GB2188495A - A battery-operated, rechargeable domestic appliance and a unit for supporting and charging the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A charging unit 1 supports and charges a battery-operated, rechargeable domestic appliance, shown as a hand-mixer 2. The charging unit 1 comprises a plastics casing accommodating conventional electric components for converting mains voltage to a suitable voltage for charging the batteries of the appliance 2. Side 3 of the unit 1 has formed therein a captive plug 4, and side 5 has a corresponding socket 6. A number of substantially identical units can therefore be successively connected by mating the plugs and sockets of adjacent units to form electrical connections therebetween, and an end unit is connected to a mains power supply by a conventional mains lead, plug and socket. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A battery-operated, rechargeable domestic appliance and a unit for supporting and charging the same This invention relates to a battery-operated, rechargeable domestic appliance and a unit for supporting and charging the same.

Known units for this purpose generally consist of a single wall-mountable unit containing electrical components for converting mains voltage to a low d.c. voltage for charging the batteries of a battery-operated domestic applicance, such as a carving knife, when the appliance is mounted on the unit. The single unit is connected to the mains power supply via a conventional electrical plug and lead to a mains socket.

In this way, the appliance can be removed from the unit and used, when charged, without the restrictions of an electrical lead connected thereto to supply power. When the batteries of the appliance have been discharged, to a greater or lesser extent, as a result of use, the appliance is re-mounted on the unit for recharging.

Whilst such units are considered to be beneficial, if more than one unit, each supporting and charging a separate appliance, is required, it is necessary to connect each unit individually to the mains power supply, thereby providing an unacceptably clumsy arrangement.

To alleviate this problem, another known arrangement consists of a number of charging units electrically interlinked by joining leads.

One of the end units is connected to the mains power supply and each successive unit is then powered via the other unit or units and the joining leads. Each unit is individually constructed to charge and support a particular battery-operated appliance, as not all appliances are conventionally operated by the same voltage and also some appliances have accessories, such as knife blades or whisks, which have to be stored, when not in use.

However, whilst this arrangement enables a number of units to be connected to a single mains power source, it is still provided with joining leads, which may be untidy and do not generally enable a close fitting to be achieved between adjacent units.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide, in combination, a batteryoperated, rechargeable domestic appliance and a unit for supporting and recharging the same, which alleviates'the problems associated with such appliances known hitherto.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided, on combination, a batteryoperated, rechargeable domemstic applicance and a unit for supporting and charging said appliance, said unit comprising a casing accommodating electrical components for converting mains voltage to a voltage suitable for charging said appliance and electrical connecting means for successive connection with one or more other such units and a mains power source, said connecting means comprising one of a plug and socket arrangement formed on each of at least two sides of said casing for mating with the other of said arrangement formed on a side of an adjacent unit.

In a preferred construction consisting of more than one such combinations, the electrical components of all of the units are arranged to convert mains voltage to a common predetermined voltage, and each appliance, to be supported and charged by one of the units, is arranged to be driven from the common voltage. In this way, all of the units can be made identical and the units and appliances are readily interchangeable.

A number of the appliances are preferably each provided with a detachable battery pack, so that if the battery pack of one appliance runs down during use, it can be replaced by a charged battery pack from another appliance, which is not in use.

The unit is also preferably provided with mounting means for mounting to a wall or to the underside of a cupboard, for example.

Furthermore, the unit is preferably provided with an indicating light, such as an LED, which is illuminated whilst the unit is charging the batteries of the appliance mounted thereon, or any other suitable means for indicating when the batteries are being charged.

The invention will now be further described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 shows a plan view of a batteryoperated, rechargeable domestic appliance and a unit for supporting and charging the appliance, in accordance with the present invention, Figure 2 shows a plan view of the unit in Fig. 1 without the appliance, Figures 3 and 4 show side views of the unit from directions A and B, respectively, in Fig.

2, and Figure 5 shows schematically an assembly of a number of appliances and units associated therewith.

