JP5557046B2 - Charger - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a charging device for charging a battery pack, and more particularly, to a device having a protective cover for protecting a charging terminal.

  As this type of charging device, there is provided a mounting portion on which the battery pack is slid and mounted in the sliding direction, and when the battery pack is mounted on the mounting portion, a charged terminal of the battery pack and a charging terminal of the charging device And the battery pack is charged (Patent Document 1).

  This charging device has a flat plate portion that covers and protects the charging terminal from above in a state where the battery pack is not mounted on the mounting portion in order to prevent damage or contamination of the charging terminal, injury due to the charging terminal, etc. A cover is provided. The protective cover is configured to be movable in the sliding direction of the battery pack. When the battery pack is mounted on the mounting portion, the battery pack pushes the protective cover and moves in the mounting direction of the battery pack. Thereby, the charging terminal is exposed and comes into contact with the charged terminal of the battery pack, and the battery pack is charged.

  The protective cover is urged by a spring in a direction opposite to the battery pack attachment direction, that is, in the battery pack removal direction so that it automatically returns to the position covering the charging terminal when the battery pack is removed. Yes.

JP 2004-147360 A JP 2001-128372 A

  However, when the battery pack is attached to the attachment portion, the battery pack is biased in the direction of removal by the protective cover. Therefore, in order to prevent the battery pack from falling off, for example, a mechanism for fixing the battery pack to the charging device needs to be provided, which complicates the charging device.

  On the other hand, it is considered that the protective cover does not move linearly in the sliding direction, but the protective cover rotates and is immersed in the main body of the charging device (Patent Document 2). The protective cover is configured to be rotatable around an axis located at a position away from the protective cover. Accordingly, the protective cover can be moved greatly from the cover position covering the upper side of the charging terminal to the immersing position where the charging terminal is moved so as to be exposed and completely immersed in the main body.

  However, it is necessary to secure a space when the protective cover is in the cover position and the immersive position and a space through which the protective cover moves when moving between the positions, and these spaces expand in an arc shape. For this reason, the charging device is enlarged.

  The present invention is intended to solve the above problems all at once, and provides a charging device that can protect a charging terminal from breakage by providing a protective cover, and that can suppress complication and enlargement. This is the main desired issue.

That is, the charging device according to the present invention includes a mounting portion where a battery pack to be charged is mounted by sliding in a sliding direction, and a charging terminal of the battery pack when the battery pack is mounted on the mounting portion. A charging terminal that comes into contact with the terminal, an opening through which the charging terminal can be inserted, and a housing space that communicates with the opening and accommodates the entire charging terminal. A protective cover that is movable in a vertical direction substantially perpendicular to the sliding direction between the position and a retracted position where the charging terminal is retracted so as to protrude from the opening, and the protective cover is moved toward the protective position. comprising a biasing means for biasing the following battery pack is slid to the sliding direction toward the mounting portion, wherein the battery pack is in contact with the protective cover By depressing the protection cover towards the retracted position from said protected position, the charging terminals in contact with the object to be charged terminals, the battery pack is characterized in that mounted to the mounting portion. Note that the battery pack is one in which one or more secondary batteries are built in a container made of an electrically insulating material such as a resin.

  In such a case, since the protective cover can move in the vertical direction substantially orthogonal to the sliding direction, the battery pack is substantially urged only in the vertical direction by the protective cover so that the battery pack is removed. Can be substantially unenergized. Therefore, a mechanism for preventing the battery pack from dropping off can be omitted, and the charging device can be prevented from becoming complicated. Moreover, since the protective cover has an opening through which the charging terminal can be inserted, the charging terminal can be protruded from the opening only by moving slightly downward from the protective position, and the moving distance of the protective cover can be shortened. . Thereby, the space which should be ensured for a protective cover can be made small, and a charging device can be made compact. Furthermore, when the protective cover is in the protected position, the entire charging terminal is accommodated and protected in the accommodation space, so that damage and contamination of the charging terminal and injury due to the charging terminal can be prevented.

