Power tool having rotary input control

A power tool comprising:

• a housing;
• an output member coupled to the housing, the output member including an output shaft configured to rotate about a longitudinal axis;
• a motor contained in the housing and drivably connected to the output member to impart rotary motion thereto;
• a rotational motion sensor arranged in the housing and operable to detect rotational motion of the housing about a rotational axis that is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the output shaft;
• a controller arranged in the housing to receive a signal indicative of rotational motion from the rotational motion sensor, the controller operable to determine a direction of the rotational motion of the housing about the rotational axis and to drive the motor so that the motor drives the output shaft in the same direction as the rotational motion of the housing.

A power tool comprising:

• a housing
• an output shaft coupled to the housing and configured to rotate about a longitudinal axis;
• a motor contained in the housing and drivably connected to the output shaft to impart rotary motion thereto;
• a spindle lock disposed between the motor and the output shaft, the spindle lock configured to enable torque transmission from the motor to the output shaft when an input torque is applied by the motor, and configured to prevent torque transmission from the output shaft to the motor when an input torque is applied by the output shaft;
• a rotational motion sensor arranged in the housing and operable to detect rotational motion of the housing about a rotational axis;
• a current sensor arranged in the housing and operable to detect an amount of current being delivered to the motor;
• a controller arranged in the housing to receive a current signal from the current sensor and a rotational motion signal indicative of rotational motion of the housing about the rotational axis from the rotational motion sensor,
• wherein the controller is operable to drive the motor at a predetermined power level in correlation to an amount of rotational motion of the housing as indicated by the rotational motion signal, and
• wherein the controller is operable to reduce the power level to a predetermined lower level when the current signal indicates that the amount of current being delivered to the motor exceeds a predetermined threshold amount.