DUST COLLECTING DEVICE FOR A POWER TOOL

Abstract

A dust collecting device for a power tool, the dust collecting device having a lamella filter, a rotatable shaft and a lamella holder. In the collecting container of the dust collecting device, the lamellae of the filter can be set in an axial movement by a rotary movement of the shaft which is mediated by the lamella holder, which is interrupted when a first profile of the shaft and a second profile of the lamella holder are moved with respect to each other and are not in engagement with each other. This enables the lamellae to return to their original position, the return of the lamellae to this original position causing the lamellae to vibrate, which leads to the filter being cleaned. A power tool which can have a proposed dust collecting device, as well as a method for operating a power tool and for cleaning a filter is also provided.

Claims

1-15. (canceled)

16. A dust collecting device for a power tool, the dust collecting device comprising: a collecting container for receiving dust; a filter with lamellae and a rotatable shaft arranged in the collecting container, the shaft being connected to a lamella holder, the lamella holder, through a rotary movement of the shaft, being movable in an axial direction, and the lamella holder cleaning the filter by a return movement.

17. The dust collecting device as recited in claim 16 further comprising, in the collecting container, a spring against which the lamella holder is pressable during movement in the axial direction.

18. The dust collecting device as recited in claim 16 wherein the shaft has a first profile and the lamella holder has a second profile, the first profile and the second profile designed to correspond to one another.

19. The dust collecting device as recited in claim 18 wherein the second profile is engageable with the first profile of the shaft, so that the lamella holder is movable in the axial direction by a rotary movement of the shaft.

20. The dust collecting device as recited in claim 16 wherein the lamella holder is mounted in a rotationally fixed manner.

21. The dust collecting device as recited in claim 16 wherein the lamella holder has driving means, the driving means being designed to engage in the lamellae of the filter or in free spaces between the lamellae of the filter.

22. The dust collecting device as recited in claim 16 wherein the collecting container has a rotary handle, the rotary handle being designed to set the shaft in rotation.

23. The dust collecting device as recited in claim 22 wherein the rotary handle is present in a housing of the collecting container.

24. The dust collecting device as recited in claim 16 wherein the filter is arranged in an inlet region of the collecting container of the dust collecting device.

25. A power tool comprising the dust collecting device as recited in claim 16.

26. A method for operating a power tool and for cleaning a filter, the method comprising: a) operating the power tool, dust arising during operation of the power tool being removed by an air stream, b) filtering the dust from the air stream with a filter, c) initiating cleaning of the filter by actuating a rotary handle on a dust collecting device, wherein a shaft within the dust collecting device is set in rotation by actuating the rotary handle, d) converting rotary movement of the shaft into an axial movement of a lamella holder, the lamellae of the filter leaving an original position due to the axial movement of the lamella holder, e) returning the lamellae of the filter to the original position by moving the lamella holder back, f) cleaning the filter by returning the lamellae to the original position.

27. The method as recited in claim 26 wherein the lamella holder is pressed against a spring by the axial movement.

28. The method as recited in claim 26 wherein the converting of the rotary movement of the shaft into the axial movement of the lamella holder takes place via a first profile of the shaft and a second profile of the lamella holder.

29. The method as recited in claim 26 wherein the filter is cleaned by vibrating the lamellae of the filter when a first profile of the shaft and a second profile of the lamella holder are moved against each other and are not in engagement with each other.

30. The method as recited in claim 26 wherein the lamellae of the filter are driven along by driving means of the lamella holder.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0040] Further advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of the figures. The figure shows an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The figure, the description and the claims contain numerous features in combination. A person skilled in the art will expediently also consider the features individually and combine them to form useful further combinations.

[0041] In the figures, identical and similar components are denoted by the same reference signs. In the drawing:

[0042] FIG. 1 shows a view of a preferred embodiment of the proposed dust collecting device (exploded drawing),

[0043] FIG. 2 shows a view of a preferred embodiment of the shaft and the lamella holder, as well as their profiles,

[0044] FIG. 3 shows a view of a preferred embodiment of the lamella holder, the spring and the filter lamellae.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0045] FIG. 1 shows the view of a preferred embodiment of the proposed dust collecting device (1). In particular, FIG. 1 shows an exploded drawing of the dust collecting device (1). From top left to bottom right, FIG. 1 shows a first half of the housing (9) of the dust collecting device (1) or the collecting container (2), the spring (12), the filter (3) and its lamellae (4), as well as the shaft (5) and the lamella holder (7) with the driving means (11), a second half of the housing (9) of the dust collecting device (1) or the collecting container (2), and the rotary handle (8).

[0046] It is preferred in the context of the invention that the two component halves of the housing (9) enclose a volume of space, wherein dust can be captured and collected in this closed volume of space. In this respect, the two component halves of the housing (9) preferably form the collecting container (2) of the dust collecting device (1). The lower region of the collecting container (2) can be formed by a base or a shell. A front side of the dust collecting device (1), in which a filter (3) can be arranged, can extend starting from this underside of the collecting container (2). In the context of the invention, it is preferred that the front side of the dust collecting device (1) forms the inlet region (10) of the dust collecting device (1) into which the dust-laden air stream opens. In particular, the filter (3) can be arranged in a filter receptacle. The filter (3) is preferably a lamella filter, that is to say preferably a filter (3) which has lamellae (4). In the exemplary embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1, the filter (3) has, for example, six lamellae (4), with five spaces between the lamellae (4). In the context of the invention, it is preferred that the lamella holder (7), which is connected to the shaft (5), has driving means (11), the lamella holder (7) shown by way of example in FIG. 1 comprising five driving means (11). As a result, each driving means (11) can engage in a space between the lamellae and drive or carry the filter lamellae (4) along with it when the lamella holder (7) moves.