  In order to facilitate mounting of battery packs of various shapes, the protective cover is moved in the sliding direction from an end on the near side in the traveling direction of the battery pack when the battery pack is mounted on the mounting portion. An inclined surface that is upwardly inclined is formed, and as the battery pack is slid in the sliding direction toward the mounting portion, the inclined surface is pressed and the vertical direction generated at that time is pressed. It is desirable that the protective cover is pushed down toward the retracted position by force. If it is such, a protection cover can be pushed down only by sliding a battery pack to a sliding direction, and a battery pack can be easily mounted in a mounting part.

  In order to further reduce the size of the charging device, the protective cover is rotatable about the front end, and the battery pack is slid in the sliding direction toward the mounting portion. Accordingly, it is desirable to push down the end opposite to the side where the battery pack is inserted.

  According to the present invention having the above-described configuration, a protective cover is provided to protect the charging terminal from breakage and the like, and complexity and increase in size can be suppressed.

1 is an overall perspective view of a charging device when a battery pack is not attached in an embodiment of the present invention. The whole perspective view of the charging device in the middle of attachment of the battery pack in the embodiment. The whole perspective view of the charging device in the mounting state of the battery pack in the embodiment. The side view of the battery pack in the embodiment. The bottom view of the battery pack in the embodiment. The top view of the charging device in the embodiment. The A-A 'line fragmentary sectional view of the charging device in the unattached state of the battery pack in the embodiment. The figure which fractured | ruptured the charging device by the B-B 'line in the mounting state of the battery pack in the embodiment. The figure which fractured | ruptured the charging device in the mounting state of the battery pack in other embodiment. The top view and the C-C 'line sectional view of the protection cover in other embodiments.

  A charging apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The charging device 100 is for charging a battery pack 200 that supplies electric power to an electric device such as a vehicle, a power tool, or a lighting device.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the charging apparatus 100 includes a main body case 10, a mounting part 20 in which the battery pack 200 is slid and mounted in a sliding direction, and the battery pack 200 is mounted in the mounting part 20. In some cases, the battery pack 200 includes a charging terminal 30 that comes into contact with the charged terminal 205 of the battery pack 200 and a power plug (not shown) for connecting to an external power source such as an outlet.

  The battery pack 200 will be described. In the description of the battery pack 200, the direction in which the battery pack 200 travels when the battery pack 200 is mounted on the mounting portion 20 will be described as the distal end side, and the opposite side as the proximal end side. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 and the like, the battery pack 200 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. Focusing on the bottom of the battery pack 200, as shown in the side view of FIG. 4, the bottom 201 on the base end side (hereinafter also referred to as the base) protrudes downward from the bottom 202 on the front end. Slide grooves 203 extending along the longitudinal direction of the battery pack 200 are formed on both side surfaces of the base portion 201. The direction in which the slide groove 203 extends is the slide direction. Further, as shown in the bottom view of FIG. 5, the base portion 201 is formed with a slit 204 that opens to the tip side and extends in the sliding direction, and the charged terminal 205 is accommodated in the slit 204. .

  Each part of the charging apparatus 100 will be described. In the description of the charging device 100, when the battery pack 200 is mounted on the mounting portion 20, the traveling direction in which the battery pack 200 travels will be described as the rear and the opposite direction facing the front will be described as the front. Further, the description will be made assuming that the height direction of the charging device 100 is the vertical direction.

  As shown in FIG. 1 and the like, the main body case 10 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape and houses a power circuit board (not shown) and the like, and the upper case 11 and the lower case 12 are fitted together. Composed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 6, and the like, the mounting portion 20 includes a placement portion 21 for placing the battery pack 200, and a fitting convex portion 22 that fits slidably into the slide groove 203 of the battery pack 200. It comprises.

