WO2012035854A1

WO2012035854A1 - Electric handy tool

Info

Publication number: WO2012035854A1
Application number: PCT/JP2011/065640
Authority: WO
Inventors: Shuuji Nakamura; Norikazu Masuda; Masato Kazama
Original assignee: Alpha Corporation
Priority date: 2010-09-15
Filing date: 2011-07-01
Publication date: 2012-03-22
Also published as: JP2012061540A

Abstract

An electric handy tool is provided with a housing 4, an authentication part 1 which is provided in the housing 4 and authenticates ID information supplied from an ID acquirement part 1b, an electric drive device 3 which is provided in the housing 4 and driven on the basis of a condition that an authentication succeeds in the authentication part 1 thereby to operate a working tip portion 2, and a through-hole part 5 which penetrates through the housing 4. The ID acquirement part 1b is provided on a sidewall portion of the through-hole part 5.

Description

DESCRIPTION

ELECTRIC HANDY TOOL Technical Field

The present invention relates to an electric handy tool.

Background Art

As an electric handy tool which can prevent theft by requiring a predetermined authentication operation, a tool described in Fig. 1 in Patent Document 1 has been known.

In this conventional example, a numeric key pad (an ID acquirement part) is installed on a side of a handy tool body. When a value inputted from the ID acquirement part is correct, the handy tool is permitted to be used.

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, since the ID acquirement part is installed on a body sidewall of the handy tool, the ID acquirement part may be located on an underside facing a floor surface depending on its storage posture. Therefore, in this case, the posture of the tool must be turnedover so as to carryout an authentication operation, which causes a problem that this tool is inconvenient to use.

[Related Art Document]

[Patent Document]

[Patent Document 1] US2003/0107470 Summary of Invention

One or more embodiments of the invention provide an easy-to-use electric handy tool.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, an electric handy tool may include a housing 4 , an authentication part 1 which is provided in the housing 4 and authenticates ID information supplied from an ID acquirement part lb, an electric drive device 3 which is provided in the housing 4 and driven on the basis of the condition that authentication succeeds in the authentication part 1 thereby to operate a working tip portion 2, and a through-hole part 5 which extends through the housing 4. The ID acquirement part lb maybe provided on a sidewall portion of the through-hole part 5.

Other aspects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the appended claims .

Brief Description of Drawings

Fig. 1(a) is a side view of an electric handy tool of an exemplary embodiment. Fig. 1 (b) is a main portion sectional view of Fig.1(a) . Fig.1(c) is a front view showing an auxiliary handle .

Fig. 2 is a functional block diagram of the electric handy tool . Description of Embodiments

An electric handy tool is constituted by an electric drive device 3 such as a motor and an authentication part 1 which are accommodated in a housing 4. The authentication part 1 includes an ID (Identification) acquirement part, a driving operation of the electric drive device 3 is permitted in case that ID information acquired from the ID acquirement part matches registration ID which is previously registered, and a working tip portion 2 is actuated by the driving operation of the electric drive device 3.

The electric handy tool is a tool which is available for handling, which drives the working tip portion 2 by means of the electric drive device 3 accommodated in the housing 4. In the invention, the electric handy tool may be, for example, a drill device, a hammer drill device, an electric multi-needle chisel device, a circular sawing device, or the like. The working tip portion 2 may be, for example, a drill bit in the drill device, a drill bit in the hammer drill device, or a chisel. Whether the working tip portion 2 is detachablyattached to the housing 4 is not considered.

As the authentication part 1, several authentication devices can be used, such as a security code verifying device which uses a security code input part as the ID acquirement part, a device for biometric authentication such as fingerprint recognition which uses a fingerprint scanner as the ID acquirement part, and an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) authentication device which uses an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) reader/writer as the ID acquirement part. The ID acquirement part is installed on a sidewall portion of a through-hole part 5 provided in the housing 4.

