Patent Abstract:
The tool has, in a casing ( 2 ), electrically operated components and a housing ( 4 ) to accommodate a battery ( 3 ) that powers the components, with detachable elements ( 10, 24 ) of securing the battery in its housing in a position of mechanical locking and electrical connection to the components and in a position in which it is mechanically retained in its housing but electrically disconnected. The securing element ( 24 ) is designed to retrain the battery ( 3 ) in the electrically disconnected position only by friction ( 24, 31 ), thus avoiding any wrong move.

Full Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a manually operated apparatus or tool such as, for example, a drilling or holing apparatus, of the power hammer type, or a fastening apparatus of the sealing apparatus type having a piston propelled by gas. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Such apparatuses may have operating and control electronics, an igniter plug, a fan, an electric motor or other components requiring an electrical power supply. Being manually operated and self-contained, they also comprise a power supply battery. 
     Once the battery has been mounted on the outside of the collection of the other elements of the apparatus, with the disadvantage, in particular, of exposing them to knocks which may damage them, a proposal was made to arrange them in an accommodating housing inside the apparatus, formed, for example, in a leg connected to the central body of the apparatus and running parallel to its operating handle. 
     As a safety measure, it was then proposed for the battery to be fixed in the apparatus by means of a double-action locking device, it being possible first of all for the battery to be locked mechanically and electrically and then disconnected electrically from the remainder of the apparatus while remaining mechanically connected thereto so as to prevent the operator from letting it fall out through not paying sufficient attention. Document EP 1 205 282 teaches such a device comprising, on the apparatus, a double trigger for actuating two retaining fingers designed to collaborate in succession with a single retaining catch formed on the battery. However, such an arrangement does not set aside the risk of the operator inadvertently actuating the double trigger twice and thus completely releasing the battery from the apparatus. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is aimed at reducing such a risk. 
     To this end, the invention relates first of all to an electric hand tool comprising, in a casing, electrically operated components and a housing to accommodate a battery that powers the said components, with detachable means of securing the battery in its housing in a position of mechanical locking and electrical connection to the said components and in a position in which it is mechanically retained in its housing but electrically disconnected, characterized in that the securing means are designed to retain the battery in the electrically disconnected position only by friction. 
     By virtue of the invention, in order to completely release the battery from the tool, an operator is obliged to take it in his hand and remove it from its housing, overcoming the friction forces which retain it, thus avoiding any risk of an unintentional wrong move. 
     In the preferred embodiment of the tool of the invention, the battery-accommodating housing is designed to accommodate therein a battery by sliding, and the battery securing means comprise an electrical locking finger and a mechanical retaining finger both mounted so that they can move, in a direction roughly orthogonal to the direction in which the battery slides, between a lock and a retaining position, respectively, and a retracted position. 
     As a preference, the locking and retaining fingers are mounted so that they can be moved into the retracted position against the action of elastic return means. 
     Advantageously, the locking finger is secured to a rod mounted to slide into the retracted position against the action of a return spring under the action of an actuating trigger and the retaining finger is secured to a pivoting elastic leaf. 
     Advantageously too, the locking finger and the retaining finger are mounted to be moved into the retracted position, one in each of two opposite directions. 
     The invention also relates to a battery for powering electrically operated components for the electric hand tool of the invention, characterized in that it comprises a mechanical and electrical locking catch and mechanical retaining ramp means. 
     In the preferred embodiment of the battery, the locking catch is formed by an undercut internal shoulder and the ramp means comprise a retaining boss with an entry ramp and an opposite retaining ramp advantageously formed near the entry end of the battery, via which end it is introduced into its accommodating housing in the tool, the locking catch and the retaining boss being formed respectively on two opposite sides of the battery. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
       The invention will be better understood with the aid of the following description of the preferred embodiments of the tool and of the battery of the invention, with reference to the attached FIGURE depicting them in section, but, for clarity, with no hatching. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The tool depicted in the FIGURE in this instance is a hammer drill intended to strike a drill bit, also driven in terms of rotation in support material, via a piston propelled in a cylinder, along an axis  1 , under the action of an electric motor powered by a battery  3  arranged in an accommodating housing  4  formed in a leg  5 , running roughly orthogonal to the axis  1  and connected to the casing  2 . 
     Also connected to the casing is an elbowed operating handle  6 , with a leg portion  7  roughly parallel to the leg housing the battery  5  and a portion  8 , for connection to the accommodating leg  5 , running roughly parallel to the axis  1 . 