  As shown in FIG. 1 and the like, the mounting portion 21 is formed on the upper surface of the upper case 11 and has a bottomed groove shape extending along the sliding direction. The width of the mounting portion 21 is set larger than the width of the battery pack 200 in the short direction. An accommodation recess 24 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape for accommodating a part of the charging terminal 30 and a protective cover 40 described later is formed on the bottom surface 21a of the mounting portion 21 (FIG. 7).

  As shown in FIG. 1 etc., the fitting convex part 22 protrudes inward from the right side surface and the left side surface of the mounting part 21, respectively, and extends along a sliding direction.

  As shown in FIG. 7 etc., the charging terminal 30 is a substantially flat plate-like thing arrange | positioned at the mounting part 20, and the one side is arrange | positioned so that one surface may follow a sliding direction. A contact portion 31 is provided on the front side of the upper end portion 30b of the charging terminal 30 so as to contact and supply power to the charged terminal 205 of the battery pack 200. A lower end 30 a of the charging terminal 30 is accommodated in the accommodating recess 24, and an upper end 30 b of the charging terminal 30 protrudes from the accommodating recess 24. As shown in FIG. 1, there are a plurality (seven in this case) of charging terminals 30, and each charging terminal 30 is arranged along a horizontal direction parallel to each other and perpendicular to the sliding direction. Each charging terminal 30 is electrically connected to the power circuit board.

  Furthermore, the charging device 100 of the present invention includes a protective cover 40 that protects the charging terminal 30 when the battery pack 200 is not mounted on the mounting unit 20.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 7 and the like, the protective cover 40 is provided so as to close the housing recess 24, and is made of an electrically insulating material (resin here). Specifically, the protective cover 40 includes a rectangular top plate portion 40a parallel to the bottom surface 21a of the mounting portion 21 and side plate portions 40b, 40c, 40d extending downward from the side surfaces of the top plate portion 40a. It comprises. More specifically, the front side plate portion 40b is from the front side surface of the top plate portion 40a, the pair of side plate portions 40d is from the right side surface and the left side surface of the top plate portion 40a, and the rear side plate portion 40c is from the top plate portion 40a. It extends downward from the rear side. The front side plate portion 40b extends obliquely from the top plate portion 40a, and the front end portion of the protective cover 40 (the traveling direction of the battery pack 40 when the battery pack 40 is attached to the attachment portion 20). An inclined surface 40b1 having an upward gradient from the front end) is formed along the sliding direction. The position of the front end of the inclined surface 40b1 in the vertical direction is on the same plane as the bottom surface 21a of the placement unit 20 or below it.

  Moreover, the protective cover 40 has a plurality of terminal holes 41 (seven here) through which the charging terminals 30 can be inserted. Each terminal hole 41 is provided corresponding to each charging terminal 30 and is arranged along a horizontal direction orthogonal to the sliding direction. Each terminal hole 41 is a hole (here, a rectangular long hole) that penetrates in the thickness direction of the protective cover 40 and extends in the sliding direction from the front side plate portion 40b to the top plate portion 40a. The inner periphery of the terminal hole 41 and the outer periphery of the charging terminal 30 are close enough to allow the charging terminal 30 to be inserted.

  Further, the protective cover 40 has an accommodation space 42 that communicates with the upper opening 41 a of the terminal hole 41 and can accommodate the entire charging terminal 30. The accommodating space 42 is composed of a space between the terminal holes 41 and a space below the terminal holes 41.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the front end of the protective cover 40 is attached to the main body case 10, and the protective cover 40 is between an upper protective position P and a lower retracted position Q, which will be described later. It is configured to be movable. Here, the protective cover 40 is attached so as to be rotatable about the rotation axis L at the front end, and is moved upward (in FIG. 7 by a torsion coil spring) attached to the front end. Is energized counterclockwise).

