Black Decker Inc.

Regal Beloit America, Inc.

Shailesh P Waikar

Uday S Deshpande

Erik A Ekstrom

Steven Albert Nardin

Ryan Keith Stephens

William F Hilsher

David J Smith

Brian Lee Beifus

Mehdi T Abolhassani

Madhur M Purohit

Ren H Wang

Marcell E Coates

Wing Lin

Abraham Sanchez

Tong Zheng

Joshua D West

Changxing Lu

Fulong Liu

Yeli Gu

Zhi Qu

Joseph B Narbut

Daniel Puzio

John E Buck

Daniele C Brotto

Craig Alan Schell

Andrew E Seman, Jr

Bhanuprasad V Gorti

Michael Kenneth Forster

Richard Thomas Walter

Earl M Ortt

John Charles Vanko

Hung T Du

David A Carrier

Nathan J Cruise

Stuart E Garber

David L Wikle

Andrew E Seman

Qiang J Zhang

Kamron Mark Wright

Scott J Eshleman

Michael Roger Koller

Rouse Roby Bailey, Jr

Rachele Barbara Cocks

Eric E Hatfield

William D Spencer

Daniel F Nace

Jason R Melvin

Pradeep M Pant

John Sheldon Wagley

Peter Bruff Lytle

Philip Wayne Johnson

Jongsoo Lim

Gregory A Rice

Alexandros T Theos

Seth M Robinson

Zachary S Olmsted

Xiaohui Ji

Ganapati K Pai

Ahmad Mohammad Ghannam

Qiang Zhang

William M Spencer

Rouse Roby Bailey

Jr Andrew E Seman

Jr Rouse Roby Bailey

Uday Deshpande

A brushless direct-current (BLDC) motor is provided. The motor includes a stator including a stator core, stator teeth, and windings; a rotor shaft disposed within the stator and extending along a longitudinal axis; and a rotor. The rotor includes a rotor core having a cylindrical body, a permanent magnet ring mounted on an outer surface of the cylindrical body with no intermediate adhesive therebetween, and metal sleeve securely fitted outside the permanent magnet ring. The metal sleeve includes a flange extending radially inwardly that covers an axial end of the permanent magnet ring and is bonded to the rotor core to secure the permanent magnet ring to the rotor core.

Motor rotor with sleeve for retention of magnet ring

A brushless direct-current (BLDC) motor is provided. The motor includes a stator including a stator core, stator teeth, and windings; a rotor shaft disposed within the stator and extending along a longitudinal axis; and a rotor. The rotor includes a rotor core including an inner body mounted on the rotor shaft and radial projections projecting outwardly from the inner body, a permanent magnet mounted on an outer end of the radial projections, and a mold structure formed in contact with the radial projections and configured to secure the permanent magnet to the rotor core.

Overmolded rotor structure

A power adaptor is provided including a housing receiving a first power cord couplable to a power source through a and a second power cord couplable to a load through a second axial end, a protective capacitor mounted on a circuit board within the housing, a first set of terminals mounted on a first side of the circuit board adjacent the protective capacitor and configured to electrically couple line and neutral wires of the first power cord to the protective capacitor, and a second set of terminals mounted on a second side of the circuit board adjacent the protective capacitor and configured to electrically couple line and neutral wires of the second power cord to the protective capacitor. The protective capacitor is configured to discharge when current draw by the load exceeds a current threshold.

Line conditioning accessory and protective circuit for power tool

A control unit for a brushless DC motor of a power tool having a rotor and a stator is provided. The control unit detects an initial position of the rotor, commutates the motor beginning at the initial position of the rotor using a low-speed motor commutation scheme until an output speed of the rotor exceeds a speed threshold, and commutates the motor based on a back-electromotive force (back-EMF) voltage of the motor after the output speed of the rotor exceeds the speed threshold. In the low-speed commutation scheme, the control unit applies a first set of voltage pulses to a present sector and a second set of voltage pulses to a next sector, and detects a transition of the rotor from the present sector to the next sector based on motor current measurements associated with the first set of voltage pulses and the second set of voltage pulses.

Low-speed sensorless brushless motor control in a power tool

A blower assembly for advancing the flow of air in an air flow device at a selected one of a plurality of air flow rates. The blower assembly includes a blower housing defining a body thereof and a wall of the blower housing moveably secured to the body, a blower wheel rotatably mounted to the blower housing and a motor for rotating the blower wheel at a selected one of a plurality of rotational speeds. The blower assembly further includes a motion device secured to the body and to the wall. The motion device moves the wall relative to the body to a selected one of a plurality of distinct wall positions. The motor rotates the blower wheel at a selected one of a plurality of rotational speeds. A controller calculates an optimum wall position and rotational speed to provide for minimal energy usage rate.

Assembly blower and associated method

A power tool is provided including a brushless motor having a stator defining a plurality of phases, a rotor rotatable relative to the stator, and power terminals electrically connected to the phases of the motor. A power unit is provided including power switches. A control unit is interfaced with the power unit to output a drive signal to one or more of the motor switches to drive the phases of the motor over a series of sectors of the rotor rotation. The control unit is configured detect incorrect rotation of the rotor by applying a first series of voltage pulses to a present sector and a second series of voltage pulses to a previous sector, measuring motor currents associated with the first and second series of voltage pulses, and comparing corresponding motor current measurements to detect a transition from the present sector to the previous sector.

