JP2020179446A - Driver and control system of air compressor - Google Patents

Abstract

To automatically make settings on the air compressor side in concert with a coordinated driver by connecting the driver and the air compressor by wireless means.SOLUTION: An air-based driver 10 having a driving mechanism and an air compressor 101 are configured to be capable of pairing by near field radio communication. The air compressor 101 automatically sets a discharge pressure from couplers 141-144 and an operation mode of a motor based on operation information (equipment information, discharge pressure) wirelessly received from the driver 10. Dials 152a, 154a of a decompression valve of the air compressor 101 are configured to be driven by a motor and to be electrically adjustable. The driver 10 is provided with a communication unit 30 that operates on a small battery, and operation information of the driver 10 is prestored in the communication unit 30.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention controls an air compressor (compressor) that compresses the outside air to generate high-pressure air, and a driving machine that drives a stopper using air supplied from the air compressor via an air hose as a power source. Regarding the system, in particular, the operation of the air compressor is automatically controlled according to the device information and the mode information sent wirelessly from the driving machine.

At work sites such as construction, a driving machine using compressed air supplied from an air compressor by an air hose as a power source is widely used. An air compressor using a piston that reciprocates in a cylinder is driven by a motor with an AC power source, sucks and compresses outside air, and stores the compressed air in an air tank. The high-pressure air stored in the air tank is decompressed to a desired pressure by a pressure reducing valve and then supplied to an air hose from a coupler (compressed air outlet). In such an air compressor, it is important to optimize the adjustment of the pressure reducing valve according to the driving machine to be used.

Since the driving machine can drive a large amount of fasteners in a short time, it is widely used at construction sites and the like. The driving machine operates in a state of being connected to the air compressor via an air hose in order to use compressed air as a power source. In addition, it is necessary for the user to appropriately change the operation setting (for example, operation mode, take-out pressure) of the air compressor according to the type of the driving machine, the length of the nail, the work content, etc. It took a lot of trouble. At this time, the place where the stopper is driven and the place where the air compressor is installed are located far apart within the reach of the air hose, so if it is necessary to change the setting of the air compressor during the work, work The person must interrupt the work and move to the location of the air compressor. In order to compensate for the disadvantage that the air compressors are installed at different positions in this way, in Patent Document 1, the information of the IC tag provided in the driving machine is read by using the mobile terminal, and the air is operated by remote control. The extraction pressure of the compressor is being changed.

JP-A-2018-73169

The inventors examined how to control these for the purpose of making it easier to control the driving machine such as a nailing machine and the air compressor and improving the maintainability of the driving machine. did. In the process, we aimed to link the driving machine side and the air compressor side using proximity wireless communication technology, and to automatically set the air compressor side according to the linked driving machine side. On the other hand, in the driving machine, the impact absorption effect of the piston bumper that absorbs the impact of the piston decreases with use, so it is necessary to replace the piston bumper at an appropriate time before the end of its life. At present, the user decides when to replace the piston bumper. If the replacement time of the piston bumper is delayed, it may induce damage to other parts and lead to expensive repairs. Therefore, in a driving machine that uses air pressure, it is necessary to appropriately notify the replacement time of the piston bumper. It was desired.

The present invention has been made in view of the above background, and an object of the present invention is to connect (pair) a driving machine and an air compressor by wireless means, and to match the linked driving machine with the air compressor side. The purpose is to provide a control system for a driving machine and an air compressor that automatically sets the above.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a control system for a driving machine and an air compressor that can notify an operator of the maintenance time of the driving machine.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a control system for a driving machine and an air compressor so that the usage status of the driving machine can be easily collected on the management device side.

The typical features of the invention disclosed in the present application will be described as follows.
According to one feature of the present invention, a driving machine having a driving mechanism using compressed air, and an air compressor that operates by driving a motor by either an AC power supply or a DC power supply, or a combined power supply thereof. In the control system of the air compressor having the above, the driving machine and the air compressor are provided with communication means capable of pairing by short-range wireless communication, and the air compressor receives the operation information received from the driving machine. It was configured to be controlled by. Further, the air compressor has a pressure reducing valve that can electrically adjust the pressure of the air output via the output unit, and the pressure reducing valve of the air compressor is adjusted according to the operation information received from the driving machine. It was configured to. The operation information transmitted wirelessly includes the device information of the driving machine or the set pressure information of the air to the driving machine, and the control unit of the air compressor adjusts the pressure reducing valve based on the received operation information.

According to another feature of the present invention, the air compressor is provided with a plurality of compressed air outlets, pressure sensors are provided in each of the air passages to the compressed air outlets, and the air compressor is pressured by the signal of the pressure sensor. By measuring the fluctuation, the number of hits by the driving machine is counted and integrated for each driving machine. A plurality of these compressed air outlets are provided for one pressure reducing valve, for example, two, and a check valve is provided in each of the air passages between the plurality of pressure sensors and the pressure reducing valve. The air compressor compares the preset upper limit of the number of hits of the driving machine with the accumulated number of hits, determines whether or not the driving machine is in maintenance time, and reaches the upper limit of the number of hits. When the maintenance time is reached, a warning is given on the display of the air compressor and / and the display of the driving machine.