  The protection position P and the retreat position Q will be described in more detail. The protective cover 40 includes a protection position P (FIG. 7) that accommodates and protects the entire charging terminal 30 in the accommodation space 42, and a retreat position Q (FIG. 8) that retreats so that the charging terminal 30 protrudes from the terminal hole 41. It is comprised so that it can move to the up-down direction substantially orthogonal to a sliding direction.

  Since the protective cover 40 is urged upward toward the protective position P by the spring 50 as the urging means, the protective cover 40 (P) is positioned at the protective position P when the battery pack 200 is not attached. To do. In the protection position P, the upper end of each charging terminal 30 is accommodated in the accommodating space 42 between the terminal holes 41.

  On the other hand, when the battery pack 200 is attached to the attachment portion 20, the protective cover 40 (Q) is pushed down by the battery pack 200 and positioned at the retracted position Q. At the retracted position Q, at least the contact portion 31 of the charging terminal 30 protrudes from the opening 41a of the terminal hole 41 of the protective cover 40 (Q). When the protective cover 40 is in the retracted position Q, the upper surface (inclined surface 40 b 1) of the front side plate portion 40 b is on the same plane as the bottom surface 21 a of the mounting portion 21. Further, when the protective cover 40 is in the retracted position Q, the lower end 40 c 1 of the rear side plate portion 40 c is in contact with the bottom portion 24 a of the housing recess 24.

  In addition, when the protective cover 40 is in the retracted position Q, the surface of the side plate portion 40 b in front of the protective cover 40 is in surface contact with the bottom surface of the base portion 201 of the battery pack 200. Since these surfaces are in surface contact, the battery pack 200 is substantially biased upward only by the protective cover 40 and is not substantially biased in the direction of removing the battery pack 200.

  A process when the battery pack 200 is mounted on the mounting unit 20 will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 2, the base portion 201 of the battery pack 200 is placed in front of the placement portion 21. Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the battery pack 200 is slid in the sliding direction so that the fitting protrusion 22 of the charging device 100 fits into the slide groove 203 of the battery pack 200. With the slide, the base portion 201 of the battery pack 200 pushes down the protective cover 40 from the protective position P (FIG. 7) toward the retracted position Q (FIG. 8). More specifically, the base portion 201 of the battery pack 200 presses the inclined surface 40b1 of the front side plate portion 40b, and the protective cover 40 is pushed down toward the retracted position Q by a downward component force generated at that time. As a result, the charging terminal 30 of the charging device 100 protrudes from the opening 41a and comes into contact with the charged terminal 205 of the battery pack 200, and the mounting of the battery pack 200 to the mounting portion 20 is completed (FIG. 3). At this time, the front surface 22a of the mounting portion 20 of the charging device 100 abuts on the front surface 206 of the base portion 201 of the battery pack 200, and the battery pack 200 further advances toward the front end side. There are no restrictions.

  According to the charging device 100 of the present embodiment, since the protective cover 40 can move in the vertical direction substantially orthogonal to the sliding direction, the battery pack 200 is urged by the protective cover 40 in the orthogonal direction. The direction of removing 200 can be substantially not biased. Therefore, the mechanism for preventing the battery pack 200 from dropping off can be omitted, and the charging apparatus 100 can be prevented from becoming complicated. Further, since the protective cover 40 has an opening 41a through which the charging terminal 30 can be inserted, the charging terminal 30 can be protruded from the opening 41a by moving slightly downward from the protective position P. The moving distance of 40 can be shortened. Thereby, the space which should be ensured for the protective cover 40 can be made small, and the charging device 100 can be made compact. Further, when the protective cover 40 is at the protection position P, the entire charging terminal 30 is accommodated and protected in the accommodation space 42, so that the charging terminal 30 can be prevented from being damaged or soiled and injured by the charging terminal 30. .