[0047] The two component halves of the housing (9) can have openings for receiving this shaft (5). In particular, the shaft (5) can be rotatably mounted within the dust collecting device (1), with the shaft (5) being able to be set in rotation in particular by means of a rotary handle (8). The rotary handle (8) can, for example, be accessible from the outside and manually actuated by a user of the power tool (shown solely schematically as 100 with dust extraction device 110). For this purpose, the user can in particular turn the rotary handle (8). The rotary handle (8) is preferably rotatably mounted within the housing (9) of the dust collecting device (1). For this purpose, the housing (9) or one of its component halves can have a recess for receiving the rotary handle (8). The rotary handle (8) is advantageously easily accessible from outside the dust collecting device (1).

[0048] By actuating the rotary handle (8), the shaft (5) is set in a rotary movement. The shaft (5) and the lamella holder (7) preferably have opposing profiles (13, 14) which can come into engagement with one another (see, e.g., FIG. 2). The profile (13) of the shaft (5) is preferably referred to as the first profile, while the profile (14) of the lamella holder (7) can be referred to as the second profile. The profiles (13, 14) are preferably designed to correspond to one another, for example as sawtooth profiles. It is preferred in the context of the invention that the second profile (14) of the lamella holder (7) can come into engagement with the first profile of the shaft (5), so that the lamella holder (7) can be set into an axial movement (6) by a rotary movement of the shaft (5).

[0049] The lamella holder (7) can have driving means (11) which are designed to engage in the spaces between the lamellae (4) of the filter (3) of the proposed dust collecting device (1). If the driving means (11) are in engagement with the lamellae (4) of the filter (3) or with the free spaces between the lamellae (4) of the filter (3), the lamella holder (7) drives along the lamellae (4) when the shaft (5) rotates. Before the lamellae (4) are driven along by the lamella holder (7), the filter lamellae (4) are preferably in a starting or original position. The driving of the filter lamellae (4) generates an axial movement (6) of the lamellae (4) of the filter (3), which is shown in FIG. 1 as a double arrow. The double arrow indicates that the lamellae (4) of the filter (3) can move, for example, in the direction of the first component half of the housing (9) of the dust collecting device (1) when they are driven along by the lamella holder (7). The lamella holder (7) is preferably designed to be axially displaceable with respect to the shaft (5). The axial movement (6) of the filter lamellae (4) preferably takes place substantially parallel to a central axis, which runs through the shaft (5) as an imaginary axis. In the context of the invention, it is preferred that the driving of the filter lamellae (4) ends when the first profile (13) of the shaft (5) and the second profile (14) of the lamella holder (7) disengage from each other, that is to say no longer are in engagement with each other. Due to the lack of contact between the profiles (13, 14), the lamella holder (7) moves suddenly and the filter lamellae (4) are released. In the context of the invention, this preferably means that the lamellae (4) of the filter (3) can spring back into their starting position. This return movement of the filter lamellae (4) can take place, for example, in the direction of the second component half of the housing (9) of the dust collecting device (1), with this snapback of the lamellae (4) of the filter (3) being able to cause that vibration that advantageously leads to dust and filter cake being released from the lamellae (4) and the filter (3) being cleaned. In other words, when the filter lamellae (4) spring back into their starting position, the filter lamellae (4) may in particular vibrate, releasing dust and filter cake from the filter (3). The released dust or filter cake can fall into the collecting container (2) of the dust collecting device (1) and be disposed of when the collecting container (2) is next emptied.

[0050] FIG. 2 shows the view of a preferred embodiment of the proposed dust collecting device (1), in particular the shaft and the lamella holder, and their profiles. In the exemplary embodiment of the invention that is shown in FIG. 2, the two profiles (13, 14) are designed as mutually correspondingly designed sawtooth profiles. The profiles (13, 14) have contact surfaces which are preferably formed by inclined planes. A person skilled in the art has knowledge of the term “inclined plane”. FIG. 2 shows how the first profile (13) of the shaft (5) and the second profile (14) of the lamella holder (7) can be opposite one another. In the event of contact between the profiles (13, 14), in particular a highest point of a contact surface of one profile (13 or 14) can be in contact with a lowest point of a contact surface of the other profile (14 or 13). By moving the profiles (13, 14) relative to one another, the contact surfaces are moved along each other until a highest point of one of the inclined planes is reached and the highest point of the opposite contact surface of the other profile falls down onto the next contact surface or its lowest point. This dropping down leads to the jerky movement of the lamella holder (7), which leads to the vibration of the filter lamellae (4) and to the cleaning of the filter.

[0051] FIG. 3 shows a view of a preferred embodiment of the lamella holder (7) with driving means (11). The lamella holder (7) depicted in FIG. 3 has, in particular, five driving means (11) which can come into engagement or interact with the spaces between the filter lamellae (4) in order to convert a rotary movement of the shaft (5) into an axial movement (6) of the lamellae (4). Furthermore, the spring (12) is shown in FIG. 3, against which the lamella holder (7) can be pressed as a result of its axial movement (6).

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0052] 1 Dust collecting device [0053] 2 Collecting container [0054] 3 Filter [0055] 4 Lamellae [0056] 5 Shaft [0057] 6 Axial movement [0058] 7 Lamella holder [0059] 8 Rotary handle [0060] 9 Housing [0061] 10 Inlet region [0062] 11 Driving means [0063] 12 Spring [0064] 13 First profile of the shaft [0065] 14 Second profile of the lamella holder [0066] 100 Power tool [0067] 110 Dust Extractor