According to still another feature of the present invention, a striking mechanism that launches a stopper by compressed air supplied from an air compressor by an air hose, an operation information of the driving machine, and a paired air compressor are used. We have realized a compressor that has a communication device that receives the information of. The information transmitted from the air compressor to the driving machine is alarm information indicating that the specified upper limit of the number of hits has been exceeded, and / and the upper limit of the number of hits.

According to still another feature of the present invention, it has a compression unit that generates compressed air to be supplied to the driving machine, and a communication means that receives information on the driving machine and transmits information on the air compressor. An air compressor, the communication device was configured to receive information from the paired driving machine. The air compressor is provided with a pressure reducing valve for adjusting the pressure of the compressed air to be supplied, and the control unit of the air compressor automatically adjusts the pressure reducing valve based on the information from the driving machine. Further, the control unit of the air compressor generates information on the number of hits of the driving machine based on the signal from the pressure sensor provided between the pressure reducing valve and the compressed air outlet. The air compressor has an operation unit, and the operation unit is provided with a pairing button and a lamp indicating a pairing state. A display unit is provided on the operation unit of the air compressor, and alarm information indicating that the upper limit of the number of hits specified on the display unit has been exceeded, or a blow for each driving machine connected to the compressed air outlet. Display the number of times information.

According to the present invention, various settings can be automatically made on the air compressor side according to the paired driving machine without the user having to manually set the air compressor. In addition, by reading the change in the take-out pressure when using the driving machine with the pressure sensor installed on the taking-out side of the pressure reducing valve, the number of hits (the number of driving times) of the driving machine is counted on the air compressor side. The number of hits of the driving machine can be managed on the air compressor side. Furthermore, when the counted number of driving times reaches a predetermined number, a warning is issued to both the driving machine and the air compressor that maintenance is required, so that the user can be notified of the parts at an appropriate timing. Exchange can be encouraged.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the control system 1 of the nailing machine 10 and the air compressor 101 which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a side view of the air compressor 101 of FIG. 1 (the state where the cover 102 is seen through). It is a top view of the air compressor 101 of FIG. 1 (the state where the cover 102 is seen through). It is a top view of the operation panel 180 of the air compressor 101 of FIG. It is a block circuit diagram of the air compressor 101 of FIG. It is a block circuit diagram of the communication unit 30 of the nailing machine 10 of FIG. It is a side view of the communication unit 30 of the nailing machine 10 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the nailing operation by a nailing machine 10 and the output change of a pressure sensor 146.

Hereinafter, examples of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Here, a nail driving machine 10 will be described as an example of a driving machine connected to the air compressor 101 with an air hose. In the present specification, the front-back, left-right, and up-down directions are described as the directions shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a control system 1 of a nailing machine 10 and an air compressor 101 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, by interlocking the nailing machine 10 and the air compressor 101 by two-way communication, the operation mode of the air compressor 101 and the activation of the motor are performed according to the model of the nailing machine 10, the number of connections, and the operating condition. And automatically adjusts the stop and rotation speed. FIG. 1 shows a state in which only one nailing machine 10 is connected by one air hose 50, but a total of four nailing machines can be connected to the air compressor 101 at the same time.

The nailing machine 10 is a kind of driving machine for driving a stopper into an object by using high pressure air as a power source, and is a pressure accumulating chamber provided in a housing 11 for high pressure air supplied by an air hose 50 for connection. Fill (not shown). The nailing machine 10 has a housing 11, which has a cylindrical cylinder case 14 and a handle portion 12 extending in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the cylinder case 14. A trigger lever 13 is provided on the handle portion 12 of the nailing machine 10. A cylindrical cylinder (not shown) is provided in the cylinder case 14, and a piston (not shown) is arranged in the cylinder so as to be movable in the axis A1 direction. When the operator presses the push lever 20 against the object and pulls the trigger lever 13, compressed air flows into the space above the piston in the cylinder at once from the accumulator chamber (not shown), and the piston moves up in the cylinder due to the pressure of the air. The driver blade (not shown) connected to the underside of the piston is moved at high speed by moving rapidly from the dead center to the bottom dead center. A magazine 15 is provided in the injection section 17 which serves as a moving passage for the driver blade, and a stopper such as a connected nail is supplied to the injection section 17. At the time of hitting, a nail is fed from the magazine 15 to the tip (lower end) of the driver blade, so that the fed nail is driven into the object.

When the piston moves to near bottom dead center, the driver blade fixed to the piston collides with a bumper (not shown) provided near the bottom of the cylinder. The bumper is made of rubber, for example, and is damped by receiving the kinetic energy of the driver blade. The piston that has moved to bottom dead center moves to top dead center in the cylinder due to the pressure of the exhausted air. In this way, in the nail driving machine 10, the nail is driven when the two states of the operation of pulling the trigger lever 13 and the operation of pushing the push lever 20 are established by the operator.