  In addition, since each opening 41 a is provided corresponding to each charging terminal 30, even if a foreign object such as a metal piece enters between each charging terminal 30, the protective cover 40. During the vertical movement, the partition wall between the openings 41a can remove the foreign matter by pushing it down, and the charging terminal 30 can be prevented from being short-circuited.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the slide groove is provided at the base portion of the battery pack, and the charging device is provided with the fitting convex portion that fits the slide groove. However, the present invention is not limited to this. One of the battery pack and the mounting portion is formed with a slide groove extending along the sliding direction, and the other of the battery pack and the mounting portion is a fitting protrusion that is slidably fitted into the slide groove. What is necessary is just to have a part formed.

  Moreover, although the protective cover is assumed to rotate, the protective cover may be moved linearly in the vertical direction substantially orthogonal to the sliding direction (FIG. 9). As a specific example, the protective cover 40 may be configured to be slidable along the side wall of the housing recess 24. More specifically, the side plate portions 40 b, 40 c, 40 d of the protective cover 40 are in contact with the side walls of the housing recess 24. Further, the protective cover 40 is urged upward by a spring 50 as an urging means. Here, the spring 50 is provided at the lower end of the side plate portions 40b, 40c, and 40d (here, the front side plate portion 40b and the rear side plate portion 40c) of the protective cover 40. In such a case, since the protective cover 40 does not substantially move in the sliding direction, the opening distance in the sliding direction of the terminal hole 41 can be reduced, and the entry of foreign matter into the charging device 100 is more effective. Can be prevented.

  Further, the protective cover may be a solid block body. A specific example will be described with reference to FIG. The protective cover 40 is a solid block body having a rectangular shape in plan view, and an inclined surface 40b1 is formed in front of the upper surface. Further, an opening 41 a is provided for each charging terminal 30 on the upper surface of the protective cover 40, and the accommodation space 42 penetrates downward from the opening 41 a. The opening 41 a and the accommodation space 42 are provided corresponding to each charging terminal 30, and one charging terminal 30 is accommodated in one accommodation space 42. Here, the accommodation space 42 is opened rearward, but is not limited thereto. If it is such, the short circuit of the charge terminal 30 can be prevented more effectively.

  In addition, a plurality of partition walls may be provided as a protective cover, and a charging terminal may be inserted between the partition walls. At this time, the accommodation space may be opened forward or backward. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and may be configured by appropriately combining some or all of the various configurations described above without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Charging apparatus 200 ... Battery pack 10 ... Main body case 20 ... Mounting part 30 ... Charging terminal 40 ... Protective cover 41 ... Terminal hole 41a ... Opening 42 ...・ Accommodating space 50 ... spring (biasing means)

Claims (3)

A mounting part on which the battery pack to be charged is slid in the sliding direction and mounted;
When the battery pack is mounted on the mounting portion, a charging terminal that comes into contact with a charged terminal of the battery pack;
The charging terminal has an opening through which the charging terminal can be inserted and a housing space that can be accommodated in the opening to accommodate the entire charging terminal, and a protection position that accommodates and protects the entire charging terminal in the housing space; A protective cover that is movable in a vertical direction substantially perpendicular to the sliding direction between a retracted position that retracts so as to protrude from the opening;
Urging means for urging the protective cover toward the protected position;
As the battery pack is slid in the sliding direction toward the mounting portion, the battery pack comes into contact with the protective cover and pushes down the protective cover from the protective position toward the retracted position. A charging device, wherein a terminal is in contact with the terminal to be charged, and the battery pack is mounted on the mounting portion. The protective cover is formed with an inclined surface that is inclined upward along the sliding direction from the end on the front side in the traveling direction of the battery pack when the battery pack is mounted on the mounting portion.
As the battery pack is slid in the sliding direction toward the mounting portion, the inclined surface is pressed, and the protective cover is pushed down toward the retracted position by the vertical component force generated at that time. The charging device according to claim 1 to be used.   The protective cover is rotatable about an end on the front side, and the battery pack is inserted into the battery pack as the battery pack is slid in the sliding direction toward the mounting portion. The charging device according to claim 2, wherein pushes down the opposite end.