WO1999029009A1

WO1999029009A1 - Charging station for chargeable hand-held electrical apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO1999029009A1
Application number: PCT/DE1998/003418
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hardi Schmidt
Original assignee: 'jaguar' Stahlwarenfabrik Gmbh & Co. Kg
Priority date: 1997-11-27
Filing date: 1998-11-19
Publication date: 1999-06-10
Also published as: DE29721015U1

Abstract

Known charging stations for chargeable hand-held electrical apparatus, especially hair cutters, have a base for a hand-held electric apparatus into which the hand-held apparatus can be inserted or onto which it can be fitted, as well as a power connection. The charging station is connected in an electrically conductive manner to the hand-held apparatus positioned on the base via electrical contacts. The hand-held apparatus can be positioned on the base at any angle to the direction of insertion or fitting while maintaining an electric contact. The base also features a receiving pin onto which the hand-held apparatus can be fitted, a recess for receiving the receiving pin being provided for on the hand-held apparatus. To obtain a charging station (1) for hand-held electrical apparatus (10) which further simplifies the placement of the hand-held apparatus onto the charging station the invention provides for a receiving pin (7) which tapers conically towards its free end and a recess (11) which enlargens conically towards its open end. The receiving pin (7) and recess (11) are configured in such a way that the hand-held apparatus placed onto the receiving pin (7) at an angle inclined towards the vertical automatically moves into a vertical position as a result of being guided by the receiving pin (7).

Description

Charging station for rechargeable electrical handheld devices

The invention relates to a charging station for rechargeable electrical handheld devices, in particular hair clippers, with a holder for an electrical handheld device, into or onto which the handheld device can be plugged in or plugged in, and a mains connection, the charging station being electrically conductive by means of electrical contacts with that in the holder arranged handheld device is connected, and the handheld device can be fixed in an electrical contact to the holder in any angular position with respect to the plugging-in or plugging-on direction, furthermore the holder has a receiving pin onto which the handheld device can be plugged, an indentation on the handheld device Recording the receiving pin is provided.

Such a charging station for microphones is known from GB 22 95 736. To hold the handheld device securely, an additional retaining ring is required above the base part which has the mounting pin, so that the effective length of the holder extends over more than half the length of the microphone, which makes it difficult to arrange the device at the charging station.

Furthermore, charging stations for various battery-operated electrical hand-held devices such as hand-held vacuum cleaners, secateurs and in particular hair clippers are known in order to be able to recharge them by means of such charging stations and to operate them independently of the mains. Here, too, the charging stations have a receiving slot for the handheld device, on the bottom of which electrical contacts are provided which are connected to corresponding contacts of the handheld device when the handheld device is arranged in the charging station. The handheld device can only be arranged in the holder in a specific orientation to the charging station or inserted into the receiving shaft. The orientation of the handheld device to the charging station in order to attach it to the holder requires attention is also paid to this version of the charging station, which is usually undesirable.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a charging station for electrical hand-held devices in which the handling of the hand-held devices is made easier when they are attached to the charging station.

The object is achieved in that the receiving pin tapers conically towards its free end and the indentation widens conically towards its open end, and that the receiving pin and indentation are designed in such a way that this is inclined to the vertical in an inclined manner on the receiving element - Align the attached handheld device in the vertical position due to the guidance through the mounting pin and fix it at the charging station. In particular, the height of the locating pin or the depth of the indentation and / or the inclination of the conical area to the vertical must be appropriately coordinated. The conical areas of the receiving pin and indentation are advantageously designed such that they can be brought into abutment with one another over their entire area over a partial area or over the entire height. The conical area advantageously extends over the entire height of the receiving pin.

Due to the design according to the invention, the manual device is self-centered during the manual positioning of the manual device in the charging station. The hand-held device can thus align itself vertically when inserted into the holding area without any further manual intervention, so that it is securely held on the charging station. This also ensures a secure connection of the contacts of the charging station and handheld device. An exact vertical lowering of the handheld device on the mounting pin is therefore not necessary. At the same time, due to the special design of the charging station, it can have a comparatively low height, which saves space. Furthermore, the hand-held device is only slightly raised to remove it from the charging station, so that it can be removed more easily or on the Charging station can be arranged.