Fig. 1 shows a charging unit 1 for charging and supporting a battery-operated, rechargeable domestic appliance, shown as a handmixer 2. The charging unit 1 comprises a plastics casing accommodating conventional electrical components (not shown) for converting mains voltage to a suitable voltage, preferably 4.8V/dc, for charging the batteries of the appliance 2. The electrical components preferably include a slow trickle charger, which charges the appliance 2 over a relatively long time period.

Side 3 of the unit 4 has formed therein a captive plug 4, which is preferably a three-pin 10A connector of the kind commonly used for jug kettles, and side 5 of the unit 1 has a corresponding socket 6.

A number of units substantially identical to that shown in Fig. 1 can therefore be successively connected by mating the plugs and sockets of adjacent units to form electrical connection between the units, and an end unit is connected to a mains power supply by a conventional mains lead, plug and socket (not shown in Fig. 1), thereby providing an assembly of units of a construction comparable to that of a busbar.

When such an assembly of the units is formed, the unit at the end of the assembly remote from the mains power supply is preferably provided, for aesthetic reasons, with a blanking end cap having a socket 8 for connection to the end unit.

The unit 1 is also preferably provided with an indicating light 9, which is illuminated whilst the appliance 2 is being charged.

Figs. 2 to 4, wherein like parts are labelled with like reference numerals, with respect to Fig. 1, show. the charging unit 1 without the appliance 2.

It can be seen that the unit is shaped with a curved depression 10 having a V-shaped cross-section, within which a support 11 for the appliance is located, so that the appliance, when mounted on the support, is partially retained in the depression 10. Electrical contacts (not shown) are located behind the support 11, and these connect automatically, in known manner, with electrical contacts (also not shown) on the appliance, when securely mounted, to enable the batteries of the appliance to be charged by the unit 1.

An assembly of units and appliances is shown in Fig. 5, wherein a line of successively connected units is connected at one end to a mains socket 12, via a plug 13 and lead 14.

The assembly of units inludes five charging units 15 to 19 inclusive, which are substantially identical to the unit 1 shown in Figs. 1 to 4, respectively. The five units 15 to 19 each support and charge a battery-operated, rechargeable appliance, which are, in the embodiment shown, respectively a knife 20, a hand-mixer 21, a can opener 22, a coffee mill 23 and a torch 24. Also included in the assembly are two spacer bars 25, 26, to enable the units and appliances to be spaced as required, whilst still maintaining electrical connection between the units on either side thereof.

Appliances driven by mains power, such as a coffee maker 27, may also be conventionally mounted in the assembly, so that the appliance receives mains voltage from the socket 12, via the units 15 to 17 and spacer bars 25, 26.

A mains adaptor 28, preferably also providing storage space for the lead 14, may be connected between the socket 12 and the units, and a blanking end cap 29, the same as that shown in Fig. 1, is also preferably provided at the end of the assembly remote from the adaptor 28.

Preferably, the charing units 15 to 19 are all made identical, both in their design and output voltage generated by conversion from the mains voltage, so that each appliance can be charged by any one of these units in the assembly.

To this end, it may be necessary to adapt the working components of some of the appliances, such as the hand-mixer, to enable them to be driven from the common voltage selected as the output voltage for all of the units, because conventionally these appliances tend to operate from voltages other than the selected one.

Some of the appliances, such as the carving knife 20 and the hand-mixer 21, have accessories, i.e. a knife blade 30 and whisks 31, which need to be stored, when the appliance is supported on its charing unit. It can be seen in Fig. 5, that to accommodate these accessories, charging units 15 and 16 have been individually designed. However, as it is preferable that the units are all substantially identical, it may be more suitable to provide storage means for the accessories of each appliance on the appliance itself, as shown in Fig. 1 wherein the whisks 32 are stored in one end of the mixer body, when not in use.

Likewise, the carving knife 20 could be provided with storage means for the knife blade 30. By storing the accessories on the appliance itself, all of the charging units could therefore by made identical.