The bumper arranged in the cylinder (not shown) needs to be replaced when the number of hits of the nailing machine 10 reaches the upper limit value in use. This upper limit is predetermined for each nailing machine 10 by the manufacturer. Since the conventional nailing machine does not have a means for counting the number of hits on the driving machine side, the user has to decide the time to replace the bumper by himself / herself. For this reason, the maintenance period often passed. If the bumper is not replaced at the appropriate time, parts other than the damper may be damaged, in which case a high repair cost will be incurred.

In the nailing machine of the present embodiment, the communication unit 30 is provided so that the unique information of the nailing machine 10 can be wirelessly transmitted to the air compressor 101 with respect to the nailing machine having no conventional electric control circuit. Provided. Therefore, the microcomputer of the air compressor 101 can wirelessly receive the type of the air tool connected to the couplers 141 to 144, the optimum operation mode according to the type, and the take-out air pressure from the nailing machine 10, and set the setting. The operation mode of the air compressor 101 can be set according to the above, and the optimum rotation control of the motor can be performed.

The air compressor 101 drives a motor described later by AC power supplied from the outside via a power cord (not shown), a DC power source such as a battery for an electric tool (not shown), or a combined power source thereof to blow outside air. High-pressure compressed air is generated by suction and compression, and the compressed air is stored in the two air tanks 112a and 112b. Couplers 141 to 144 (143 cannot be seen in FIG. 1) for taking out compressed air are provided above the air tanks 112a and 112b. Couplers 141 to 144 are air outlets configured to connect or disconnect the air hose 50.

Handles 114a and 114b used for movement are provided near both front and rear ends of the air compressor 101. An operation panel 180 is provided on a part of the upper surface of the cover 102 of the air compressor 101, and there is a power switch 181 of the air compressor 101 (described later in FIG. 6) and a pairing button 187 (described later in FIG. 6). ) Is provided. On the left and right sides of the cover 102, air windows 103 for sucking and discharging outside air by a cooling fan described later are provided. The couplers 141 and 142 on the front right side of the air compressor 101 are for high pressure. A dial 152a for adjusting a decompressor (described later) is provided behind the couplers 141 and 142. Further, the couplers 143 and 144 on the front left side of the air compressor 101 are air outlets for normal pressure, and a dial 154a for adjusting a decompressor (described later) is provided behind the couplers 143 and 144. As described above, since the air compressor 101 has four couplers 141 to 144, four air work machines and air tools can be connected.

The nailing machine 10 and the air compressor 101 have a communication means that enables pairing by short-range wireless communication. As the communication means, for example, a known Bluetooth (Bluetooth SIG, a registered trademark of Inc. USA) can be used. By using the wireless means in this way, bidirectional communication between the nailing machine 10 and the air compressor 101 becomes possible within the reach of the air hose. That is, in the control system 1 of the present embodiment, a communication means is newly provided in a known driving machine (nail driving machine 10), and a communication means is also provided in the air compressor 101, so that the nailing machine 10 and the air compressor are provided. The two-way communication of 101 is enabled. The wireless communication standard is not limited to Bluetooth (registered trademark), and may be another wireless communication standard or an original wireless communication standard. Further, the wireless communication may be not only bidirectional communication but also unidirectional communication from the nailing machine 10 to the air compressor 101 side.

The mechanism (operation mode setting function) that requires adjustment in order to make adjustments on the air compressor 101 side is electrically controlled by the unique information of the nailing machine 10 received wirelessly, and the pressure reducing valve dial 152a 154a was configured to be rotatable by a motor. The setting of the operation mode can be electrically controlled by the control unit 160 (described later in FIG. 5) of the air compressor 101. However, the air pressure from the couplers 141 to 144 is set by manually turning the dials 152a and 154a, so that the control unit cannot automatically control the air pressure. Therefore, in this embodiment, in order to automatically control the opening and closing of the pressure reducing valve, a motor for driving the pressure reducing valve is provided, and the opening and closing operation of the pressure reducing valve is automated by electrically driving the motor from the control unit (for details). Will be described later with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5).

FIG. 2 is a side view of the air compressor 101 of this embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a top view of the air compressor 101 (a state in which the cover 102 is seen through). The air compressor 101 is operated by driving a motor 116 (see FIG. 3), and stores high-pressure air in two air tanks 112a and 112b (see FIG. 1) arranged apart from each other in the left-right direction on the frame 111. A cooling fan 115 is attached to one end side of the rotating shaft of the motor 116 to cool the motor 116. Legs 113 are attached to the lower surfaces of the air tanks 112a and 112b near both ends. Handles 114a and 114b are provided at both ends of the frame 111 in the front-rear direction, and the air compressor 101 is gripped by an operator when moving.

