Power and home tools
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tools have complex designs that complicate manufacturing processes, leading to increased costs and potential reliability issues due to the use of numerous wires and circuit boards.
Innovation Solution
Simplified tool designs that eliminate circuit boards and reduce the need for wires by using stamped metal connectors, tulip connectors, or direct soldering of battery and motor components to a circuit board, along with integrating cell monitors and charge shut-offs into the charger rather than the tool itself.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If traditional tool designs with circuit boards and numerous wires are used, then functional capabilities are achieved, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the circuit board entirely from the tool assembly, extracting the monitoring and control functions to the charger unit. This eliminates the need for complex wiring and circuit boards in the handheld tool, directly resolving the contradiction between manufacturing simplicity and device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The cell monitor and charge shut-off functions are merged into the charger unit, combining multiple control functions into a single external device. This consolidation eliminates the need for separate circuit boards and wiring within the tool, simplifying manufacturing while maintaining full functionality.
2Reliability
If circuit boards and numerous wires are used in tool assembly, then electrical connections are established, but assembly steps increase and reliability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
By extracting all monitoring and control electronics from the tool to the charger, the patent eliminates multiple potential failure points (circuit boards, solder joints, wire connections) within the tool itself, thereby improving reliability while reducing assembly complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The charger unit serves multiple functions: it charges the battery, monitors cell voltage, controls charge termination, and communicates with the tool. This multi-functionality consolidates what would otherwise require separate components and wiring within the tool, reducing assembly steps while maintaining reliability.
3Ease of manufacture
If cell monitors and charge shut-offs are integrated into the tool, then monitoring capabilities are provided, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the cell monitor and charge shut-off components from the tool assembly and relocates them to the charger unit. This extraction eliminates the need to manufacture and assemble these sensitive components into the tool, reducing manufacturing cost and complexity while maintaining full monitoring capability.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of integrating monitoring functions into the tool (traditional approach), the patent inverts the architecture by placing all intelligent control functions in the charger. This reversal simplifies tool manufacturing while maintaining sophisticated battery management capabilities.
Data Source
AI summary
A hand-held tool that includes a housing. The housing includes a handle. A tool also includes a motor assembly, a battery assembly and a circuit board. The motor assembly includes a motor, the motor including a rotatable motor output shaft, a motor positive terminal and a motor negative terminal. The motor assembly also includes a first rigid conductive electrical connector having a first end fixed to the motor positive terminal and a second end fixed to the circuit board. The battery assembly includes a battery cell with a battery cell positive terminal and a battery cell negative terminal. The battery assembly further includes a second rigid conductive electrical connector having a first end fixed to the battery cell positive terminal and a second end fixed to the circuit board.