JP3567002B2 - Structure to prevent short circuit between terminals - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial applications]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a structure for preventing a short circuit between terminals of a power supply unit, and more particularly, to a power supply adapter and a battery pack mounted on an electronic device such as a television camera with a video tape recorder, an electronic still camera, and a charger used therefor The present invention relates to a structure for preventing a short circuit between terminals of a power supply unit.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a portable television camera with a video tape recorder (hereinafter, referred to as a “video camera”) supplies power by attaching a battery pack or a coupler of a power adapter. In the battery pack, besides a type having a built-in storage battery (secondary battery) which is used by being charged in advance with a charger, a dry battery loading type which is used by loading a dry battery (primary battery) therein is prepared.
[0003]
There are different types of battery packs for different manufacturers. Most of these battery packs have a pair of terminals exposed to the outside for easy connection. For this reason, when the battery pack is carried in a handbag or the like, there is a possibility that another metal, such as a necklace or a clip, may come into contact between the terminals and cause a short circuit. In order to prevent such inconveniences, in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-526, a battery pack is provided with an openable and closable cover member for covering a pair of connection terminals. An opening member provided in a device or a video camera or the like opens a cover of the battery pack, exposes connection terminals, and connects a power supply terminal to them. When the battery pack is removed, the cover member closes and the connection terminals of the battery pack are covered, so that short-circuiting between the terminals can be reliably prevented.
[0004]
In the invention described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-94953, a pair of long holes are provided along the mounting direction of the battery pack, and the conductive terminals are arranged inside these long holes.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the inventions described in the two publications described above, providing a cover member on the battery pack increases the number of components and leads to an increase in cost. Further, if a cover member or a hole is provided, it is difficult to form the cover member and the hole within the thickness of the battery pack. Therefore, the internal space for accommodating the storage battery is reduced, and the size of the built-in storage battery is reduced. If the storage battery is made smaller, the capacity cannot be increased. Conversely, if the capacity is to be increased, the shape of the battery pack itself must be increased, so that the size of the battery pack may not be reduced. In particular, a nickel-hydrogen storage battery having a capacity approximately 1.8 times that of a Ni-Cd battery has been developed as a storage battery incorporated in a battery pack, and the capacity is maintained or increased to achieve compactness. It is desired.
[0006]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and provides a low-cost structure for preventing short-circuit between terminals of a power supply unit that can effectively use internal space and reliably prevent short-circuit between terminals. The purpose is to:
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the connection terminal portion of the power supply unit is provided so as to be exposed to the concave portion into which the power terminal of the other side enters when the mounting is performed , and is provided at the bottom of the concave portion so that the contact of the power terminal can be prevented. A conductive member for making electrical connection by contacting the power supply terminal , and in order to reduce an area of the conductive member to which the power supply terminal can contact, the conductive member is opposed to the substantially central portion of the recess in the insertion direction of the power supply terminal. And a non-conductive protrusion provided so as to protrude . According to this, since the projection is provided substantially at the center of the recess so as to face the insertion direction of the power supply terminal , for example, even if a necklace or the like enters, the projection does not enter the inside. At the same time, the conductive member has a small externally exposed area, which makes it difficult for the conductive member to enter. By setting the depth of the recess to be equal to or less than the thickness of the inner wall of the power supply unit, the internal space can be effectively used.
[0008]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the connection terminal is provided on each of the two opposing surfaces with the axis parallel to the mounting direction of the electronic device interposed therebetween, it is difficult for the terminal to come into contact with, for example, a necklace. By the way, the provision of the protruding portion reduces the opening area of the concave portion, and conversely makes it difficult to connect with the power terminal on the other side. Therefore, in the invention according to claim 3, the projection is provided so as to open an inner wall of the inner wall constituting the recess on the side where the power terminal is inserted, and divide the opening of the recess into two. The power supply terminal is a pair of resilient contacts, and the pair of contacts are inserted into the openings of the recessed portions .