A through-hole part 5 has such size that a supply of ID information to the above ID acquirement part can be performed, and extends from any one surface of the housing 4 to the opposite surface thereto. For example, in case that the security code verifying device is used as the authentication part 1, the through-hole part 5 may have at least such the size that space for operating an operation button is ensured. In case that the fingerprint scanner is used as the ID acquirement part, the through-hole part 5 may be formed in such the size that the figure can be inserted into the through-hole part 5. In case that the RFID authentication device which retains ID information in a card is used as the authentication part, the through-hole part 5 may be formed in the shape of a slit into which the card can be inserted.

In case that the RFID authentication device is used as the authentication part 1, an operator can execute the authentication operation simply by holding an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag 7 over the RFID reader/writer . Therefore, it does not occur that operability of the authentication operation lowers depending on the posture of the handy tool .

Even in case that the electric handy tool is placed in any posture, since the opening end of the through-hole part 5 is exposed, operator's hand or a card is inserted from its opening end thereby to enable the authentication operation.

In result, since it is not necessary to change the posture of the tool in order to perform the authentication operation, the usability of the tool improves.

Further, a sidewall of the through-hole part 5, since the wall surface exists in front of the sidewall even in case that the tool is placed on the floor surface in any posture, can prevent collision with the floor surface. In result, occurrence of damage in the ID acquirement part decreases, and it is also possible to prevent the ID acquirement part from being operated accidentally.

Regarding the through-hole part 5 , as long as the operation for the ID acquirement part is permitted, the position and the size of the through-hole part 5 can be set appropriately.

Opening for forming a handle portion 6 in the housing 4 may be utilized as the through-hole part 5. In this case, the through-hole part 5 is utilized as an insertion hole for operator's figures when the operator grips the handle portion The above through-hole part 5 is not limited to what is closed in the entire circumference, but maybe what is partially- opened on the basis of the condition that the contact of the ID acquirement part with the floor surface is prevented, that is, what forms a J-shaped handle portion 6 having one end of a free end. Further, the height of the peripheral wall of the through-hole part 5 does not need to be uniform in the entire circumference, but the peripheral wall thereof corresponding to the handle portion 6 may be made small in height to form the thin handle portion 6.

Since the ID acquirement part in the authentication part is installed on the sidewall portion of the through-hole part, the authentication operation can be performed regardless of the tool posture, whereby the usability of the tool can be improved .

In Fig. 1(a) , a hammer drill of an exemplary embodiment of the electric handy tool is shown. The hammer drill accommodates a motor (electric drive device 3) in a housing 4 and is formed availably for handling. At one end portion of the housing 4, a chuck portion 8 for holding a drill bit (working tip portion 2) is arranged, and power of the motor 3 is transmitted to the chuck portion 8 through an appropriate gear train 17 thereby to operate the drill bit 2.

Further, to the housing 4 , an auxiliary handle 9 for proving handling means for the operator is attached together with a handle portion 6 described later. The auxiliary handle 9 is rotation-operable around a rotation center of the drill bit 2, and can change its position between a solid-line position and a chain- line position in Fig.1(C) depending on the operating posture . Since the accidental movement of the auxiliary handle

9 during the operation lowers safety of the operation greatly, a not-shown fixing device is attached to the auxiliary handle 9.

The above handle portion 6 is arranged at the rear end portion of the housing 4, and the housing 4 is provided with a through-hole part 5 which extend from one side of the housing 4 to the other side thereof so that the operator can grasp the handle portion 6 by inserting his fingers into the through-hole part 5. To this handle portion 6, a trigger lever

10 is attached rotation-operably around a pivot 10a.

Further, in the above housing 4, an authentication part 1, a trigger detection switch 11, a control device 12, and a LED 13 are stored.

As shown in Fig. 2, for the authentication part 1, an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) authentication device is used. The RFID authentication device includes an ID storage la which stores ID that can be authenticated, and an RFID reader/writer lb which makes close-range communication with an RFID tag 7 which the user owns thereby to obtain unique ID to the RFID tag 7. The RFID authentication device, in case that the ID read by the RFID reader/writer lb matches the ID in the ID storage part la, outputs an authentication success signal to a control unit 14 described later.