The handheld device can be particularly easily fixed in various orientations around a preferred direction or in different angular positions of a main plane of the handheld device to the charging station on the holder by the inventive design of the holder. The preferred direction can e.g. be defined by the longitudinal axis of the hand-held device or its handle or the orientation of a work tool. Correspondingly, a main level of the handheld device can be defined by the shape of the device or a working direction of a tool in relation to the handheld device. The handheld device can occupy the entire holder or even only partial areas of the same spatially.

At least one of the electrical contacts on the charging station and / or the hand-held device can be designed in the form of a circular arc. The electrical contact in the form of a circular arc can be designed as a continuous circular arc which extends over the entire receiving area of the charging station. However, it is already sufficient if a large number of electrical contacts spaced apart from one another are arranged in the manner of a circular segment, a counter contact being provided, the circumferential angular extent of which is greater than the distance between two of the spaced counter contacts, so that the counter contact at any angular position of the hand-held device always comes into contact with one of the contacts arranged on a segment of a circle.

At least one of the electrical contacts on the charging station and / or the hand-held device is designed as a ring contact. For this purpose, the holding area of the charging station can be designed in the form of a closed circular arc. The shape of the holding area and the ring contact can deviate from the ideal circular shape. The mating contact to the ring contact arranged on the corresponding device can also be designed as a ring contact or as a point contact. According to an advantageous embodiment, a contact is designed as a ring contact and the contact of opposite polarity is designed as a ring or point contact concentric with the first contact.

The holder can have an axially projecting wall, which surrounds the outside of the hand-held device arranged at the charging station, wherein the wall can also be designed in the manner of a receiving shaft.

If there is a receiving shaft, the wall surrounding the hand-held device can lie on the outside of the hand-held device at least in a partial area, so that the hand-held device is supported laterally. The contact area can, for example, be linear or even flat. The wall can optionally also rest on the entire circumference of the handheld device. The wall can expand conically upwards.

The contacts are advantageously flat and arranged parallel to the pin surface. The contacts advantageously protrude slightly from the pin surface. This prevents contacts protruding upward from the locating pin, which can be more easily damaged or touched by a user. The contacts can be arranged on the top of the pin protruding upwards from the charging station, which can be flat or conical or curved. The contacts can also be arranged on the side wall of the locating pin, preferably above a wall which may be provided, as a result of which they are more easily accessible for cleaning. The contacts can also be arranged on the region of the charging station surrounding the receiving pin.

The contacts can be designed in such a way that one of the contacts is designed as a sleeve with an essentially planar top, a further sleeve made of electrically insulating material being provided on its top has an opening. The contact sleeve can thus be arranged within the electrically insulating sleeve and can be electrically isolated from the contact of opposite polarity. The insulating sleeve can also serve to attach the electrical contacts to the charging station.

In particular, the insulating sleeve can have a step-shaped shoulder on its radially outer upper edge, the further contact of opposite polarity being annular and arranged on the shoulder.

To attach the electrically insulating sleeve, upwardly projecting webs can be provided on the base of the charging station, which at the same time serve to support the first contact. At the same time, the electrically insulating sleeve can be placed on the webs or put over them.

The handheld device can have an additional connection socket for a power supply plug, so that it can also be operated in cable operation.

The contacts, in particular those of the hand-held device, are advantageously spring-loaded, so that when the hand-held device is held on the charging station, the corresponding contacts rest against one another under spring force and thus ensure reliable contacting.

Due to the fact that the electrical contacts have essentially flat contact surfaces, damage or bending of the contacts is practically impossible, which facilitates the handling of the hand-held device.

The invention is described below by way of example and explained using the figures as an example. Show it:

Fig. 1 is a charging station with handheld device arranged above it a sectional view,

2 shows an enlarged illustration of a section of the charging station according to FIG. 1,

3 is an exploded view of the electrical contacts of the charging station,

4 is a plan view of the charging station in partial elevation,

Fig. 5 views of the underside of the handheld device in various embodiments.

The charging station 1 shown in FIG. 1 has a base 2, which can be set up on a base in a stable manner, and an upper shell 3 detachably connected thereto. In the center of the upper shell 3, a shaft-shaped holding area 4 with a central receiving pin 7 is provided, which serves to accommodate the handheld device. The holding area 4 is delimited by an upwardly conically widening wall 5 and has a flat bottom 6 in the form of a circular ring. The receiving pin 7, which is rotationally symmetrical in the exemplary embodiment, tapers conically upwards and is provided with the electrical contacts 8, 9, which terminate at the level of the flat end face of the receiving pin.