[0009]
【Example】
The video camera is provided with a battery pack, a power adapter, an AC charger, a DC charger, and the like for power supply. In this embodiment, a battery pack, a power adapter, and the like are referred to as a power supply unit, and a video camera, an AC charger, a DC charger, and the like are referred to as electronic devices, and a short circuit between external connection terminals provided in the power supply unit. Try to prevent.
[0010]
The battery pack 11 shown in FIG. 1 includes a storage battery 12, for example, a lithium ion battery (secondary battery), and a battery case 13 containing the same, and the battery case 13 includes an upper case 13a and a lower case 13b. It is composed of two parts. At the bottom of the lower case 13b, a mounting surface 16 that can be mounted on the video camera 14, the AC charger 15, and the DC charger is formed.
[0011]
The video camera 14 has a receiving surface 19 for mounting the battery pack 11 or the coupler 18 of the power adapter 17 on the outside of the rear surface.
[0012]
The AC charger 15 has a built-in primary circuit having a power transformer and the like and a secondary circuit having a rectifier circuit and the like. The AC charger 15 receives commercial power from a power plug 20 connected to the primary circuit. The battery pack 11 mounted via the surface 21 is charged by a DC power supply. Outside the AC charger 15, a connector receiver 22 connected to the secondary circuit is exposed. The DC charger has a plug connected to a cigarette socket of the car instead of the power plug 20. The DC charger transforms a DC power supply (12V / 24V) obtained from a car battery by a built-in DC transforming circuit to form a battery pack. In addition to charging the battery 11 and using the power adapter 17, the power can be supplied directly from the car battery to the video camera 14, and the receiving surface and the connector receiving provided on the video camera 14 have the same structure as the AC charger. Here, detailed description is omitted.
[0013]
The power adapter 17 is used by being connected between the AC charger 15 or the DC charger and the video camera 14. The power adapter 17 is connected to the connector receiver 22 and the coupler 18 connected to the video camera 14. have. The coupler 18 has a mounting surface 24 that can be mounted only on the receiving surface 19 of the video camera 14.
[0014]
As shown in FIG. 2, the lower case 13b is provided with a pair of connection terminal portions 25 and 26 on both side surfaces in the width direction and on the distal end side in the longitudinal direction. Since the pair of connection terminal portions 25 and 26 are provided on two surfaces opposed to each other with the axis along the mounting direction interposed therebetween, there is an advantage that a short circuit is difficult to occur.
[0015]
The mounting surface 16 has four concave grooves 27 to 30 formed on both side surfaces in the width direction, and an auxiliary groove 31 formed at the center on the rear end side in the longitudinal direction. The four concave grooves 27 to 30 have a substantially L-shaped shape.
[0016]
On the receiving surface 19 of the video camera 14, a pair of mounting restricting walls 29 and 33 are respectively protruded at positions substantially the same as the length in the width direction of the battery pack 11 or separated by a slightly wide interval. The mounting regulating wall 33 is formed to be longer than the length of the battery pack 11 in the longitudinal direction, and allows the sliding movement of the battery pack 11 along the longitudinal direction, and regulates the movement of the battery pack 11 along the width direction.
[0017]
Four convex portions 34 to 37 are formed on the opposing inner surfaces of the mounting regulating wall 33 , respectively. The protruding portions 34 to 37 are formed to protrude in an inverted L-shape, and engage with the four concave grooves 27 to 30, respectively, in the longitudinal direction of the battery pack 11 in the direction of arrow B shown in FIG. Restrict slide movement.
[0018]
To mount the battery pack 11, the mounting surface 16 is pressed against the receiving surface 19 between the mounting control walls 33 at a position shifted in the longitudinal direction (arrow A), and is slid in the direction of arrow B. This sliding movement is restricted when the four convex portions 34 to 37 engage with the four concave grooves 27 to 30. Note that the reverse operation is performed when removing. Reference numeral 38 denotes an elastic auxiliary claw formed by cutting out a part of the receiving surface 19, which engages with the auxiliary groove 31 when the battery pack 11 is mounted, and is inserted in the insertion direction indicated by the arrow B. Supplementarily restricts the movement of the battery pack 11 in the opposite direction.
