Hand-held electrical appliance for personal care or for use as a tool
First Claim
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1. An electrical appliance (1) arranged for holding in one hand of a user while being normally operated, comprising:
- a housing (2), manually operable actuating means (3) provided at a surface of the housing, wherein said manually operable actuating means is an on/off switch, and additional means, in addition to said manually operable actuating means, for influencing at least one parameter relating to the operation of the appliance, characterized in that said additional means includes;
a force sensor (Rf1, Rf2) arranged at a location in a side wall of said housing where, when the appliance is being normally held and operated, said one hand of the user will continuously exert force on the sensor, said force sensor supplying a sensor signal which is representative of the force with which the housing (2) is held in said one hand, and control means (21, 26) for influencing, in response to the sensor signal, said at least one parameter, and further characterized in that the additional means comprises two said force sensors arranged respectively at opposite sides of the housing, and said control means comprises a bridge circuit to which the two force sensors are connected for influencing said at least one parameter.
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Abstract
A hand-held electrical appliance (1) for personal care or for use as an electric tool, has a housing (2), manual actuating means (3), at least one force sensor (9) located in or on the housing (2) for supplying a sensor signal representative of the grip force exerted by the hand of a user, and control means for controlling at least one operational parameter of the appliance (1) in response to the sensor signal. In this way the user can consciously or unconsciously influence the motor speed or the spring load of the shaving heads of an electric shaver, or the motor speed of an electric drill.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. An electrical appliance (1) arranged for holding in one hand of a user while being normally operated, comprising:
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a housing (2), manually operable actuating means (3) provided at a surface of the housing, wherein said manually operable actuating means is an on/off switch, and additional means, in addition to said manually operable actuating means, for influencing at least one parameter relating to the operation of the appliance, characterized in that said additional means includes;
a force sensor (Rf1, Rf2) arranged at a location in a side wall of said housing where, when the appliance is being normally held and operated, said one hand of the user will continuously exert force on the sensor, said force sensor supplying a sensor signal which is representative of the force with which the housing (2) is held in said one hand, and control means (21, 26) for influencing, in response to the sensor signal, said at least one parameter, and further characterized in that the additional means comprises two said force sensors arranged respectively at opposite sides of the housing, and said control means comprises a bridge circuit to which the two force sensors are connected for influencing said at least one parameter. - View Dependent Claims (3)
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- 2. A hand-held electrical appliance (1) for personal care or for use as a tool, which appliance has a housing (2) and manually operable actuating means (3), characterized in that the appliance (1) includes two force sensors (Rf1, Rf2) arranged in or on the housing at opposite sides of the housing and electrically connected in a bridge circuit, for supplying a sensor signal which is representative of the force with which the housing (2) is held in a hand of a user, as well as control means (21, 26) for influencing, in response to the sensor signal, at least one parameter relating to the operation of the appliance (1).
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6. A hand-held electrical appliance (1) for personal care or for use as a tool, said appliance having a housing (2) and manually operable actuating means (3),
characterized in that the appliance (1) includes at least one force sensor (9) arranged in or on the housing for supplying a sensor signal which is representative of the force with which the housing (2) is held in a hand of a user, as well as control means (21, 26) for influencing, in response to the sensor signal, at least one parameter relating to the operation of the appliance (1), and further characterized in that said appliance includes display means driven by the sensor signal, which display means comprises a plurality of spaced-apart LEDs (12, 14), which LEDs comprise a plurality of pairs of LEDs (12, 13) accommodated in said housing, each pair comprising one green LED and one red LED, and the LEDs of a pair being driven separately so as to emit green or red light, and being also drivable simultaneously to emit yellow light.
Specification