Bosch wireless charging

[Benchwayze]

Ahh but ....


I have to read through that post properly Mick... BBL!


Mick,

By 'wireless', I was thinking that just one 'charger' would be plugged in to a single socket. This charger would deliver a charge through 'the ether', to any battery it was designed for, wherever in the shop the battery was placed. That is, you could plug the 'wireless' charger into a socket, and stick your batteries on a shelf, where they would receive a charge, sans wires; other than the connection between charger and power supply. No troublesome wires draping over the workbench, or across the mitre-saw, to await severing.

I would welcome such a system, to avoid having a shelf packed with four or five plugged-in chargers, and wires trailing everywhere. But I see that isn't the case. So yes, maybe this is just reinventing the wheel.

As for my diatribe on the word wireless being synonymous with a radio set...

Well that's my old-fashioned way of listening to music! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[RogerP]

Essentially the "charging station" is one half of a transformer and a tool is the other half.
Bring the two into close proximity and electrical current is generated by induction which charges the battery.

.....and, I expect, yet more noise in the RF spectrum!

 

[Benchwayze]

Wouldn't it be nice though Roger, if the 'bit wot takes the battery' had no wire to trail, and was 'charged' by a remote bit of kit, plugged into a socket. Then all you'd have to look at is something like those plug-in, socket night-lights.

 

[Spindle]

Hi

That's the problem though as I see it - to have any sort of comparable efficiency with regard to direct electrical contact charging the contactless units need to be in very close proximity, (and even under these conditions efficiency is compromised) - and if that's the case why not just continue to use contacts.

I'm sure they will sell a few but what bothers me is if they discontinue the direct contact range and force us to go down this route.

Regards Mick

 

[Benchwayze]

My printer seems to work quite well in another room, without wires. Just a receiver in the printer and a transmitter in the PC. (I presume.) But I agree we don't want to be forced to accept new technology, although no one seems to have told Bill Gates, in regard to his Windows variants. :evil:

 

[Spindle]

Hi John

Yes that's the benefit of 'wireless' technology, it can transmit low power signals over large distances - however I'll wager that your printer is attached to an independent power supply, be it USB or mains transformer, to provide the power to actually run the printer, (as is your 'wireless' radio to produce your music) - Me, I'm still a Hi Fi separates man :wink: .

Regards Mick

 

[Benchwayze]

My laptop isn't plugged into anything. It works fine... I dunno how though. Sometimes I get a little red symbol
that looks like a battery, telling me I have to plug in a transformer. Could that be a battery warning? :lol: :lol: :lol:

Yes Mick, my printer is plugged into the wall, so I guess that's the power line.
But I can still have it out of the way in another room. Well, through the opening to the extension in fact.

John

 

[Nick Gibbs]

Bosch showed how the charger could be built into a workbench, beneath a thin sheet of Perspex. When not in use the tool sits on this area of the bench and is charged, without the battery having to be removed. The time saving on assembly lines is obvious, and possibly in workshops. We will see!

 

[CHJ]

Bosch showed how the charger could be built into a workbench, beneath a thin sheet of Perspex. When not in use the tool sits on this area of the bench and is charged, without the battery having to be removed. The time saving on assembly lines is obvious, and possibly in workshops. We will see!

Did Bosch give any information about built in safety controls that ensure interaction only occurs with a 'paired' appliance. **

If not wait until the kids find they can hover a ring of wire over the top and see it glows or that it will happily kill the security tabs on shop goods. I foresee so many inherent problems with trying to get strong enough induction coupling to provide adequate power transfer and stopping unwanted coupling to objects not wanting induction currents or heating input.

One of the show and tell tricks in college open days alongside lighting up fluorescent tubes and neon bulbs with a small magnetron and open waveguide was to make aluminium rings hover in mid air above a bench surface. The fact that the rings would melt if not removed from the induction field within a few minutes was indicated by the thick welding gloves in use by the student in charge of the display.

**Anybody brave enough to put their mobile 'phone down alongside a base unit to check.

 

[chippy1970]

Have to agree it's a pointless gimmick. I'd rather just plug in a battery, it wouldn't help to be wireless

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

[Nick Gibbs]

Did Bosch give any information about built in safety controls that ensure interaction only occurs with a 'paired' appliance. **.

Bosch talked about their Foreign Objects Detection software/mechanism, and showed that the magnetic field will only operate when an appropriate battery pack is in place, and only where the pack is sitting. Phones were put on the chargers and nothing happened. I left the conference intrigued, impressed, a bit sceptical, and wondering how the idea would pan out in the workshop and on site, but my guess is that it is a game-changer and that charging cordless tools will never be quite the same again. It may even prove to be useful. Only time will tell.