[0019]
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the mounting control wall 33 is provided with a pair of power terminals 39 and 40 that face the pair of connection terminals 25 and 26 when the battery pack 11 is mounted. . A cover member 41 is provided between the pair of power terminals 39 and 40. The cover member 41 has a substantially T-shaped cross section, and can be freely moved between an exposure position where the power supply terminals 39 and 40 are exposed from the gaps at both lower ends and a coating position that covers the gaps at the lower ends. It is constantly urged toward the covering position by the urging means 80, for example, a spring or a leaf spring. The movement of the cover member 41 is performed along the insertion direction of the battery pack 11 (the direction of the arrow B). The cover member 41 moves from the covering position to the exposing position by contacting the tip end surface of the battery case 13 of the battery pack 11 inserted in the direction of arrow B. When the power terminals 39 and 40 are removed, they are urged by the spring 80 to cover the power terminals 39 and 40, so that corrosion and deformation of the power terminals 39 and 40 can be prevented.
[0020]
As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the connection terminal portion 26 is provided at two concave portions 26a, 26b formed by cutting the lower case 13b into a three-tooth comb shape, and at the bottom of these concave portions 26a, 26b. The concave portions 26a and 26b are open on the mounting direction side to the outside. Each of the recesses 26a and 26b has a rectangular shape that is divided into two by a projection 13c that is a middle mountain of three comb teeth and has a longitudinal direction along the mounting direction B.
[0021]
The lower case 13b is formed of a non-conductive material, for example, an insulating engineering plastic material. The conductive member 32 has a forked shape at one end, and is incorporated in the lower case 13b such that each of the forked shapes is exposed to the outside from the recesses 26a and 26b. The other ends of these conductive members 32 are connected to the electrodes of the storage battery inside the battery case 13. The protruding portion 13c is formed to have the same or slightly concave height as the contour of the lower case 13b, and is mounted so that the power supply terminals 39 and 40 that enter the concave portions 26a and 26b from the open side during mounting are not caught. Both ends of the direction are chamfered in a round shape. Since the connection terminal 25 on the opposite side has the same function as the connection terminal 26, each member of the connection terminal 25 is indicated by a reference numeral in parentheses in FIG.
[0022]
As shown in FIG. 8, the power supply terminal 39 includes two contacts 39a and 39b that enter the two-parted concave portions 25a and 25b, respectively. These two contacts 39a, 39b are fixed to the tip of a conductive material 39c cut in a bifurcated shape by caulking or the like so as to be resilient to each other. The power supply terminal 40 on the opposite side also has the same function as the power supply terminal 39, and detailed description is omitted by showing each member of the power supply terminal 40 with a reference numeral in parentheses in FIG. Note that the power supply terminal 40 has a direction opposite to the shape shown in FIG. The power supply terminals 39 and 40 have an inner space L1 shown in FIG. 7 smaller than an outer space L2 of the conductive member 32 so as to surely contact the conductive member 32 of the pair of connection terminal portions 25 and 26. Are arranged as follows.
[0023]
As shown in FIG. 9, the mounting surface 24 of the coupler 18 has the same size as the mounting surface 16 of the battery pack 11, and the mounting surface 24 is also mounted on the receiving surface 19 of the video camera 14. A pair of connection terminal portions 42, 43, concave grooves 44 to 47, and an auxiliary groove 48 having the same functions as those formed are provided, and detailed description is omitted here.
[0024]
As shown in FIG. 10, the receiving surface 21 of the AC charger 15 has the same size as the receiving surface 19 of the video camera 14. A pair of mounting control walls 51 and 52, a pair of power supply terminals 53 and 54, convex portions 55 to 58, auxiliary claws 59, and a cover member 60, which have the same functions as those formed in FIG. Omitted.
[0025]
The operation of the above configuration will be described. When the battery pack 11 is mounted on the video camera 14, as shown in FIG. 11, the mounting surface 16 is pressed against the receiving surface 19 between the mounting restriction walls 33 with the mounting surface 16 shifted in the longitudinal direction (arrow A). Accordingly, the auxiliary claw 38 is elastically deformed downward by being pushed by the mounting surface 16.