     Housed in a housing  13  in the connecting portion of the handle  8  is a mechanical and electrical locking rod  9  running roughly parallel to the axis  1 . In its continuation, on the side facing towards the battery housing  4 , the rod  9  bears a locking finger  10 . 
     The locking rod  9  also bears, laterally, an actuating trigger  11  projecting from the handle  6  through an aperture  14 , on the inside  12 , between the two portions  7 ,  8  and a return finger  15 , running parallel to the rod  9 , onto which there is slipped a return spring  16  bearing against the end wall  17  of the housing  13  and against a shoulder  18  formed by the finger  15 . The locking finger  10  is shaped to exhibit a passage ramp  19  inclined towards the axis  1  from the rear  20  towards the front  21  of the tool, for the passage of the battery  3  as it slides into its housing  4 . 
     In the rest position, which is the locked position, the locking finger  10  is returned by the spring  16  projecting into the battery housing  4 . The rod  9  is moved into a position of retraction of the finger  10  against the action of the spring  16 . In the battery accommodating leg  5 , on the anterior side which is the opposite end to the operating handle  6 , and therefore to the rod and to the locking finger, and near the casing  2 , there is fixed, via one end  23 , an elastic leaf  22 , bearing a boss  24  at its free end forming a retaining finger facing towards the battery accommodating housing  4 . The leaf  22  runs roughly orthogonally to the axis  1 , but its free portion is, however, inclined backwards so as to be able to pivot about its fixed end  23  and so that the retaining finger  24  can move roughly parallel to the axis  1 , between a rest position, which is a locked position, in which it projects into the battery housing  4 , and a retracted position, in its tool housing  38 , against the elasticity of the leaf. 
     As far as the battery  3  is concerned, this battery being of roughly parallelepipedal overall shape, near its entry end face  25 , it has, on its two opposed lateral sides  26 ,  27 , two passage ramps  28 ,  29  for respectively negotiating the mechanical retaining finger  24  and the mechanical and electrical locking finger  10 . A slight recess or hollow  30  is formed slightly beyond the ramp  28 , exhibiting a ramp  31  inclined in the opposite direction to the ramp  28  to form, on the one hand, a boss  32  for the mechanical retention of the battery and, on the other hand, a housing  30  for accommodating the retaining finger  24  in the rest position. Here, the housing  30  is delimited not only by the ramp  31  but by another ramp  33  inclined in the opposite direction and situated at a distance away from the entry face  25  that is at least equal to the length of the leaf  22  considered in the direction in which the battery is introduced. Closer to its rear end face  34 , on the side  27  of the battery, there is a locking catch  35  comprising an undercut internal shoulder  36 , facing away from the entry face  25 , and in this instance a ramp  37  inclined like the passage ramp  19  of the locking finger  10 . 
     The fitting and removal of the battery  3  in the tool will now be explained. 
     Offering the battery  3  up via its entry face  25 , it is introduced into the housing  4 . It is pushed thereinto in the direction of the arrow  39 , roughly orthogonal to the axis  1 . The ramp  29 , collaborating with the ramp  19  of the locking finger  10 , retracts it into its housing  13 , against the action of the spring  16 . The battery continues to be pushed, the locking finger  10  sliding along the side  27  of the battery until the ramp  28 , collaborating with the retaining finger  24 , retracts it in its turn into its tool housing  38  against the elasticity of the leaf  22 , then until the retaining finger  24 , having passed the boss  32 , and through elastic relaxation of the leaf  22 , returns to the battery housing  30 . 
     In this position, the battery is not yet electrically connected, but is mechanically retained in the tool in that, in order to extract it, it would be necessary to pull on it to overcome the friction force needed for the boss  32  to move past the retaining finger  24 . 
     It will be noted that, because of the height or extent of the battery housing  30 , the battery can still move to some extent, without the electrical connection ever being made inadvertently. 
     By continuing to push the battery  3  into its housing  4 , it can be truly clipped in, that is to say mechanically and electrically locked, when the retaining catch  35  comes opposite the retaining finger  10  which, under the action of the spring  16 , is returned by sliding into the catch. 
     Conversely, to remove the battery  3  from its housing  4 , the trigger  11  is actuated against the action of the spring  16  to disengage the finger  10  from the catch  35  then the battery is pulled to electrically disconnect the electrical components of the tool. It still, however, remains mechanically secured to the tool, as long as the boss  32  has not been moved past the retaining finger  24 . It is only by forcing this boss past the finger  24  and overcoming the corresponding friction forces that the battery can be fully removed from the tool.

Technology Classification (CPC): 1