The motor drives a compressed air generating unit 130 that generates compressed air by two pistons (not shown). The compressed air generation unit 130 is provided with a primary compression unit 131 that forms two cylinders with a phase shift of 180 degrees in the rotation direction, and a secondary compression unit 132 that further compresses the air compressed by the primary compression unit 131. .. The discharge port of the primary compression unit 131 and the suction port of the secondary compression unit 132 are connected by a connecting pipe 135. The compressed air discharged from the piston of the secondary compression unit 132 is stored in the air tanks 112a and 112b.

A pressure reducing valve 152 is provided above the air tank 112a on the right side. The pressure reducing valve (regulator) 152 adjusts the air discharged from the air tank 112a by reducing the pressure to a predetermined pressure and sends the air to the couplers 141 and 142. Since two couplers 141 and 142 are connected to one pressure reducing valve 152, a branch connector 171 is provided between them to branch the passage. A check valve 156 and a pressure sensor 146 are provided between the branch connector 171 and the coupler 141, and a check valve 157 and a pressure sensor 147 are provided between the branch connector 171 and the coupler 142. Similarly, a pressure reducing valve 154 is provided on the upper side of the air tank 112b on the left side. The pressure reducing valve 154 depressurizes the air discharged from the air tank 112b to a predetermined pressure and sends it to the couplers 143 and 144. Since two couplers 143 and 144 are connected to one pressure reducing valve 154, a branch connector 172 is provided between them to branch the passage. A check valve 158 and a pressure sensor 148 are provided between the branch connector 172 and the coupler 143, and a check valve 159 and a pressure sensor 149 are provided between the branch connector 172 and the coupler 144.

The pressure reducing valve 152 is driven by a motor 151, so that the opening and closing of the valve is electrically controlled. Further, the pressure reducing valve 154 is driven by the motor 153, so that the opening and closing of the valve is electrically controlled. A control circuit board 120 is provided on the right side of the compressed air generation unit 130. The compressed air generation unit 130 and the control circuit board 120 are covered on the upper side and the side by a cover 102 made of synthetic resin. The control unit 160 (described later in FIG. 5) mounted on the control circuit board 120 mainly controls the drive of the motor 116 and the compression operation of air in the compressed air generation unit 130. These controls are performed by the microcomputer 161 (described later in FIG. 5) included in the control unit 160.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the operation panel 180 of the air compressor 101 of FIG. In the conventional air compressor, the power switch 181 and the power lamp 182 that lights up when the power is turned on, the operation mode switch 183 for selecting the operation mode of the compressed air generator 130, and the selected operation mode are shown. A mode selection lamp 184 for this purpose and a display panel 186 indicating the tank internal pressure were provided (however, the arrangement is different). Switches such as the power switch 181 and the operation mode switch 183 can be realized by push type, slide type, and rotary type switches, but here, they are composed of soft touch switches. As the devices newly added in this embodiment, it is time to replace the pairing button 187, the pairing status indicator lamps 188a to 188d, and the piston bumper of the nailing machine 10 connected to the couplers 141 to 144. There are replacement time indicator lamps 189a to 189d to indicate that. Further, a wireless communication device 185 is provided on the back side of the operation panel 180. The wireless communication device 185 is a known communication unit for Bluetooth (registered trademark). It has a transmitter / receiver for transmitting / receiving wireless signals and an antenna for transmitting / receiving. The position where the antenna is provided or the position where the wireless communication device 185 including the antenna is provided is arbitrary and may be provided on the control circuit board 120, or at other places, for example, a power factor improving circuit (not shown). It may be provided at a position away from a noise source such as (PFC) or an inverter circuit.

Here, a procedure for connecting the nailing machine 10 and the air compressor 101 by wireless communication will be described. When the power cord of the air compressor 101 is plugged into the AC power supply, the power lamp 182 blinks. When the pairing button 187 is pressed while the power lamp 182 is blinking, the pairing status indicator lamp 188a indicating that the take-out port 1 (coupler 141) is selected emits light. At this time, the lamp blinks during the execution of the pairing preparation procedure, and turns on when the pairing is completed. If the pairing is not successful and a predetermined time elapses (timeout), the pairing status indicator lamp 188a goes out. Each time the pairing button 187 is pressed, "Ejection port 1 (188a)" → "Ejection port 2 (188b)" → "Ejection port 3 (188c)" → "Ejection port 4 (188d)" → turns off. Since the blinking state of the lamp is switched, the operator can select which of the couplers 141 to 144 the nailing machine 10 is connected to and perform pairing.

When any of the pairing status indicator lamps 188a to 188d is blinking, the nailing machine 10 with a wireless communication function to be connected is connected, and the communication unit 30 of the nailing machine 10 is connected to the wireless communication device 185 of the air compressor. Hold it near for a few seconds. By approaching the operation panel 180 of the air compressor 101 in this way, pairing with an adjacent nailing machine 10 can be performed. Immediately before performing this pairing, the pairing button on the nailing machine 10 side is pressed in the same manner as on the air compressor 101 side, but the pairing button on the nailing machine 10 side is omitted and the air compressor 101 is omitted. When the pairing button 187 on the side is pressed, the air compressor 101 may be configured to automatically register the nearest nailing machine 10 with a wireless communication function.

