Handheld work apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12397409-B2
Application number	US-202318395035-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 22, 2023
Priority date	Dec 22, 2022
Publication date	Aug 26, 2025
Grant date	Aug 26, 2025

Abstract

A handheld work apparatus includes a housing and a work tool arranged on the front end. The housing has a back end to which an operator region is assigned. The housing has a first and a second shell separable in a separation direction. The operator region, in the region of the back end, is bounded by a tubular section of an outer housing wall. The outer wall of the first shell is reinforced in the region of the tubular section by a rib structure inside the housing. In a view in the separation direction of the inner side of the first shell, in the region of the tubular section, the first shell has an interconnected rigid rib region and an interconnected elastic expansion region. The expansion region is directly adjacent to the rib region and is at a greater distance from the back end than the rib region.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A handheld work apparatus comprising:
a housing having a front end;
a work tool arranged on said front end of said housing;
said housing having a back end to which an operator region of said housing is assigned;
said housing having a first housing shell and a second housing shell configured to be separable in a separation direction and assembled when assembling the housing;
said housing having an outer wall;
said first housing shell including a first segment of said outer wall;
said operator region defining a handle opening which completely penetrates said housing in the separation direction;
said operator region being bounded by a tubular section of said outer wall in a region of said back end of said housing;
said first segment of said outer wall being reinforced in a region of the tubular section by a rib structure inside the housing;
wherein, in a view in the separation direction of an inner side of said first housing shell, in the region of said tubular section, the first housing shell has:
an interconnected rigid rib region in which said rib structure is arranged, and,
an interconnected elastic expansion region for an elastic absorption of energy released in an event of an impact of the work apparatus; and,
wherein said interconnected elastic expansion region is directly adjacent to said interconnected rigid rib region and is at a greater distance from said back end of said housing than said rib region.

2. The work apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said expansion region is at least one of free from said rib structure and completely free from said rib structure.

3. The work apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said tubular section extends along a longitudinal center axis; and, in the view in the separation direction of said inner side of said first housing shell, the longitudinal center axis divides said tubular section into an expansion half associated with said handle opening and a rib half associated with said back end.

4. The work apparatus of claim 3 , wherein said interconnected elastic expansion region is completely arranged in said expansion half.

5. The work apparatus of claim 3 , wherein said interconnected rib region is arranged both in said rib half and in said expansion half.

6. The work apparatus of claim 3 , wherein said interconnected elastic expansion region extends in a direction of the longitudinal center axis from a start point to an end point in an extension region; in a view in the separation direction of said housing, said handle opening has a centroid; and, in the view in the separation direction of said housing, said extension region of said interconnected elastic expansion region extends in an interconnected angular range of at least 30° with respect to said centroid.

7. The work apparatus of claim 6 , wherein said rib structure has a plurality of ribs, wherein directly adjacent ribs are each at a neighboring angular distance from one another with respect to said centroid of said handle opening; and, a largest neighboring angular distance of said plurality of ribs is less than 25°.

8. The work apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the work apparatus is configured such that it can be set down in a set-down position provided for it on a horizontal plane; said interconnected elastic expansion region has a maximum expansion height, as measured perpendicularly to the horizontal plane in the set-down position; said handle opening has a maximum opening height, as measured perpendicularly to the horizontal plane in the set-down position; and, said maximum expansion height is at least 50% of said maximum opening height.

9. The work apparatus of claim 1 , wherein, in a view in the separation direction of said inner side of said first housing shell, said interconnected rib region is arranged directly adjacent to said outer wall forming said back end of said housing; and, in the view in the separation direction of said inner side of said first housing shell, said interconnected elastic expansion region is arranged directly adjacent to said outer wall bounding said handle opening.

10. The work apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said first housing shell has a connecting element or a connecting structure for connecting said first housing shell to said second housing shell; and, a plurality of ribs of said rib structure are connected to said connecting element in such a way and are arranged in said first housing shell in such a way, that said plurality of ribs are configured to introduce force into said connecting element.

11. The work apparatus of claim 10 , wherein said connecting element or said connecting structure is arranged in said rib region.

12. The work apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said first housing shell and said second housing shell are completely composed of glass-fiber-reinforced plastic.

13. The work apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said first housing shell and said second housing shell are completely composed of polyamide 6 with a glass fiber content of 15%.

14. The work apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the polyamide 6 is impact-modified.

15. The work apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said second housing shell with respect to said rib structure and said expansion region or said interconnected elastic expansion section is formed analogously to said first housing shell.

16. The work apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said second housing shell also has at least one of a rib region, a rib section, an expansion region, and an expansion section.

17. The work apparatus of claim 16 , wherein said second housing shell also has a connecting element or a connecting structure; and, said connecting element or said connecting structure of said second housing shell is arranged in said rib region of said second housing shell.

18. A handheld work apparatus comprising:
a housing having a front end;
a work tool arranged on said front end of said housing;
said housing having a back end to which an operator region of said housing is assigned;
said housing extending along a longitudinal axis from said back end to said front end;
said housing having a first housing shell and a second housing shell configured to be separable in a separation direction and assembled when assembling said housing;
said housing having an outer wall;
said first housing shell including a first segment of said outer wall;
said operator region defining a handle opening which completely penetrates said housing in the separation direction;
said handle opening having a start point, wherein, in a view in the separation direction of an inner side of said first housing shell, said start point is at the smallest distance, as measured in a direction of the longitudinal axis, from said back end of said housing;
said housing having a curving section extending in the direction of the longitudinal axis from said back end to said start point;
said first segment of said outer wall being reinforced in said region of said curving section by a rib structure inside said housing;
wherein, in the view in the separation direction of said inner side of said first housing shell, said first housing shell, in said curving section, has:
an interconnected rigid rib section in which a plurality of ribs of said rib structure are arranged, and
an interconnected elastic expansion section for an elastic absorption of energy released in an event of an impact of the work apparatus;

said interconnected elastic expansion section being directly adjacent to said rib section and being at a greater distance from said back end of said housing than said rib section, wherein, in the view

Assignees

• Stihl Ag & Co Kg Andreas

Inventors

• Diehl Heiko
• Haertel Alexander

Classifications

• B27B17/0033

  Devices for attenuation of vibrations · CPC title

• B27B17/0008

  Means for carrying the chain saw, e.g. handles (B27B17/0033 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B23D47/005

  Vibration-damping · CPC title

• A01G3/053

  motor-driven · CPC title

• B25F5/02 Primary

  Construction of casings, bodies or handles {(B25F5/006, B25F5/008 take precedence)} · CPC title