Communications: electrical – Condition responsive indicating system – With particular coupling link
Patent
1998-05-19
2000-09-26
Pope, Daryl
Communications: electrical
Condition responsive indicating system
With particular coupling link
367197, 56102A, 56 108, G08B 108
Patent
active
06124791&
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a safety switching device for a motor-driven garden appliance, for example a lawnmower or a lawn-aerator, with an actuating element arranged on the handle-bar.
Such a safety switching device is disclosed by the applicant's Swiss patent 618 578. In this case, the actuating element arranged on the handle-bar is designed as a sensor switch which brings about electrical contacting when the handle-bar is grasped as intended by the hand (or by both hands). These actuating elements are connected via control lines (not represented in the drawing) to a switching unit 16 in the vicinity of the motor block. As in the case of the actuating elements on the handle-bar, which act directly on a network-power switch which is arranged on the handle-bar and is connected via electrical lines to the motor, in the case of the known garden appliance the control lines are also arranged in a freely suspended manner and are thus exposed to damage whenever the garden appliance is pushed past sharp edges or other obstacles or is put away in storage.
To be able to accommodate a garden appliance in a space-saving manner when not in use, the handle-bar is generally provided with a hinged joint which makes it possible to swing the projecting part of the handle-bar over the lawnmower or the like in such a way that the space requirement is determined substantially by the dimensions of the chassis.
In the case of such appliances, the cable leading to the switch is guided along one leg of the handle-bar and is fixed on the latter by clips. The cable must therefore follow the swinging movement when the handle-bar is collapsed and extended, which over a period of time may lead to the cable being damaged, in particular when the cable is inadvertently pinched repeatedly in the parts of the joint.
U.S. Pat. No. 964 265, cited in opposition, shows a self-propelled, wheel-driven lawnmower which is driven by a battery-operated motor. In the case of this known lawnmower, no handle-bar is provided, because the guiding of the lawnmower is to be performed by a remote control, the transmitter of which is assigned to the operator and the receiver of which is united with the self-propelled lawnmower. This remote control, which not only brings about the switching on and off of the motor but also has to perform controlling functions for the wheels, is preferably formed by a multi-channel remote-control means of the kind which is customary for remote-controlled model aircraft. The problem of motor switching from a handle-bar does not exist here.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is therefore based on the object of designing a safety switching device of the generic type for a garden appliance in such a way that the switching function from the handle-bar remains reliably ensured, and the risk of damaging the cable is excluded.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)
The set object is achieved by an actuating element on the handle-bar being combined with a transmitter which wirelessly transmits switch signals to a receiver combined with a motor switch. The fact that the transmission of the switching-on signal takes place wirelessly means that it is possible to dispense with a cable between the handle-bar and the motor. The wireless transmission may expediently take place by infrared radiation or similar known methods, and numerous means of transmission with very small dimensions are commercially available for this purpose, it having to be taken into consideration that only very small amounts of energy are required because of the short distance between transmitter and receiver.
An embodiment of the invention is schematically illustrated in the drawing FIGURE. It includes a lawn mower 10 conventionally driven by an electric motor 12 which is connected to a switching device 14 which is operated to turn the motor on and off. A signal receiver 16 on the lawn mower is connected with the switching device, and when the receiver receives the appropriate signal, it operates the switch
REFERENCES:
patent: 4145864 (1979-03-01), Brewster, Jr.
patent: 4964265 (1990-10-01), Young
patent: 5293712 (1994-03-01), Lo
patent: 5351778 (1994-10-01), Shigemi et al.
patent: 5749207 (1998-05-01), Coats
Pope Daryl
Wolf-Gerate GmbH Vertriebsgesellschaft KG
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