Electric power tool and dust collector

• US 10,039,137 B2
• Filed: 12/10/2015
• Issued: 07/31/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Makita Corporation
• Original Assignee: Makita Corporation
• Inventors: Suzuki, Hitoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Hai V
• Application Number:
  US14/965,363
• Publication Number:
  US 20160175895A1
• Time in Patent Office: 964 Days
• Field of Search: 455 411
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup

Abstract

An electric power tool includes a wireless transmission unit and a transmission control unit that causes the wireless transmission unit to transmit a linking signal to a dust collector to thereby cause the dust collector to operate in a linked manner. An operation mode of the transmission control unit is shifted from a normal mode to a pairing mode by operation of an operation unit. When in the pairing mode, the transmission control unit causes the wireless transmission unit to transmit a pairing request signal to the dust collector. In this way, the electric power tool can be registered in the dust collector as a link target appliance.

Claims

1. An electric power tool comprising:

a wireless transmission unit that transmits a wireless signal to a dust collector; and

a transmission control unit that causes the wireless transmission unit to transmit a linking signal to the dust collector, to thereby cause the dust collector to operate in a linked manner,

wherein an operation mode of the transmission control unit is shifted, by operation of an operation unit, from a normal mode in which the dust collector is caused to operate in the linked manner to a pairing mode in which the electric power tool is caused to be registered in the dust collector as a link target appliance, and

wherein the transmission control unit is configured, when in the pairing mode, to cause the wireless transmission unit to transmit a pairing request signal to the dust collector, to thereby cause the electric power tool to be registered in the dust collector as the link target appliance.

2. The electric power tool according to claim 1, comprising, as the operation unit, a pairing request switch for inputting a request for shifting to the pairing mode.

3. The electric power tool according to claim 1,

wherein the wireless transmission unit is configured to select a communication channel from a plurality of communication channels having different frequencies and to transmit the wireless signal through the selected communication channel.

4. The electric power tool according to claim 3,

wherein the transmission control unit is configured to sequentially change the communication channel used for transmission of the pairing request signal to another communication channel among the plurality of communication channels and to cause the pairing request signal to be transmitted through the another communication channel.

5. The electric power tool according to claim 3,

wherein the transmission control unit is configured to cause the pairing request signal to be transmitted through a reserved channel set in advance for transmission of the pairing request signal, among the plurality of communication channels.

6. The electric power tool according to claim 3,

wherein the transmission control unit is configured to cause the wireless transmission unit to transmit the pairing request signal to the dust collector to thereby shift an operation mode in the dust collector to a pairing mode, and then, to cause the wireless transmission unit to transmit a pairing setting signal to the dust collector through a unique channel, which is one of the plurality of communication channels, to thereby cause the electric power tool to be registered in the dust collector as the link target appliance.

7. The electric power tool according to claim 6,

wherein the transmission control unit is configured to change the unique channel in accordance with a channel change command inputted externally.

8. The electric power tool according to claim 7, comprising an operation unit for inputting the channel change command by external operation.

9. The electric power tool according to claim 8 comprising, as the operation unit, a pairing request switch for inputting a request for shifting to the pairing mode,

wherein the operation unit for inputting the channel change command is the pairing request switch, and

wherein the transmission control unit is configured to distinguish between the request for shifting to the pairing mode and the channel change command on the basis of an operation time period or the number of operations of the pairing request switch.

10. The electric power tool according to claim 1,

wherein the transmission control unit is configured to cancel the pairing mode of the transmission control unit upon elapse of a specified time period set in advance after the operation mode is shifted to the pairing mode by operation of the operation unit.

11. The electric power tool according to claim 1, comprising a transmission prohibition switch for inputting a transmission prohibition command for prohibiting transmission of the linking signal from the wireless transmission unit,

wherein the transmission control unit is configured to prohibit transmission of the linking signal from the wireless transmission unit when the transmission prohibition command is inputted via the transmission prohibition switch.

12. The electric power tool according to claim 1,

wherein the transmission control unit is configured, when in the pairing mode, to decrease a transmission output from the wireless transmission unit to be lower than that in the normal mode.

13. A dust collector comprising:

a motor for dust collection;

a wireless reception unit that receives at least one wireless signal transmitted from at least one electric power tool; and

a reception control unit that drives the motor in accordance with at least one linking signal received by the wireless reception unit,

wherein, when at least one pairing request signal is received by the wireless reception unit, an operation mode of the reception control unit is shifted from a normal mode in which the motor is driven in accordance with the at least one linking signal to a pairing mode, and

wherein the reception control unit is configured, when in the pairing mode, to register a specific electric power tool that has transmitted one of the at least one pairing request signal, among the at least one electric power tool, as a link target appliance that will transmit one of the at least one linking signal for driving the motor.

14. The dust collector according to claim 13,

wherein the wireless reception unit is configured to select a communication channel from a plurality of communication channels having different frequencies and to receive the at least one wireless signal through the selected communication channel.

15. The dust collector according to claim 14,

wherein the reception control unit is configured to set the communication channel through which the wireless reception unit receives the wireless signal to a specific channel set in advance and to cause the pairing request signal to be received through the specific channel.

16. The dust collector according to claim 14,

wherein the reception control unit is configured, when the pairing request signal is received by the wireless reception unit and the operation mode of the reception control unit is shifted from the normal mode to the pairing mode, to sequentially change the communication channel through which the wireless reception unit receives the wireless signal from among the plurality of communication channels, to cause the wireless reception unit to receive a pairing setting signal transmitted from the electric power tool, and to register the communication channel through which the pairing setting signal has been received as a unique channel through which the link target appliance will transmit the linking signal.

17. The dust collector according to claim 16,

wherein the reception control unit is configured, in a case where the unique channel has been already registered and when the operation mode of the reception control unit is shifted from the normal mode to the pairing mode and the pairing setting signal transmitted through the communication channel different from the unique channel is received, to register the communication channel through which the pairing setting signal has been received as a new unique channel to thereby update registration of the unique channel.

18. The dust collector according to claim 13,

wherein the reception control unit is configured to cancel the pairing mode upon elapse of a specified time period set in advance after the operation mode of the reception control unit is shifted to the pairing mode.

19. The dust collector according to claim 13, comprising a pairing prohibition switch for inputting a pairing prohibition command for prohibiting the operation mode of the reception control unit from being shifted to the pairing mode,

wherein the reception control unit is configured, when the pairing prohibition command is inputted via the pairing prohibition switch, to prohibit the operation mode of the reception control unit from being shifted from the normal mode to the pairing mode by reception of the pairing request signal by the wireless reception unit.

20. The dust collector according to claim 13,

wherein the reception control unit is configured, when in the pairing mode, to decrease a reception sensitivity of the wireless reception unit to be lower than that in the normal mode.