[0026]
Thereafter, the battery pack 11 is slid in the direction of arrow B shown in FIG. This sliding movement is restricted when the four protrusions 34 to 37 is engaged with the four grooves 27-30. By this sliding movement of the battery pack 11, the cover member 41 is moved together with the battery pack 11 to the exposed position against the bias of the spring 80, and the conductive portions of the concave portions 25a, 25b, 26a, 26b of the connection terminal portions 25, 26 are formed. The contacts 39a, 39b, 40a, 40b of the power terminals 39, 40 enter and are respectively connected to the conductive member 32, and after the mounting is completed, the auxiliary claw 38 enters the auxiliary groove 31, and the battery pack 11 falls out of the mounted state. To prevent
[0027]
Each recess 25a, contact 39a to enter the 25b, because 39b are mutually freely resilient, whereas without contact 39a in the recess 25a of the side is in contact with the conductive member 32, the other side of the recess 25b since the contacts 39b at the inner is long in contact with the conductive member 32 problems do not occur, there is an advantage capable of performing reliable connection.
[0028]
When removing the battery pack, an operation of sliding the battery pack 11 in a direction opposite to the direction of arrow B shown in FIG. 12 is performed. As a result, the auxiliary claw 38 is pressed down at the trailing edge of the auxiliary groove 31 in the moving direction, so that the auxiliary claw 38 is elastically deformed downward and then pulled out in the direction opposite to the arrow A direction shown in FIG. Can be easily removed. When the cover member 41 is removed, the power supply terminals 39 and 40 of the video camera 14 are prevented from touching and the like because the cover member 41 is moved to the covering position by the urging of the spring 80. , 26 have the advantage that the external exposed area of the conductive member 32 is reduced by the action of the protrusions 13c, 13d, so that other metals, such as necklaces, do not easily come into contact with the portable device.
[0029]
When the coupler 18 of the power adapter 17 is mounted on the video camera 14 and the battery pack 11 is mounted on the AC charger 15, the same mounting operation as described above may be performed. In these cases, for example, when the power terminals 53 and 54 of the AC charger 15 or the connection terminals 42 and 43 of the coupler 18 of the power adapter 17 connected to the AC charger 15 are short-circuited with the power plug 20 inserted into the outlet, the AC The internal circuit of the charger 15 is damaged. However, in this embodiment, since the cover member 60 is moved to the covering position by the urging of the spring 80, the power terminals 53 and 54 of the AC charger 15 are prevented from being corroded and deformed, and the coupler 18 is not moved. Since the externally exposed area of the conductive member is also reduced by the function of the projections at the connection terminal portions 42 and 43, there is an advantage that another metal, for example, a necklace or the like is hardly contacted.
[0030]
Incidentally, there is a type of battery pack in which a dry battery is loaded. In this case, it is desirable to use the same connection terminal as the battery pack 11 with a built-in storage battery.
[0031]
In the above embodiment, the tip of the conductive member is formed in a forked shape. However, the present invention is not limited to this. You may make it insert 32 thin plate parts. In this case, as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, a notch 82 communicating with the recesses 26a, 26b is formed in the inner wall of the lower case 13b to have a length not less than the longitudinal length of the recesses 26a, 26b. Then, the tip of the conductive member 32 may be inserted. According to this, since the tip of the conductive member 32 is pressed by the protrusions 13c and 13d, the conductive member 32 can be prevented from being turned up.
[0032]
Further, in the battery pack 11 of the above-described embodiment, the sliding operation among the mounting operations is performed along the longitudinal direction, but the type of the battery pack that is performed along the width direction also has an axis along the mounting direction. The same effect can be obtained by providing a pair of connection terminal portions at positions on both sides of the sandwich. In addition, the position where the connection terminal portion is provided is not limited to both sides of the shaft along the mounting direction, and may be provided, for example, side by side at the center of a flat mounting surface.
