US-12627567-B2 - Electrical appliance assembly for multiclient networking, and peripheral devices

Abstract

An electrical appliance assembly for multiclient networking, comprising an electrical appliance and a battery unit, wherein the electrical appliance is configured to obtain electric energy from the battery unit or provide electric energy to the battery unit, wherein the electrical appliance, as a first client, comprises a first communication interface and a second communication interface, wherein the first communication interface is configured to communicate with a peripheral device, and the second communication interface is configured to communicate with the battery unit. The battery unit, as a second client, comprises a third communication interface and a fourth communication interface, wherein the third communication interface is configured to communicate with a peripheral device, and the fourth communication interface is configured to communicate with the electrical appliance.

Inventors

• Xi Guo
• Chao Wen
• Hai Bo MA

Assignees

• TECHTRONIC CORDLESS GP

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20240208

Priority Date

20230213

Claims (20)

1. 1 . An electrical appliance assembly for multiclient networking, comprising an electrical appliance and a battery unit, wherein the electrical appliance is configured to obtain electric energy from the battery unit or provide electric energy to the battery unit, wherein the electrical appliance, as a first client, comprises a first communication interface and a second communication interface, wherein the first communication interface is configured to communicate with a first peripheral device, and the second communication interface is configured to communicate with the battery unit; the battery unit, as a second client, comprises a third communication interface and a fourth communication interface, wherein the third communication interface is configured to communicate with a second peripheral device, and the fourth communication interface is configured to communicate with the electrical appliance; wherein the electrical appliance is configured to, in response to a communication connection established with the first peripheral device, broadcast, through the second communication interface, timestamp information about a communication connection established between the electrical appliance and the first peripheral device; and the battery unit is configured to, in response to a communication connection established with the second peripheral device, broadcast, through the fourth communication interface, timestamp information about a communication connection established between the battery unit and the second peripheral device.
2. 2 . The electrical appliance assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the electrical appliance is configured to, in a state where the electrical appliance is connected to the first peripheral device through the first communication interface and the second communication interface is connected to the fourth communication interface, forward communication data between the first peripheral device and the battery unit; the battery unit is configured to, in a state where the battery unit is connected to the second peripheral device through the third communication interface and the second communication interface is connected to the fourth communication interface, forward communication data between the second peripheral device and the electrical appliance.
3. 3 . The electrical appliance assembly as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the electrical appliance is further configured to forward communication data received from the first communication interface to the battery unit through the second communication interface according to a destination label in the communication data received from the first communication interface, and/or forward communication data received from the second communication interface to the first peripheral device through the first communication interface according to a destination label in the communication data received from the second communication interface; the battery unit is further configured to forward communication data received from the third communication interface to the electrical appliance through the fourth communication interface according to a destination label in the communication data received from the third communication interface, and/or forward communication data received from the fourth communication interface to the second peripheral device through the third communication interface according to a destination label in the communication data received from the fourth communication interface.
4. 4 . The electrical appliance assembly as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the electrical appliance assembly further comprises an expansion unit detachably installed on the electrical appliance, the expansion unit, as a third client, comprising a fifth communication interface, a sixth communication interface, and a seventh communication interface, wherein the fifth communication interface is configured to communicate with the first peripheral device the sixth communication interface is configured to communicate with the electrical appliance, and the seventh communication interface is configured to communicate with the battery unit.
5. 5 . The electrical appliance assembly as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the expansion unit is configured to forward communication data between the first peripheral device and the electrical appliance in a state where the expansion unit is connected to the first peripheral device through the fifth communication interface and the sixth communication interface is connected to the second communication interface; and/or, in a state where the expansion unit is connected to the first peripheral device through the fifth communication interface and the seventh communication interface is connected to the fourth communication interface, forward communication data between the first peripheral device and the battery unit; and/or, in a state where the sixth communication interface is connected to the second communication interface and the seventh communication interface is connected to the fourth communication interface, forward communication data between the electrical appliance and the battery unit.
6. 6 . The electrical appliance assembly as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the expansion unit is a sensor module, a monitoring module, a display module, a storage module, or a lighting module.
7. 7 . The electrical appliance assembly as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the first communication interface and the third communication interface are wireless communication interfaces, and the second communication interface and the fourth communication interface are wired communication interfaces.
8. 8 . The electrical appliance assembly as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the first communication interface, second communication interface, third communication interface, and fourth communication interface is a full-duplex communication interface.