 

[Spindle]

Bosch showed how the charger could be built into a workbench, beneath a thin sheet of Perspex. When not in use the tool sits on this area of the bench and is charged, without the battery having to be removed. The time saving on assembly lines is obvious, and possibly in workshops. We will see!

Hi

Why would the vendor illustrate this?? - The efficiency over placing the tool directly on the charging station is going to be reduced - are they implying you can charge two tools simultaneously on the same base with no loss in efficiency - maybe, but I'm sure physics will nor support this claim.

I've still not managed to envisage a situation where the Bosch contactless charger offers any positive benefit.

Regards Mick

 

[Spindle]

but my guess is that it is a game-changer and that charging cordless tools will never be quite the same again

Hi Nick

That's twice you've used the 'game changer' term.

Would you care to expand on your thoughts as I'm having trouble seeing any benefits to this system.

Thanks Mick

 

[Nick Gibbs]

That's twice you've used the 'game changer' term. Would you care to expand on your thoughts as I'm having trouble seeing any benefits to this system. Mick

I think the big advantage will be in workshops and factories, where woodworkers will be able to place their cordless tools on a pad for constant charging, without ever worrying about them running out of charge, or having to take out the battery. I think it's a game changer because I think many people are going to like it, and other manufacturers will try to copy it, and it will give Bosch a significant advantage when it comes to choosing which cordless you buy. Whether we really, really need it is another matter.

 

[Spindle]

Hi

Let's face it - if Bosch wanted to maximise tool use and limit down time due to charging they would engineer a couple of well environmentally shielded contacts on the battery that allowed contact with the charger without battery removal.

Regards Mick

 

[Nick Gibbs]

Hi

Let's face it - if Bosch wanted to maximise tool use and limit down time due to charging they would engineer a couple of well environmentally shielded contacts on the battery that allowed contact with the charger without battery removal.

Regards Mick

Of course. But why if they think they can devise something more revolutionary that puts them a leap rather than a small step ahead of the competition?

 

[KevM]

but my guess is that it is a game-changer and that charging cordless tools will never be quite the same again. It may even prove to be useful. Only time will tell.

Futurology - yikes!

I have to say I'm a bit surprised by the level of scepticism, almost bordering on hostility, towards this concept. I can see it having limited attraction on site, but in the context of a small scale production environment (i.e. not full factory conditions) the idea of being able to pick up a tool, use it for a task, put it down, pick it up again and know that it's always at a high state of charge has obvious benefits to me. Clearly it depends on the environment, the duty cycle of the tool, and many other factors - but the concept of a universal charging mat where you could place a number of tools and pick them up always ready for use sounds pretty good to me.

Would I buy one? Possibly not*, but they're probably not aiming it at me.
Didn't Bosch's little (Ixo?) screwdriver have contactless/inductive charging? I never seen one in the flesh so I may well be mistaken.

*I actually quite like the enforced tea breaks for battery charging; on the other hand, my clone army of furniture assembly workers - they won't know which way's up once they go wireless, mwa-ha-hah :twisted: .

 

[Spindle]

I think the big advantage will be in workshops and factories, where woodworkers will be able to place their cordless tools on a pad for constant charging, without ever worrying about them running out of charge, or having to take out the battery

Hi Nick

I think you'll see in the Bosch press release that the system is less efficient than current direct charging systems - if you need two batteries under the current system you will need two or more under their contactless system. It's currently more efficient to have a battery on charge and one in use.

Regards Mick

 

[CHJ]

OK so they have covered the foreign object problem, not difficult for them as they already have a lot of experience with packaging the technology applied to automobiles.

The only place where I can see the technology being of significant use regarding time saving or convenience is in a fixed production line station or the very least a small workshop where an operative can easily return the tool to a fixed docking station.

If it is envisaged that future tooling will move to this technology then it looks as though the general user is going to have to absorb the additional cost of RF technology communication built into the battery packs (a la Car keys etc.) whilst they (the manufacturer) save on the cost of mechanical fittings to plug the batteries in.

Any thoughts on how long it will take the industry to have a universal system instead of all the propriety mechanical battery packaging standards.

 

[Nick Gibbs]

I don't doubt what you say, Mick. Rightly or wrongly, I'm not sure if that will alter the impact this idea will have.

I don't think the industry will ever have a universal system. Why would they?