The hand-held device 10 shown in sections above the holding area 4 has an indentation 11 on its underside which widens conically towards the bottom. From the bottom of the indentation 11, two spring-loaded pin contacts 12, 13 protrude downwards, which, when the hand-held device 10 is placed on the charging station 1, bear against the contacts 8, 9. The height and contour of the indentation 11 are matched to that of the locating pin 7, so that the outer edge 14a in the indentation 11 is supported on the base 6 of the charging station 1 when the handheld device is removed and the contacts 12, 13 are deflected from their starting position and under spring force contact 8.9. The side wall of the indentation 11 is large flat on the side wall of the mounting pin 7. Since the opening of the indentation 11 has a greater width than the diameter of the end face of the locating pin 7, the handheld device 10 can be placed on the locating pin 7 in directions that are inclined with respect to the vertical. Due to the guidance through the receiving pin 7, the hand-held device 10 orients itself into the vertical position. The locating pin 7 and the horizontally arranged ring or point contacts 8, 9 protrude above the wall 5. The contacts are easily accessible for cleaning purposes but at the same time protected against damage by the stable and flat design.

As can be seen from the right sectional view of the hand-held device according to FIG. 1, which is rotated by 90 ° with respect to the left-hand sectional view, the end region of the hand-held device is not designed to be centrosymmetric. According to FIG. 5, above, the cross section of the end region can be reduced in one direction, starting from the center of the indentation 11, so that the top view presents itself as a circular section. The essentially spherically rounded area of the handheld device extends by approximately 240 °, i.e. by more than 180 °.

As can be seen from FIG. 2, four webs 14, each offset by 90 ° from one another, are arranged in the center of the receiving pin 7 and are integrally formed on the base 2. The sleeve-shaped contact 9, which is surrounded by the electrically insulating sleeve 15, is placed on the top end face of the webs 14. The sleeve 15 has an overhead circular through-opening and an inner and outer shoulder 16, 17, the contact sleeve 9 being flush with the sleeve 15 with its essentially flat end face. The sleeve 9 is closely enclosed by the narrower area of the stepped bore of the sleeve 15, the inner shoulder 16 of the sleeve 15 being seated on the unflanged edge of the sleeve 9. The sleeve 15 sits in a light press fit on the upper ends of the spaced apart webs 14. On the outer shoulder 17 of the electrically insulating sleeve 15 is the ring contact 8 is placed, which is supported with its lower, radially projecting edge on the sleeve and engages behind the undercut provided at the upper end of the receiving pin 7. The contacts 8, 9 are thus held in a light press fit between the webs 14 fastened to the base 2 and the wall of the receiving pin 7 connected to the upper shell 3. The contacts 8, 9 are provided with leads 18, 19 which are electrically conductively connected to the socket 20.

As can be seen from FIG. 3, the outer shoulder 17 of the sleeve 15 has projections 21 which protrude upward and which engage in the corresponding recess in the radially outer edge 22 of the contact 8 and hold it against rotation. The ring contact 8 consists of an upper cylinder 23, the upper end face 24 of which can be placed on a contact of the hand-held device 10. At the lower end of the cylinder 23, the protruding edge 22 is integrally formed, on the outside of which an axially protruding tab 25 is provided which is opposite the cylinder 23 and which is connected to the derivation 18. The tab 25 is received by the incision 26 of the sleeve 15. It is spaced from the wall behind the sleeve and thus acts as an electrically contactable spring tongue.

If the ring contact 8 is placed on the outer shoulder 17 of the sleeve 15 and the contact sleeve 9 is pushed into the stepped bore of the sleeve 15 as far as it will go, the end faces of the sleeves 8, 9 are arranged at the same height and are flush with the end face 27 of the sleeve 15 from. The end faces of the sleeves 8, 9 can, however, also jump forward or backward relative to the end face 27.

The design of the electrical contacts is not limited to the exemplary embodiments shown. For example, the ring contact 8 can also be formed without the cylinder 23, so that, for example, the top of the edge 22 represents the contact surface. FIG. 4 shows a top view of the charging station, in which the sleeve 9 arranged centrally in the ring contact 8 can be seen. Furthermore, it can be seen that the holding area 4 is designed in the form of a circular arc, so that the hand-held device 10 can be placed on the receiving pin 7 in any position rotated about its vertical axis. The socket 20 is used for connection to a power supply plug.