9. 9 . The electrical appliance assembly as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the full-duplex communication interface is a UART port, SPI port, Bluetooth interface, or NB-IoT interface.
10. 10 . The electrical appliance assembly as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the electrical appliance includes a detachable electrical communication module, the first communication interface being arranged on the detachable electrical communication module, and/or the battery unit comprises a detachable battery communication module, the third communication interface being arranged on the detachable battery communication module.
11. 11 . The electrical appliance assembly as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the electrical appliance assembly is configured to, in response to a communication connection established between a first client in the electrical appliance assembly and a first peripheral device, break communication connections established between one or more additional clients in the electrical appliance assembly and their respective peripheral devices, and/or turn off communication capability of the one or more additional clients in the electrical appliance assembly with their respective peripheral devices.
12. 12 . The electrical appliance assembly as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the electrical appliance is configured to, in response to failing to receive any timestamp information sent by another client about a communication connection established between another client and the first peripheral device within a predetermined time after broadcasting timestamp information about a communication connection established between the electrical appliance and the first peripheral device, broadcast, through the second communication interface a first message notifying other clients in the electrical appliance assembly to turn off communicating with the first peripheral device; and the battery unit is configured to, in response to failing to receive any timestamp information sent by another client about a communication connection established between another client and the second peripheral device within a predetermined time after broadcasting timestamp information about a communication connection established between the battery unit and the second peripheral device, broadcast, through the fourth communication interface, a second message notifying the other clients in the electrical appliance assembly to turn off communicating with the second peripheral device.
13. 13 . The electrical appliance assembly as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the electrical appliance is configured to, in response to received timestamp information sent by another client about a communication connection established between another client and the first peripheral device within a predetermined time after broadcasting timestamp information about a communication connection established between the electrical appliance and the first peripheral device, evaluate the timestamp information broadcast by the electrical appliance and the timestamp information sent by another client, and, in response to determining that the timestamp information broadcast by the electrical appliance is later than the timestamp information sent by another client, break the communication connection between the electrical appliance and the first peripheral device, and turn off a function of the electrical appliance of communicating with the first peripheral device; and the battery unit is configured to, in response to received timestamp information sent by another client about a communication connection established between another client and the second peripheral device within a predetermined time after broadcasting timestamp information about a communication connection established between the battery unit and the second peripheral device, evaluate the timestamp information broadcast by the battery unit and the timestamp information sent by another client, and, in response to determining that the timestamp information broadcast by the battery unit is later than the timestamp information sent by another client, break the communication connection between the battery unit and the second peripheral device, and turn off the function of the battery unit of communicating with the second peripheral device.
14. 14 . The electrical appliance assembly as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the electrical appliance is configured to, in response to determining that the timestamp information broadcast by the electrical appliance is earlier than the timestamp information sent by another client, broadcast, through the second communication interface, a first message notifying other clients in the electrical appliance assembly to break communication connections to the first peripheral device and turn off communicating with the first peripheral device; and the battery unit is configured to, in response to determining that the timestamp information broadcast by the battery unit is earlier than the timestamp information sent by another client, broadcast, through the fourth communication interface, a second message notifying other clients in the electrical appliance assembly to break communication connections to the second peripheral device and turn off communicating with the second peripheral device.
15. 15 . The electrical appliance assembly as claimed in claim 11 , wherein one client in the electrical appliance assembly is a master client configured to, in response to a communication connection established with the first peripheral device and failure to receive any timestamp information sent by another client about a communication connection established between another client and their respective peripheral device within a predetermined time after establishing the communication connection, broadcast a third message to other clients in the electrical appliance assembly, notifying same to turn off communicating with their respective peripheral device; and other clients in the electrical appliance assembly are slave clients configured to, in response to a communication connection established with the second peripheral device, send timestamp information about a communication connection established between the slave clients and the second peripheral device to the master client.
16. 16 . The electrical appliance assembly as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the master client is further configured to, in response to received timestamp information sent by the slave clients about a communication connection established with the second peripheral device within a predetermined time after establishing a communication connection to the first peripheral device, evaluate the timestamp information about a communication connection established between the master client and the first peripheral device and the timestamp information sent by the slave clients, thereby determining the client with an earliest timestamp information, and, in response to determining that the master client is the client with the earliest timestamp information, broadcast a fourth message to all the slave clients, notifying all the slave clients to break communication connections to the respective peripheral device and to turn off communicating with the respective peripheral device.