The battery-operated appliances which generally consume a considerable amount of power during use, and therefore tend to run down relatively quickly or which may be required to run for particularly long periods, such as the carving knife 20, hand mixer 21 or torch 24, are each preferably provided with a detachable battery pack (not shown), so that, if the battery pack of one appliance runs down during use, it can be replaced with a charged battery pack from a different appliance not in use.

The exhausted battery pack can then be remounted onto a charging unit and recharged whilst the appliance is driven by the replacement pack.

Particularly low-powered appliances, such as the can opener 22 and the coffee mill 23, are however preferably provided with a non-detachable battery pack for reasons of economy, although a detachable pack can be provided for either appliance if desired.

It can be seen from the Figures that, in a preferred embodiment, the units are not only identical, but also have a horizontal axis of symmetry, shown as X-X in Fig. 2, which enables them to be used in the orientation shown or with the units rotated through 180 in the plane of the paper, so that the as sembly shown in Fig. 5 may be located on the other side of the socket 12. The blanking end cap 29 and the adaptor 28 may also be rotated through 1800, and the lead 14 can be retained in a groove (not shown) entending vertically along the length of the adaptor 28, so that the lead 14 can alsways be conveneiently emergent from the underside of the adaptor, regardless of its orientation.

The present combination of charging unit and apliance is thus advantageous in that it provides a neat and flexible arrangement, which utilises a simple assembly technique and enables each unit to fit intimately with one or more adjacent units.

Furthermore, the plug and socket arrangement incorporated in the present invention enables a simple kettle lead, generally used to supply mains power to a kettle or jug kettle, to be used, instead of the leads 14 and adaptor 28 shown in Fig. 5, if preferred.

Each unit may be mounted on a wall by a conventional wall-mounting plate (not shown) having screw fixings. Alternatively, the wallmounting plate may be provided with an adhesive backing so that the units can be adhered to a suitable wall covering, such as ceramic tiles.

Alternatively, each unit may be provided with means for mounting the unit under a wall-mounted cupboard or shelf, for example, with screws or other suitable fixings into the underside of the cupboard or shelf.

Respective plugs and sockets could also be provided on more than two sides of the charging unit to enable the assembly to be built up in other directions, or alternatively respective units with only plugs or only sockets may be provided, instead of each unit having a plug and a socket.

It can thus be envisaged that any desirable shape or orientation of the assembly may be achieved with any number of appliances.

Many other domestic appliances other than those referred to hereinbefore may also be suitable for inclusion in the present invention, such as an electric corkscrew, knife sharpener, water or insecticide garden spray, toothbrush, razor, pencil sharpener, etc.

Claims (7)

1. In combination, a battery-operated re chargeable domestic appliance and a unit for supporting and charging said appliance, said unit comprising a casing accommodating electrical components for converting mains voltage to a voltage suitable for charging said appliance and electrical connecting means for successive connection with one or more other such units and a mains power source, said connecting means comprising one of a plug and socket arrangement formed on each of at least two sides of said casing for mating with the other of said arrangement formed on a side of an adjacent unit.

2. A domestic appliance and unit for supporting and charging the same as claimed in claim 1 wherein said appliance is provided with a detachable battery pack.

3. A domestic appliance and unit for supporting and charging the same as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein said unit is provided with mounting means for mounting to a wall or the underside of a cupboard or shelf.

4. A domestic appliance and unit for supporting and charging the same as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein said unit is provided with means for indicating when said appliance is being charged.

5. A domestic appliance and unit for supporting and charging the same as claimed in any preceding claim and further including a blanking end cap to cover one of said plug and socket arrangement if not required for connection to an adjacent unit.

6. A domestic appliance and unit for supporting and charging the same substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

7. A plurality of domestic appliances and units, each as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the electrical components of all of the units are arranged to convert mains voltage to a common predetermined voltage, and each appliance is arranged to be charged by said common voltage.