[0033]
In this case, as shown in FIG. 15, the connection terminal portions 92 and 93 are arranged side by side along the mounting direction C on the mounting surface 91 of the battery pack 90. The connection terminal portions 92 and 93 include rectangular concave portions 94 and 95 whose longitudinal directions are aligned with the mounting direction, conductive members 96 and 97 disposed at the bottoms of these concave portions 94 and 95, and conductive members 96 and 97. The projections 98 and 99 are provided so as to protrude from the recesses 94 and 95 to the outside in order to reduce the exposed area of the projections 98 and 99.
[0034]
As a method of providing the projections 98 and 99, as shown in FIG. 16, a conductive member in which a hole 101 for inserting the projection 98 is formed at the tip of a lid member 100 in which the projection 98 is formed in advance. 96 may be incorporated, and the connection terminal portion may be configured by attaching the lid member 100 by claw engagement so as to close the opening 102 formed in the lower case 13b from the inside. In addition, as the power supply terminal 104 which is a mating type of the connection terminal portion 92, pins 104 a and 104 b arranged in parallel along a direction perpendicular to the mounting direction as shown in FIG. It is preferable to make contact with the exposed conductive members 96, respectively. In this case, when the pressing operation of the mounting operation is performed, the mounting surface 91 comes into contact with the mounting surface 91 and retreats. desirable. These pins 104a, 104b are movable by a spring 105 between a protruding position protruding from the mounting surface 91 and a retreating position retreating, so that even if one of them does not contact, the other does not. Since there is no problem if they are in contact, the suitability for connection can be improved. The spring 105 is formed of a conductive member, and power is supplied through these springs 105.
[0035]
As an example in which the projection is provided separately from the lower case 13b, as shown in FIG. 17, a projection 111 formed integrally with the projection 110 is inserted into a hole 113 formed at the tip of the conductive member 112. Alternatively, the protrusion 111 exposed from the hole 113 may be fixed by caulking.
[0036]
In the above embodiment, the battery pack 11 is of an external type that is mounted outside the video camera 14, but may be a built-in type battery pack that is built in the video camera 14. In this case, it is preferable to form the battery loading chamber of the video camera with the same cross-sectional shape as the battery pack. According to this, by loading the battery pack into the battery loading chamber from the longitudinal direction, the power supply terminal is connected to the conductive member of the connection terminal portion. In this case, the power supply terminal provided in the battery loading chamber is less likely to be touched, so that the cover member and the like can be omitted.
[0037]
By the way, when using a built-in type battery pack, it is necessary to have a retaining claw that prevents the battery pack from falling out of the battery loading chamber by a spring that urges the cover member to the covering position, and a lid that closes the entrance of the battery loading chamber. Become. In the case of a retaining claw, if it moves to the retracted position in conjunction with operation of a battery removal lever or the like provided outside the video camera, the spring is biased from the battery loading chamber to the outside. There is an advantage that the battery pack is urged toward it, so that the battery pack can be easily taken out and the battery removing mechanism is simplified. Also, in the case of the lid, if the battery pack is held in the mounted state in the battery loading chamber by using the force for holding the lid in the closed position, the battery pack naturally opens when the lid is opened. Since the battery pack pops out by the bias of the spring, the battery pack can be easily taken out.
[0038]
In the above-described embodiment, the protruding portion protruding from the concave portion is provided on the connection terminal portion of the mounting surface of the battery pack, the coupler, or the like. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and conversely, electronic devices such as a video camera and a charger. May be provided with a connection terminal portion, and a power supply terminal such as a battery pack or a coupler may be provided with a power supply terminal. However, if the battery pack is provided with a contact, the contact may be bent or damaged when the battery pack is carried. Therefore, it is safer not to provide a power supply terminal on the battery pack side. In this embodiment, the structure for preventing short-circuit between terminals of the battery pack and the coupler (power adapter) is described. Therefore, the structure for preventing short-circuit between terminals of the power supply unit is provided in the present invention.
[0039]
Further, in the above-described embodiment, an electronic device such as a video camera is described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, an electronic still camera, a portable telephone, a portable FAX, a portable word processor, an electronic organizer, a portable It is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to an electronic device using a battery pack such as a liquid crystal television, a portable audio cassette deck, a portable CD player, and a toy.