The underside of the hand-held device 10 shown in FIG. 5, at the top, appears as a circular section in plan view, the contact 12 being arranged approximately in the center of the indentation 11 and the contact 13 being arranged at a greater radial distance therefrom. Furthermore, a connection socket 28 is provided on the underside, so that the handheld device can also be operated on the mains. According to another embodiment (FIG. 5, below), the indentation 11 can also be arranged eccentrically on the underside of the hand-held device 10, so that only the area adjacent to the socket 28 is supported by the wall 5 of the charging station 1 or the hand-held device 10 only by that Receiving pin 7 is held.

Charging station for rechargeable electrical handheld devices

Reference list

Charging station 18 derivative

Socket 19 derivative

Upper shell 20 socket

Holding area 21 projection

Wall 22 edge a base 23 cylinders

Bottom 24 face

Locating pin 25 tab a free end 26 incision b top 27 front

Contact 28 socket

Contact a top 0 hand tool 1 indentation 1a open end 2 contact 3 contact 4 web 4a edge 5 sleeve 5a opening 6 paragraph 7 paragraph

Claims

Charging station for rechargeable electrical handheld devices

1. Charging station for rechargeable electrical handheld devices, in particular hair clippers, (..) with a holder for an electrical handheld device, into or onto which the handheld device can be plugged in or plugged in, and a mains connection, the charging station being electrically conductive with the in the holder arranged handheld device is connected, and wherein the handheld device can be fixed in any desired angular position with respect to the direction of insertion or insertion on the holder, furthermore the holder has a receiving pin onto which the handheld device can be plugged, with an indentation on the handheld device is provided for receiving the locating pin, characterized in that the locating pin (7) tapers towards its free end (7a) and the indentation (11) widens conically towards its open end (11a), and that locating pin (7) and indentation (11) are designed such that the inclined to the vertical on the mounting pin (7) automatically aligns the handheld device into the vertical position due to the guidance through the mounting pin (7).

2. Charging station according to claim 1, so that at least one of the electrical contacts on the charging station and / or the hand-held device is designed as a ring contact.

3. Charging station according to claim 2, so that the contact corresponding to the ring contact is designed as a ring or point contact concentric to the ring contact.

4. Charging station according to one of claims 1-3, characterized characterized in that the holder has an axially projecting wall (5) which at least partially surrounds the hand-held device arranged at the charging station on the outside.

5. Charging station according to claim 4, d a d u r c h g e k e n n z e i c h n e t that the receiving pin (7) on the wall (5) protrudes at least slightly in height.

6. Charging station according to claim 5, so that the wall (5) bears at least in a partial area on the hand-held device (10).

7. charging station according to one of claims 4 - 6, d a d u r c h g e k e n n z e i c h n e t that the wall (5) in itself

The direction of the normal to the base (5a) of the charging station is flared.

8. Charging station according to one of claims 1-7, d a d u r c h g e k e n n z e i c h n e t that the receiving pin (7) on its top (7b) is carried out substantially flat and the top is provided with contacts (8,9).

9. charging station according to one of claims 1-8, d a d u r c h g e k e n n z e i c h n e t that one of the contacts (9) in

Form of a sleeve with a substantially planar upper side (9a) is formed that a further sleeve (15) made of electrically insulating material is provided with an opening on the top (15a) into which the first sleeve (9) can be inserted, and that the other Contact (8) on the electrically insulating sleeve (15) can be fastened.

10. Charging station according to claim 9, characterized in that the insulating sleeve (15) on its radially outer upper edge has a step-shaped shoulder (17) and that the further contact (8) is annular and is arranged on the shoulder (17).

11. Charging station according to one of claims 1-10, d a d u r c h g e k e n n z e i c h n e t that the base (2) of the charging station has upwardly projecting webs (14) which support one of the contacts (9).

12. Charging station according to claim 11, d a d u r c h g e k e n n z e i c h n e t that the upwardly projecting webs (14) carry an electrically insulating sleeve (15).

13. charging station according to one of claims 1-12, d a d u r c h g e k e n n z e i c h n e t that the handheld device (10) has an additional connection socket (20) for a power supply plug.

14. Charging station according to one of claims 1-13, d a d u r c h g e k e n n z e i c h n e t that spring-loaded contacts (12, 13) are provided.