As shown in Fig.1 (b) , the RFID reader/writer lb is arranged on the peripheral wall of the though-hole-like part 5, and exactly on a back surface of the wall surface opposed to the peripheral wall where the trigger lever 10 is arranged. This arrangement enables recognition of the RFID tag 7 inserted into the through-hole part 5, and prevents damage of the RFID reader/writer lb which will be caused by exposition on the peripheral wall surface.

Further, in the exemplary embodiment, a seal tag which the user can hold by sticking to the substance of his choice is used as the RFID tag 7. As shown in Fig. 1(b), the RFID tag 7 can be stuck to a mobile telephone 15 or the like which the operator carries at all times. Therefore, loss of the RFID tag 7 can be prevented.

Accordingly, in the exemplary embodiment, even in case that the electric handy tool is placed on the floor surface in any posture, without performing the posture turning-over operation for the electric handy tool, the operator can perform the authentication operation by bringing the RFID tag 7 in contact with or close to the wall surface of the through-hole part 5.

Further, the RFID reader/writer lb is provided on another wall surface than the wall surface where the trigger lever 10 is installed, that is, on another wall surface than the handle portion 6, thereby to prevent the damage which will be caused by the excessive load on the installation wall surface of the RFID reader/writer lb during the operation. Further, the handle portion 6 opposed to the wall surface where the RFID reader/writer lb is installed functions as a block wall when another tool or equipment has moved to the installation wall surface of the RFID reader/writer lb. Therefore, the handle portion 6 can prevent the accidental damage of the RFID reader/writer lb.

In the control device 12, a power adjusting part 12a, amotor driving circuit 12b, and a control unit 14 are constructed. The electric power supplied from a commercial power source 16 or a battery is voltage-stepped down by the power adjusting part 12a, or AC-DC converted as needs and supplied to the control unit 14, and then supplied to the motor driving circuit 12b.

The control unit 14 includes a motor control part 14b, an operation management part 14c, a trigger detecting part 14d and a display control part 14e which are controlled by a control part 14a. When the control part 14a receives an authentication success signal from the above authentication part 1, an operable flag is set in the operation management part 14c, and simultaneously the display control part 14e supplies drive current to a LED and switches on the LED, thereby to inform the user of the available state.

The trigger detecting part 14d monitors the output of the trigger detection switch 11 which is activated by the operation of the trigger lever 10. The control part 14a, when it detects the operation of the trigger lever 10 through this triggerdetection switch 11 , inquires of the operationmanagement part 14c whether the operable flag is set or not. In case that the operable flag has been set in the operation management part 14c, the control part 14a supplies the power through the motor control part 14b to the motor driving circuit 12b thereby to rotate the motor 3 and then operate the drill bit 2.

The output from the trigger detection switch 11 to the trigger detecting part 14d contains information on pulling degree of the trigger lever 10 in addition to ON/OFF information of the trigger lever 10. The motor control part 14b adjusts the current value to be supplied to the motor driving circuit 12b in response to the pulling degree, and controls the rotation number of the motor 3. Description of Reference Numerals and Signs

1 Authentication part

2 Working tip portion

3 Electric drive device

4 Housing

5 Through-hole part

6 Handle part

Claims

1. An electric handy tool comprising:

a housing (4) ;

an authentication part (1) which is provided in the housing (4) and configured to authenticate ID information supplied from an ID acquirement part (lb) ;

an electric drive device (3) which is provided in the housing (4) and configured to be driven based on a condition that an authentication succeeds in the authentication part (1) so as to operate a working tip portion (2); and

a through-hole part (5) whichpenetrates throughthe housing

(4) ,

wherein the ID acquirement part (lb) is provided on a sidewall portion of the through-hole part (5) .

2. The electric handy tool according to Claim 1, wherein a wall surface of the through-hole part constitutes a part of sidewalls of a handle portion (6) which provides a grip portion for a user.

3. The electric handy tool according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the authentication part is formed by an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) authentication device (1) and arranged a back surface of a wall surface of the housing (4) .