[0040]
【The invention's effect】
As described in detail above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, since the non-conductive protrusions are protruded from the recesses in which the conductive members are provided, for example, a necklace or the like may enter. Also, the protrusion prevents insertion into the inside, and the conductive member has a small externally exposed area, so that it is difficult to enter the conductive member. Therefore, short circuit can be reliably and inexpensively prevented.
[0041]
In the second aspect of the present invention, because each provided to two side surfaces facing the connection terminal portion, there is an advantage that a possibility that a short circuit is made is reduced. According to the third aspect of the present invention, the inner wall on the insertion direction side of each of the two recesses whose opening is divided into two by the projection is opened to the outside, and a pair of contacts forming the power supply terminal are formed from the two divided openings. Since the power supply terminal is inserted, the connection can be surely performed by the mounting operation without making the shape of the power supply terminal on the other side so complicated.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a video camera, a power adapter, a charger, and a battery pack.
FIG. 2 is an essential part perspective view showing a mounting surface of a battery pack and a receiving surface of a video camera.
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a receiving surface of the video camera, and omits an internal mechanism.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a receiving surface of the video camera, omitting an internal mechanism.
FIG. 5 is a side view of a connection terminal portion.
6 is a sectional view taken along the line VV shown in FIG.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing connection between a contact of a power supply terminal and a connection terminal portion.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a main part of a contact of a power terminal.
FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a mounting surface provided on a coupler of the power adapter.
FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a receiving surface of the AC charger.
FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a state where the battery pack is mounted on the video camera, omitting an internal mechanism.
FIG. 12 is a main part cross-sectional view showing a state where the battery pack is mounted on the video camera, and omits an internal mechanism.
FIG. 13 is a vertical sectional view of a main part showing an embodiment in which the tip of a conductive member has a flat plate shape.
FIG. 14 is a horizontal and vertical sectional view taken along line XX shown in FIG.
FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of a battery pack in which a pair of connection terminals are juxtaposed on a mounting surface.
16 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the connection terminal section shown in FIG. 15 cut along the longitudinal direction of the battery pack, and shows a state where the connection terminal section is attached to a partner side, for example, a video camera.
FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing another embodiment in which a protrusion is provided separately from a power supply case.
[Explanation of symbols]
11, 90 Battery pack 13b Lower case 13c, 13d, 98, 99, 110 Projecting portion 14 Video camera 15 AC charger 16, 24 Mounting surface 17 Power adapter 18 Coupler 19, 21 Receiving surface 25, 26 Connection terminal portions 25a, 25b, 26a, 26b, 94, 95 Recesses 32, 96, 97 Conductive members 39, 40 Power supply terminals 39a, 39b, 40a, 40b Contacts 41, 60 Cover member

Claims (3)

In the terminal short-circuit prevention structure of the power supply unit for power supply, which is mounted on the electronic device and has a connection terminal portion connected to the power terminal of one of the poles provided on the electronic device by this mounting,
Wherein the connection terminal portion, and a recess in which the power supply terminal when the mounting is performed enters, provided exposed at the bottom of the recess, and the conductive member for electrically connecting in contact with the power supply terminals, the In order to reduce the area of the conductive member to which the power supply terminal can come in contact, a non-conductive projection is provided substantially at the center of the recess so as to protrude so as to face the insertion direction of the power supply terminal. A structure for preventing short-circuit between terminals of a power supply unit, wherein the structure is constituted. 2. The terminal short-circuit prevention structure according to claim 1, wherein the connection terminal portions are provided on two side surfaces facing each other across an axis parallel to a mounting direction of the electronic device . 3. Opening the inner wall of the inner wall constituting the recess on the side where the power terminal is inserted, providing the projection so as to divide the opening of the recess into two, and connecting the power terminal to a pair of elastically The short-circuit preventing structure between terminals according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the pair of contacts are inserted into openings of the recessed portion, respectively, as contacts .

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