When the pairing with the nailing machine 10 is completed, the pairing status indicator lamps 188a to 188d are turned on. By repeating the above pairing preparation procedure, up to four nailing machines 10 can be registered in the air compressor 101. When the pairing is completed, the microcomputer of the air compressor 101 recognizes the type and number of nailing machines, and from the recognized types and number of nailing machines, the optimum operation mode, the optimum stop pressure, the restart pressure, and the like. The pressure reducing valves 152 and 154 are set, and the optimum motor 116 is controlled. The air compressor 101 can also be used without pairing with the connected nailing machine 10. In that case, the same as when using a conventional nailing machine without a wireless communication function. Can be used for.

Further, a case of pairing the second and subsequent driving machines will be described. Before pairing the nailing machine 10A with the air compressor 101, the nailing machine 10A is connected to the air compressor 101 via the air hose 50. Then, the pressure sensors 146 to 149 provided in the couplers 141 to 144 to which the air hose 50 is connected suddenly change. This is because the compressed air is supplied to the air hose 50 and the nailing machine 10 by connecting the air hose 50, so that the pressure in the vicinity of the pressure sensor is reduced. Therefore, based on the signals of the pressure sensors 146 to 149, the control unit 160 of the air compressor can determine which of the couplers 141 to 144 the nailing machine is connected to, and then perform the pairing operation. Therefore, the control unit 160 can specify which nailing machine is connected to which coupler. As a method for pairing the second and subsequent driving machines, a method other than the above may be used. For example, the operation panel 180 of the air compressor may be provided with a button for selecting which of the couplers 141 to 144 to connect to.

When the consumable parts of the connected nailing machine are approaching the replacement time, the air compressor 101 uses the replacement time indicator lamp 189a and the replacement time indicator lamp 43 of the nailing machine 10 to replace the consumable parts of the driving machine. Display that. Further, by closing the pressure reducing valve 152, the driving operation by the target nailing machine 10 is prevented. If the consumables have reached the end of their useful life during use and you want to drive a few more nails, the communication unit 30 of the nailing machine 10 should be charged so that it can be used continuously. You may add a "cancel button". When the "Cancel button" is pressed, the closed pressure reducing valve 152 can be reopened for use, allowing limited use for a certain period of time, and when the work is completed and the pressure fluctuation of the pressure sensor 148 disappears, or for a certain period of time. When the number of hits has passed or the limited number of hits have been completed, the pressure reducing valve 152 may be closed to prevent further use.

FIG. 5 is a block circuit diagram of the air compressor 101. Of the connecting lines in the figure, the thick solid line and the three solid lines indicate the power line, the thin solid line indicates the signal line, and the double line indicates the air piping. The air compressor 101 uses the AC power supply 140 as a power source to drive the compressed air generator (compressor) 130 by the motor 116. The motor 116 is a brushless motor, and the rotation and stop are controlled by the microcomputer (microcomputer) 161 included in the control unit 160, and the rotation speed during rotation is controlled. The power switch 181 of the operation panel 180, the operation mode switch 183, the pairing button 187, and the wireless communication device 185 are connected to the microcomputer 161. Further, the information display unit (display panel 186) is displayed under the control of the microcomputer 161.

When the compressed air generator (compressor) 130 is driven, high-pressure (up to about 45 atm) air is stored in the air tanks 112a and 112b. The air tanks 112a and 112b are provided with a pressure sensor 150 for measuring the pressure inside the tank, and the output thereof is output to the microcomputer 161. The microcomputer 161 controls the drive of the motor 116 while monitoring the pressures of the air tanks 112a and 112b to bring the pressure inside the air tanks 112a and 112b to an appropriate level. The two air tanks 112a and 112b are maintained at the same air pressure by a connecting pipe (not shown), and the high-pressure air (up to about 45 atm) is output to the pressure reducing valves 152 and 154. Here, a pressure reducing valve 152 for high pressure capable of reducing pressure to about 20 atm is used, and a pressure reducing valve 154 for low pressure capable of reducing pressure to about 8 atm is used. A branch connector 171 is connected to the discharge side of the pressure reducing valve 152 and is branched into two pipelines, one is connected to the first coupler 141 via a check valve 156, and the other is a check valve. It is connected to the second coupler 142 via 157. Here, a pressure sensor 146 that measures the pressure of air and outputs it to the microcomputer 161 is provided between the coupler 141 and the check valve 156, and similarly, air is provided between the coupler 142 and the check valve 157. A pressure sensor 147 is provided to measure the pressure of the above and output it to the microcomputer 161.

