends on a force emanating from the tool, determining, based on function determination information, a recognition function to be used from a first recognition function and a second recognition function different from the first recognition function,
recognizing, using the determined recognition function, the kickback event based on the detected mechanical quantity,
the control device controlling the positioning device in response to the detected kickback event so that the rotatable tool is positioned in the safety position, and
wherein the rotatable tool is positioned in the safety position further into a power tool housing than in the operating position.

Assignees

• Festool Gmbh

Inventors

• Schmid Markus
• Rusch Marc

Classifications

• B23D59/001 Primary

  Measuring or control devices, e.g. for automatic control of work feed pressure on band saw blade (measuring in general G01; controlling in general G05) · CPC title

• B27G19/02 Primary

  for circular saws · CPC title

• F16P3/12

  with means, e.g. feelers, which in case of the presence of a body part of a person in or near the danger zone influence the control or operation of the machine (F16P3/08 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04L67/12

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title

• B23D45/16

  Hand-held sawing devices with circular saw blades · CPC title