An electric machine includes a motor assembly including a motor and a motor controller coupled to the motor and configured to control operation of the motor. The electric machine also includes a motor housing defining an interior space and enclosing the motor assembly within the interior space. The electric machine further includes an electric machine housing. The motor housing is enclosed within the electric machine housing. The electric machine also includes an NFC antenna communicatively coupled to the motor controller and mounted such that an antenna range of the NFC antenna extends on an exterior of the electric machine housing. The NFC antenna is configured to receive a signal relating to a user command from a handheld device and relay the signal to the motor controller. The motor controller is configured to adjust an operational parameter of the motor based at least partially on the user command.

Antenna for communicating with a motor

A power tool has a housing, a motor disposed within the housing, a power supply circuit for providing power to the motor, a controller circuit for controlling the power provided to the motor, and an electric static discharge (ESD) protection circuit connected to the power supply circuit and the housing. The ESD protection circuit includes a first resistor connected to the power supply circuit and the housing. The first resistor may be a high impedance resistor. The ESD protection circuit may also have a first capacitor connected in parallel to the first resistor, a second resistor connected in series to the first resistor, and a second capacitor connected in series to the first capacitor and in parallel to the second resistor.

Electric static discharge protection for power tools

An electric machine includes a motor assembly including a motor controller including an NFC tuned circuit. The electric machine also includes a motor housing defining an interior space and enclosing the motor assembly within the interior space. The electric machine further includes an electric machine housing. The motor housing is enclosed within the electric machine housing. The electric machine also includes an NFC antenna mounted within the electric machine housing and configured to emit a magnetic field at a selected frequency. The magnetic field is configured to induce an electric current in the NFC tuned circuit. The electric machine further includes a memory configured to store information included in signals transmitted between the NFC antenna and the NFC tuned circuit via the magnetic field.

A mode selector switch for a power tool that can have a source of a magnetic field and use a magnetoresistive component to produce an output signal that changes when the strength of the magnetic field changes. The power tool can have a microprocessor that changes an operational mode of the power tool based on a change of the output signal from the magnetoresistive component. The magnetoresistive component can be a Hall effect sensor and the power tool can be a nailer. The power tool can have a switching means which changes an operational mode based upon a change in the strength of the magnetic field upon a magnetoresistive component. A method of controlling a power tool, having a step of changing an operational mode of a power tool based upon identifying a change in output from a magnetoresistor.

Power tool hall effect mode selector switch

A system for communicating with a motor includes an NFC antenna coupled to a motor assembly and configured to receive signals from a motor controller. The NFC antenna is configured to emit a magnetic field at a selected frequency. The system also includes a communication interface configured to relay the signals from the NFC antenna to a handheld device.

An electric motor assembly includes an electric motor, a casing configured to house the motor, and an electrical enclosure coupled to the motor casing. The electrical enclosure houses a control board including a microcontroller and a memory device therein. The microcontroller is configured to control the electric motor based at least in part on motor configuration data stored in the memory device. The assembly also includes a near field communications (NFC) antenna positioned adjacent to an opening defined in the motor casing or the electronics enclosure, and is communicatively coupled to the memory device. The NFC antenna is configured to: receive a radio signal transmitted by an external programming device, the radio signal including updated motor configuration data; convert the radio signal to an electrical signal that includes the updated motor configuration data; and transmit the electrical signal to the memory device to store the updated motor configuration data.

NFC antenna for communicating with a motor and method of manufacturing and using same

A power tool is provided including a housing; a brushless DC motor housed inside an upper body of the housing; a control unit housed inside a handle of the housing, the control unit comprising a micro-controller mounted over a control circuit board; and a variable-speed switch assembly including a main body mounted directly on a surface of the control circuit board, a trigger, a plunger linearly movable with the trigger with respect to the main body, a speed-sensing mechanism housed inside the main body and coupled to the plunger to generate a variable-speed voltage signal based on the position of the plunger, and at least one output pin connecting the speed-sensing mechanism of the variable-speed switch assembly directly to at least one conductive track on the control circuit board to provide the variable-speed voltage signal to the micro-controller via the at least one conductive track.

Control unit for a power tool

A power tool includes a brushless DC motor housed inside an upper body of the tool housing and a control unit housed inside a handle of the housing, the control unit including a micro-controller mounted on a control circuit board, a power unit electronically coupled to the micro-controller and mounted on a power circuit board arranged substantially parallel the control circuit board inside the handle, and a heat sink in thermal contact with the power unit. An input unit may be mounted directly on the control circuit board. An upper portion of the heat sink extending towards the upper body of the housing may include a tab protruding underneath a fan assembly of the motor to transfer heat from the power unit to the airflow created by the fan.

A portable power supply includes a housing, and power circuitry providing an output AC waveform having a first positive voltage step level, a second higher positive voltage step level, a third lower positive voltage step level, a fourth negative voltage step level, a fifth higher negative voltage step level, and a sixth lower negative voltage step level.

Battery based portable power supply

Growing community of inventors

Cockeysville, MD, United States of America

Shailesh P Waikar