The discharge side of the pressure reducing valve 154 has the same configuration, is branched into two pipelines by the branch connector 172, and is connected to the couplers 143 and 144 via the check valves 158 and 159. Pressure sensors 148 and 149 that measure the pressure of air and output it to the microcomputer 161 are provided between the couplers 143 and 144 and the check valves 158 and 159. Since the pressure sensors 146 to 149 are provided in the respective pipelines from the first to the fourth couplers 141 to 144 in this way, the microcomputer 161 applies pressure to the air of each of the connected nailing machines 10. It can be measured precisely. Further, since the check valves 156 to 159 are interposed on the upstream side of the pressure sensors 146 to 149, the air pressure on one side (for example, the coupler 141 side) of the branched passage becomes the other side (for example, the coupler 142 side). ) Can be prevented from affecting the air pressure.

FIG. 6 is a block circuit diagram of the communication unit 30 of the nailing machine 10 of this embodiment. The conventional nailing machine 10 does not have an electric circuit because it uses high-pressure air as a driving source, but the nailing machine of this embodiment has a small communication driven by a small battery 40 such as a coin battery. A unit 30 was provided. The basic configuration of the communication unit 30 is a control unit 31 having a microcomputer 32, a wireless communication device 38 that communicates with the air compressor 101, and a display panel 41 for displaying information transmitted from the air compressor 101. is there. The configuration of this embodiment can be realized by providing the control unit 31, the wireless communication device 38, and the display panel 41, but in addition to this, a storage for storing the information transmitted from the air compressor 101 is stored. A memory 37 is provided. In addition, with the provision of the control unit 31 having the microcomputer 32, some additional sensors are provided. The first sensor is a mode switching sensor 33 that detects whether the nailing mode is a "single-shot mode" or a "continuous-shot mode" and outputs it to the microcomputer 32. The sensor 33 can be realized by a switch means (not shown) that can be switched by operating a single-shot / continuous-shot switching lever (not shown) of the nailing machine 10.

The second sensor is a pressure sensor 34, which detects the pressure in the accumulator chamber of the nailing machine 10 and sends it to the microcomputer 32. The second sensor is the trigger on / off sensor 35, which detects whether the trigger is pulled or not. A high signal is output to the microcomputer 32 while the operator is pulling the trigger lever 13 (see FIG. 1). The fourth sensor is the push lever sensor 36, and a high signal is output to the microcomputer 32 in a state where the push lever 20 is raised, that is, when the nailing machine 10 is pressed against an object (driving member). ..

The nailing machine 10 has a so-called "continuous mode" and a "single-shot mode", and can be switched by operating a changeover switch. In the "single-shot mode", the push lever sensor 36 is pressed and the trigger lever 13 is pulled at the time of one driving, and each time the driving is completed, the push lever sensor 36 is released and the trigger lever 13 is pulled. Release it. On the other hand, in the "continuous mode", a plurality of nails are continuously driven in sequence, and the driving operation is performed by sequentially pressing the push lever 20 against the material to be driven while keeping the trigger lever 13 pulled. Will be done. In the "continuous mode", the driving operation is not performed unless the pushing material of the push lever 20 and the pulling operation of the trigger lever 13 are performed at the same time. In the "continuous mode" using this mechanism, pressing the push lever 20 against the material to be driven can be a trigger for nailing. Once the driving operation is completed, the push lever 20 is released from being pressed against the material to be driven, and the next material to be driven is pressed, the next driving operation can be performed. Since the trigger lever 13 may be kept pulled and it is not necessary to release the trigger lever 13 one by one for each hit, the work efficiency is improved when a large number of nails are continuously driven.

The wireless communication device 38 is a known communication unit for Bluetooth (registered trademark), and as shown in FIG. 1, performs bidirectional communication with the microcomputer 161 (see FIG. 5) of the air compressor 101. The wireless communication device 38 has a wireless communication controller and a wireless antenna for transmission / reception (both not shown) inside. The pairing button 42 is a button for starting the establishment of the wireless connection path with the air compressor 101. The other party device to be paired is, for example, an air compressor 101 manufactured by the same manufacturer and having a wireless communication device 185 (see FIG. 5). The air compressor 101 stores the identification information of the air tool that can be paired in advance, and the air compressor 101 connects when there is a pairing request from the air tool (nail driving machine 10) that can be connected wirelessly. Allow.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the communication unit 30 of the nailing machine 10 of FIG. The communication unit 30 is a housing made of synthetic resin, and a liquid crystal display panel 41 is provided on one surface thereof. The display panel 41 can be composed of, for example, a liquid crystal panel, and information transmitted from the air compressor 101 wirelessly, for example, the total number of nails, the operation mode of the air compressor 101, the discharge pressure, and the current application of the air compressor 101. Display the voltage etc. Further, when the air compressor 101 is in an abnormal state (overheated state, etc.), various warnings and the like may be displayed. A pairing button 42 is provided on the left side of the display panel 41. The pairing button 42 is a push-type push-button type switch such as a tactile switch. A replacement time indicator lamp (lighting lamp 43) is provided below the pairing button 42. The lighting lamp 43 indicates the replacement timing of the piston bumper, and when the lighting lamp 43 lights up, the operator requests the service center of the manufacturer for maintenance. Information 44 indicating what the lighting of the lamp indicates, that is, the character indicating "replacement of the piston bumper" is printed on the right side of the lighting lamp 43. Instead of printing the information 44, character information indicating the content may be displayed on the display panel 41.

