EP-4740719-A1 - POWER TOOL MOTOR CONTROL AND METHODS ASSOCIATED THEREWITH

Abstract

A power tool including an implement driven by a motor; an inertial measurement unit; and a control circuitry in communication with the motor and IMU, wherein the control circuitry: receives motor data associated with a condition of the motor; determines angular change of the power tool from motion data received from the IMU or receives angular change data from the IMU; initiates a countdown timer in response to the condition of the motor reaching a threshold; and generates a control instruction to maintain power to the motor upon the countdown timer reaching a prescribed value if the angular change is greater than an angular change threshold at any time during a duration of the countdown timer and reduce power to the motor upon the countdown timer reaching the prescribed value if the angular change is less than the angular change threshold during an entire duration of the countdown timer.

Inventors

• GIVENS, Robert T.
• WILSON, JEFF
• HOOD, Adam
• DILELLA, Jesse

Assignees

• Techtronic Cordless GP

Dates

Publication Date

20260513

Application Date

20251105

Claims (15)

1. A power tool comprising: a working implement driven by a motor; an inertial motion unit (IMU); and a control circuitry in electronic communication with the motor and the IMU, wherein the control circuitry comprises a processor coupled to a memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the control circuitry to: receive motor data associated with a condition of the motor; determine angular change of the power tool from motion data received from the IMU or receive angular change data from the IMU; initiate a countdown timer in response to the condition of the motor reaching a condition threshold; and generate a control instruction to: maintain power to the motor upon the countdown timer reaching a prescribed value if the angular change is greater than an angular change threshold at any time during a duration of the countdown timer, and reduce power to the motor upon the countdown timer reaching the prescribed value if the angular change is less than the angular change threshold during an entire duration of the countdown timer.
2. The power tool of claim 1, wherein the motor data comprises a current load drawn by the motor as a result of performing a working operation.
3. The power tool of claim 1 or 2, wherein the power tool is a lawnmower, wherein the working implement is a blade motor having an output shaft coupled to a blade, and wherein the blade motor is configured to drive the blade to rotate to perform a grass cutting operation.
4. The power tool of any one of the previous claims, wherein the countdown timer has a duration that extends from a first time associated with initiating the countdown timer to a second time associated with the countdown timer reaching the prescribed value, and wherein the duration is less than 10 seconds.
5. The power tool of any one of the previous claims, wherein the power tool is supported by a plurality of wheels configured to travel over an underlying surface in a traveling direction, wherein a reference axis of the power tool is oriented perpendicular to the traveling direction, and wherein determining angular change of the power tool is determined about the reference axis of the power tool.
6. The power tool of any one of the previous claims, wherein the angular change threshold comprises a first angular change threshold in a first rotational direction and a second angular change threshold in a second rotational direction opposite the first rotational direction, and wherein the control circuitry compares the determined angular change to the first and second angular change thresholds prior to generating the control instruction.
7. The power tool of any one of the previous claims, wherein the control circuitry processes the motion data prior to determining angular change of the power tool from the motion data, and wherein processing the motion data comprises a processing step selected from the group consisting of smoothing, averaging, and filtering.
8. The power tool of any one of the previous claims, wherein receiving the motor data comprises receiving a real-time feed of motor data from the motor.
9. A method of controlling a working implement of a power tool by control circuitry in communication with a motor driving the working implement, the method comprising: initiating, by the control circuitry, a countdown timer in response to a condition of the motor reaching a condition threshold, wherein the control circuitry is configured to generate a control instruction to change power to the motor upon the countdown timer reaching a prescribed value; determining, by the control circuitry or an inertial motion unit (IMU) coupled to the power tool, an angular change of the power tool based on motion data captured by the IMU; comparing the angular change to an angular change threshold; and overriding, by the control circuitry, the control instruction based on the comparing.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the control circuitry overrides the control instruction to maintain a current power to the motor upon the countdown timer reaching a prescribed value if the angular change is greater than the angular change threshold at any time during a duration of the countdown timer.
11. The method of claim 9 or 10, wherein initiating the countdown timer is performed in response to a current draw of the motor reaching a minimum current draw threshold, and wherein the control circuitry is configured to reduce power to the motor upon the countdown timer reaching the prescribed value.
12. The method of any one of the previous claims 9 to 11, wherein initiating the countdown timer triggers a timer that extends from a first time associated with initiating the countdown timer to a second time associated with the countdown timer reaching a prescribed value, and wherein a duration is less than 10 seconds.