17. 17 . The electrical appliance assembly as claimed in claim 16 , wherein the master client is further configured to, in response to determining that the master client is not the client with the earliest timestamp information, break the communication connection between the master client and the first peripheral device and turn off a function of the master client of communicating with the first peripheral device.
18. 18 . The electrical appliance assembly as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the master client is further configured to, in response to determining that the master client is not the client with the earliest timestamp information, send a fifth message to the slave clients other than the one with the earliest timestamp information, notifying said other slave clients to break communication connections to the second peripheral device and turn off communicating with the second peripheral device.
19. 19 . The electrical appliance assembly as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the electrical appliance assembly is further configured to, after any client in the electrical appliance assembly forwards communication data to the first peripheral device, in response to the client that forwarded the communication data being disconnected from the first peripheral device, turn on a function of each client of communicating with the first peripheral device.
20. 20 . The electrical appliance assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the electrical appliance is an electric tool, and the battery unit is configured to provide working energy to the electric tool; or the electrical appliance is a charger configured to provide charging energy to the battery unit.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD Embodiments disclosed herein generally relate to an electrical appliance assembly for multiclient networking, and corresponding peripheral devices. BACKGROUND ART Various electrical apparatuses, such as grinders, cutting machines, electric drills, and corresponding energy conversion apparatuses and power supply apparatuses, are widely used in people's daily life and work as electrical appliances that can provide various conveniences. With the rapid development of Internet technology, the Internet of Things (IoT) technology based on Internet technology has developed rapidly, and remarkable achievements have been made in the fields of intelligent transportation, smart homes, public security, etc. A pressing need has arisen to integrate more electrical appliances into the Internet of Things technology, thereby making people's lives and work more convenient and efficient. In recent years, electric tools have emerged that are embedded with Internet of Things technologies, for example, wireless communication chips or interfaces that may be arranged on electric tools for electric tool manufacturers to remotely read or write data during program setting and maintenance, or for users to perform basic tool operations such as starting, stopping, accelerating, and decelerating electric tools wirelessly. However, these technologies still have the following problems in common: when reading or writing data remotely, or performing basic operations of electric tools wirelessly, electric tool manufacturers or users can establish wireless connections and transmit data to tools equipped with wireless communication chips or interfaces only by strictly following the hardware configuration manuals of the tools, otherwise, intelligent terminals may be rendered unable to communicate with electric tools properly, wherein, in one aspect, this makes it inconvenient to maintain and use electric tools, and in another aspect, due to the limitations imposed by existing communication chips or interface settings, even after an electric tool is connected to an intelligent terminal, the data transmission speed is low, which makes it difficult to meet the requirements of some application scenarios that require sensitive speed adjustment of electric tools. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Overall, the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein provide an electrical appliance assembly for multiclient networking, and corresponding peripheral devices. According to a first aspect, the present disclosure provides an electrical appliance assembly for multiclient networking, comprising an electrical appliance and a battery unit, the electrical appliance being configured to obtain electric energy from the battery unit or provide electric energy to the battery unit; the electrical appliance, as a first client, comprises a first communication interface and a second communication interface, wherein the first communication interface is configured to communicate with a peripheral device and the second communication interface is configured to communicate with a battery unit; the battery unit, as a second client, comprises a third communication interface and a fourth communication interface, wherein the third communication interface is configured to communicate with a peripheral device and the fourth communication interface is configured to communicate with an electrical appliance. With an electrical appliance assembly for multiclient networking disclosed herein, a plurality of clients are connectable to peripheral devices through communication interfaces arranged thereon, so that when wirelessly operating or controlling an electrical appliance assembly through peripheral devices, a user can flexibly establish wireless connections according to the conditions of the assembly or optionally, without the need to follow the hardware configuration manual of the electrical appliance assembly, which improves flexibility of use and the user experience. In some embodiments, the electrical appliance is configured to, in a state where the electrical appliance is connected to a peripheral device through a first communication interface and a second communication interface is connected to a fourth communication interface, forward communication data between the peripheral device and the battery unit; the battery unit is configured to, in a state where the battery unit is connected to a peripheral device through a third communication interface and the second communication interface is connected to the fourth communication interface, forward communication data between the peripheral device and the electrical appliance. In some embodiments, the electrical appliance is further configured to forward the communication data received from the first communication interface to the battery unit through the second communication interface according to a destination label in the communication data received from the first communication interface, and/or forward communication data receiv