A discharge pressure up button 45 and a discharge pressure down button 46 are provided on the right side of the display panel 41. When the operator needs to make fine adjustments during the driving operation of the nailing machine 10, the operator wirelessly signals the air compressor 101 by pressing either the discharge pressure up button 45 or the discharge pressure down button 46. Is transmitted, and the discharge pressure can be operated wirelessly by controlling the motor of the pressure reducing valve 152 to which the nailing machine is connected by the control unit 160 of the air compressor 101. The discharge pressure up button 45 and the discharge pressure down button 46 are push-type push-button switches such as a tactile switch. When either the discharge pressure up button 45 or the discharge pressure down button 46 is operated on the display panel 41, the current discharge pressure is displayed, and the discharge pressure up button 45 and the discharge pressure down button 46 are operated again. Then, the set value of the discharge pressure is changed according to the button operation, and at the same time, the changed discharge pressure may be displayed. In this way, the discharge pressure of the air compressor 101 can be adjusted in the main body of the nail driving machine 10, so that the depth of nail driving and the like can be adjusted without returning to the place where the air compressor 101 is located. can do. Further, the display panel 41 may always display the discharge pressure currently being supplied. It is optional to provide the discharge pressure up button 45 and the discharge pressure down button 46, and these buttons may be omitted so as not to have the remote adjustment function of the discharge pressure.

Next, with reference to FIG. 8, a procedure for detecting the number of times of nailing by the nailing machine 10 with the air compressor 101 will be described. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the relationship between the nailing operation by the nail gun 10 and the change in the take-out pressure 192 of the pressure sensor 146. The horizontal axes of the upper graph and the lower graph are shown together. FIG. 8 shows a state in which the continuous mode is selected and the push lever 20 is intermittently pressed against the object while the trigger lever 13 is being pulled, and nailing is performed 6 times. In FIG. 8A, the stroke amount of the push lever 20 is 191 and the vertical axis is the stroke of the push lever 20, and the stroke amount when the push lever 20 is not pressed against the object to be nailed is set to 0. The stroke amount S (unit: mm) is the amount by which the push lever 20 is pressed against the object and rises to be closest to the handle portion 12 side. The horizontal axis is the passage of time (unit: seconds). FIG. 8B shows the output of the pressure sensor 146 provided in the air passage to the coupler 141, and shows the take-out pressure 192 of the coupler 141.

In worker barrage mode, at time _t 1 ~t ₆ when performing six nailing, the primary from the set pressure _{P 2} the pressure for example, up to _{P 1} as indicated by the arrow 192a~192f by each nailing descend. Here, the set pressure drops from P ₂ to P ₁ . By detecting the timing of this decrease, the microcomputer 161 of the air compressor 101 can count the number of nails (number of hits) of the nail gun 10. In particular, since the couplers 141 to 144 are provided with independent pressure sensors 146 to 149, the microcomputer 161 can independently count the number of times of driving for each nailing machine 10. The counted number of nails is totaled by the microcomputer 161 together with the number of times of nailing in the past, and is stored in a recording device (not shown) in the control unit 160 (not shown). The air compressor 101 compares the preset upper limit value of the number of hits of the nailing machine 10 with the accumulated number of hits, and determines whether or not the nailing machine 10 has reached the maintenance time. At the time of this storage, since the identification information received from the nailing machine 10 by wireless communication is managed, the air compressor 101 can manage the integrated value of the number of times of driving for each nailing machine 10.

The microcomputer 161 is set to record in advance the number of times the nailing machine 10 reaches the maintenance time, and the air compressor 101 sends an alarm to the air compressor 101 that the maintenance time has been reached. By doing so, the microcomputer 32 of the nailing machine 10 displays the information on the display panel 41. Further, the information transmitted from the air compressor 101 to the nailing machine 10 side is not limited to the alarm information indicating that the specified upper limit of the number of hits has been exceeded, but the number of hits is directly transmitted. Alternatively, other information may be added and transmitted. In this way, the air compressor 101 can turn on or blink the lighting lamp 43 of the nailing machine 10 by issuing an instruction signal to the nailing machine 10.

In this embodiment, the nailing machine 10 equipped with the wireless communication module and the air compressor 101 communicate with each other, and the air compressor can be automatically set according to the nailing machine to be used. Therefore, the air is manually operated by the operator. The compressor setting work can be automated. In addition, since the air compressor side can count the number of times of driving and open / close the pressure reducing valve, it is possible to notify the nailing machine side that the maintenance time has come. Further, the air compressor 101 counts the number of hits of the nailing machine 10 and issues a warning to both the nailing machine and the air compressor that maintenance is required, which is appropriate for the user. It is possible to prompt the replacement of parts at the timing.