13. The method of any one of the previous claims 9 to 12, wherein the power tool is supported by a walking element configured to travel over an underlying surface in a traveling direction, wherein a reference axis of the power tool is oriented perpendicular to the traveling direction, and wherein determining angular change of the power tool is determined by measuring angular change about the reference axis of the power tool, the angular change selected from the group consisting of angular displacement, angular velocity, angular acceleration, and angular jerk.
14. The method of any one of the previous claims 9 to 13, further comprising processing, by the control circuitry or the IMU, the motion data prior to determining angular change of the power tool, and wherein processing the motion data comprises a processing step selected from the group consisting of smoothing, averaging, and filtering.
15. The method of any one of the previous claims 9 to 14, further comprising adjusting, by a user via a user interface, the angular change threshold to affect a different operating performance of the power tool.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application 63/717,071, filed on November 6, 2024, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. FIELD The present disclosure relates generally to controlling power to a motor of a power tool in view of one or more detected conditions associated with the motor. BACKGROUND Traditionally, yard work was performed using manual tools which were moved by human power to perform a work operation. Over time, manual tools became replaced by power tools. Power tools generally include at least one motive device which drives one or more working implements to perform the work operation. Several types of motive devices have been used to drive the working implement, including gas-powered engines and, more recently, electric motors. Many power tools operate bimodally - on or off. For example, lawnmowers typically include a cutting blade driven by a motor or engine. The speed of the motor or engine is typically fixed such that the cutting blade is driven at a fixed rotational speed. As such, the motor is provided with a generally constant amount of power regardless of active need. This can result in the power supply (either a battery or fuel source) prematurely depleting. To extend the life of the power supply, it may be possible to utilize a multi-modal controller which allows the motive device to receive a more suitable power based on active need. However, the multi-modal controller may affect power savings modes in instances where the user desires to maintain high powered operations. Accordingly, improved power tool motor control systems and methods are desired in the art. In particular, power tool motor control systems and methods that provide smart power control, particularly during known instances where a user may desire higher power output from their power tool, would be advantageous. BRIEF DESCRIPTION Aspects and advantages of the invention in accordance with the present disclosure will be set forth in part in the following description, or may be obvious from the description, or may be learned through practice of the technology. In accordance with one embodiment, a power tool is provided. The power tool includes a working implement driven by a motor; an inertial measurement unit (IMU); and a control circuitry in electronic communication with the motor and the IMU, wherein the control circuitry comprises a processor coupled to a memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the control circuitry to: receive a motor data associated with a condition of the motor; determine angular change of the power tool from motion data received from the IMU or receive angular change data from the IMU; initiate a countdown timer in response to the condition of the motor reaching a condition threshold; and generate a control instruction to: maintain power to the motor upon the countdown timer reaching a prescribed value if the determined angular change is greater than an angular change threshold at any time during a duration of the countdown timer, or reduce power to the motor upon the countdown timer reaching the prescribed value if the determined angular change is less than the angular change threshold during an entire duration of the countdown timer. In accordance with another embodiment, a method of controlling a working implement of a power tool by control circuitry in communication with a motor driving the working implement is provided. The method includes initiating, by the control circuitry, a countdown timer in response to a condition of the motor reaching a condition threshold, wherein the control circuitry is configured to generate a control instruction to change power to the motor upon the countdown timer reaching a prescribed value; determining, by the control circuitry or an inertial measurement unit (IMU) coupled to the power tool, an angular change of the power tool based on the motion data captured by the IMU; comparing the angular change to an angular change threshold; and overriding, by the control circuitry, the control instruction based on the comparing. In accordance with another embodiment, a control circuitry for a power tool is provided. The control circuitry includes a processor coupled to a memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor cause the control circuitry to: receive motor data associated with a condition of a working implement motor of the power tool; determine angular change of the power tool from motion data received from an inertial measurement unit (IMU) of the power tool or receive angular change data from the IMU; initiate a countdown timer in response to the condition of the working implement motor reaching a condition threshold, wherein the control circuitry is configured to generate a control instruction to reduce power to the working implement motor upon the countdown timer reaching a prescribed value; compar