Although the present invention has been described above based on the examples, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned examples, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, a nailing machine has been described as an example of an air tool, but not only a nailing machine but also a driving machine and a work tool using high-pressure air are provided with a wireless communication function. It can be applied in the same way. Further, the operation panel 180 is provided with a liquid crystal display (touch panel type or the like) or a known display device, and is configured to display information on the number of hits for each nailing machine 10 connected to the couplers 141 to 144 in real time. You may.

1 Control system 10 Nailer (driving machine) 11 Housing 12 Handle 13 Trigger lever 14 Cylinder case 15 Magazine 17 Injection 20 Push lever 30 Communication unit 31 Control 32 Microcomputer 33 Mode switching sensor 34 Pressure sensor 35 Trigger on / off Sensor 36 Push lever sensor 37 Storage memory 38 Wireless communication device 40 Battery 41 Display panel 42 Pairing button 43 Lighting lamp 44 Description 50 Air hose 101 Air compressor 102 Cover 103 Wind window 111 Frame 112a, 112b Air tank 113 Legs 114a, 114b Handle 115 Cooling fan 116 Motor 120 Control circuit board 130 Compressed air generator 131 Primary compression unit 132 Secondary compression unit 135 Connecting pipe 140 AC power supply 141-144 Coupler 146-149 Pressure sensor 150 Pressure sensor 151, 153 Motor 152, 154 Decompression Valve (regulator) 152a, 154a Dial 156 to 159 Check valve 160 Control unit 161 Microcomputer 171, 172 Branch connector 180 Operation panel 181 Power switch 182 Power lamp 183 Operation mode switch 184 Mode selection lamp 185 Wireless communication device 186 Display panel 187 pair Ring button 188a to 188d Pairing status indicator lamp 189a to 189d Replacement time indicator lamp 191 Stroke amount A1 Axis line P1, P2 Set pressure

Claims (15)

A driving machine having a driving mechanism using compressed air,
In an air compressor control system having an AC power source, a DC power source, or an air compressor operated by a combined power source thereof.
The driving machine and the air compressor are provided with communication means capable of pairing by short-range wireless communication, respectively.
The air compressor is a control system characterized in that it is controlled by operation information received from the driving machine. The air compressor
It has a pressure reducing valve that can electrically adjust the pressure of the air output through the output unit.
The control system according to claim 1, wherein the pressure reducing valve of the air compressor is adjusted according to the operation information received from the driving machine. The operation information includes the device information of the driving machine or the set pressure information of air to the driving machine.
The control system according to claim 2, wherein the control unit of the air compressor adjusts the pressure reducing valve based on the operation information. A plurality of compressed air outlets of the air compressor are provided, pressure sensors are provided in each of the air passages to the compressed air outlet, and the pressure fluctuation is measured by the signal of the pressure sensor, thereby using the driving machine. The control system according to claim 3, wherein the number of hits is integrated. A plurality of the compressed air outlets are provided for one pressure reducing valve.
The control system according to claim 4, wherein a check valve is provided in an air passage between the plurality of pressure sensors and the pressure reducing valve. The air compressor
Comparing the preset upper limit of the number of hits of the driving machine with the accumulated number of hits,
Judging whether or not the driving machine is in maintenance time,
The control system according to claim 5, wherein when the maintenance time is reached, a warning is given on the display unit of the air compressor and / and the display unit of the driving machine. A driving machine used in the control system according to any one of claims 1 to 6.
A striking mechanism that launches a stopper with compressed air supplied from the air compressor by an air hose,
A driving machine characterized by having a communication device that transmits the operation information of the driving machine and receives information from the paired air compressor. The driving machine according to claim 7, wherein the information transmitted from the air compressor to the driving machine is alarm information indicating that the specified upper limit of the number of hits has been exceeded. The driving machine according to claim 8, wherein the air compressor controls the air compressor based on the information transmitted by the communication means. An air compressor used in the control system according to any one of claims 2 to 6.
A compression unit that generates compressed air to be supplied to the driving machine,
It has the communication means for receiving the information of the driving machine and transmitting the information of the air compressor.
The communication means is an air compressor characterized by receiving information from the paired driving machine. The air compressor is provided with the pressure reducing valve for adjusting the pressure of the compressed air to be supplied.
The air compressor according to claim 10, wherein the control unit of the air compressor automatically adjusts the pressure reducing valve based on the information from the driving machine. The control unit of the air compressor is characterized in that it generates information on the number of hits of the driving machine based on a signal from a pressure sensor provided between the pressure reducing valve and the compressed air outlet. 11. The air compressor according to 11. The air compressor according to claim 12, wherein the air compressor has an operation unit, and the operation unit is provided with a pairing button and a lamp indicating a pairing state. The air compressor according to claim 13, wherein an alarm information indicating that the specified upper limit of the number of hits has been exceeded is displayed on the operation unit of the air compressor. The air compressor according to claim 14, wherein the display unit of the air compressor displays information on the number of hits for each driving machine connected to the compressed air outlet.

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