EP1769547A2

EP1769547A2 - Electric circuit battery support

Info

Publication number: EP1769547A2
Application number: EP05760446A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Bruno Lambersend
Original assignee: Somfy SA
Current assignee: Somfy SA
Priority date: 2004-07-20
Filing date: 2005-07-18
Publication date: 2007-04-04
Also published as: CN101019251A; FR2873494B1; FR2873494A1; WO2006011020A3; CN100479230C; WO2006011020A2

Abstract

The invention concerns a battery (20) support (51) designed to be mounted on a printed circuit (42) and comprising a first elastically deformable conductive element connected to a first electric contact terminal ( (TVCC) and designed to be urged into contact with a first pole of the battery (20) when the latter is in the support (50) and a second conductive element (55) connected to a second electric contact terminal (TGND) and designed to be urged into contact with a second pole of the battery (20) when the latter is in the support (50). The invention is characterized in that it comprises a third elastically deformable conductive element (56) modifying, depending on whether an action is applied thereon or not, the state of an electric current between a pole of the battery (20) and a third electric contact terminal (TP11).

Description

Battery holder for electric circuit.

The invention relates to a battery support defined according to the preamble of claim 1. It also relates to an electronic circuit comprising such a support, a remote control device comprising such an electrical circuit and a metal part for producing such a support.

The miniaturization of electronic devices makes congestion issues crucial. As a result, many electrical devices are powered by a small flat battery called a battery

"Button" in the form of a button or a coin. These cells are for example lithium batteries, whose negative pole is constituted by a disk occupying the central portion of the lower face while the positive pole is constituted by the upper face and the lateral surface.

US Pat. No. 4,120,022 discloses a watch comprising two cavities for receiving button cells. The poles of these cells are connected to a printed circuit using conductive blades. By an action on a button, a blade is deformed to establish a contact between a pole of a battery and a termination of the printed circuit. In this watch, the battery support function is provided by the cavities and the blades make it possible to apply electrical potentials to different points of the printed circuit.

The batteries can also be directly arranged horizontally on a printed circuit using a metal piece shaped arch. Such carriers are in particular marketed under the trademark Keystone (registered trademark). These cells may also be held in plastic supports having electrical contact strips, as described in patents EP 0 938 754, US 6,062,901 or in patent application US 2004/0106035, the contents of these documents being incorporated by reference. to the present application.

In the case of the support described in US Pat. No. 6,062,901, the battery is arranged vertically, which can save space on the printed circuit.

Devices powered by these batteries sometimes require at least one manually activated key, for infrequent or exceptional use. This is for example a reset key, or a programming key. For example, the particular case of a receiver or a radio remote control transmitter that need to be paired so that one obey the orders of the other. In this case, the pairing operation is carried out by transmission of a specific identifier or code. This transmission, on transmission or reception, is initialized by pressing a specific key for exceptional use. Often, the key operation is performed using a projecting object such as a screwdriver, through a hole in the housing faceplate, the right of the key.

As simple as it is, this function of occasional electrical contact requires a touch of quality, avoiding unwanted contact and supporting support sometimes too pronounced. In addition, the "blind" access through a hole requires clear space around said key to avoid incidents when a projecting object is introduced into the hole with a steep slope. The object of the invention is to provide a battery support improving the battery holders known from the prior art. In particular, the invention proposes a battery holder incorporating an exceptional use key. The invention also proposes an electrical circuit comprising a support according to the invention and a remote control device comprising such an electrical circuit.

The support according to the invention is characterized by the characterizing part of claim 1.

Different variants of the support are defined by the dependent claims 2 to 6.

The electronic circuit according to the invention is defined by claim 7.

Different variants of the electronic circuit are defined by the dependent claims 8 to 11.

The remote control device according to the invention is defined by claim 12.

The metal part according to the invention is defined by claim 13.

The appended drawing shows as examples several embodiments of a support, an electrical circuit and a control device according to the invention.

FIG. 1 is a view from above of a first variant of a first embodiment of the support according to the invention. FIG. 2 is a view from above of a printed circuit forming part of the first variant of the first embodiment of the support according to the invention.

Figure 3 is a sectional view along the plane HI-III of Figure 4 of a second variant of the first embodiment of the support according to the invention.

FIG. 4 is a view from above of the second variant of the first embodiment of the support according to the invention.

Figure 5 is a sectional view along the plane V-V of Figure 6 of a third variant of the first embodiment of the support according to the invention.

FIG. 6 is a view from above of a third variant of the first embodiment of the support according to the invention.

Figure 7 is a sectional view of a second embodiment of the support according to the invention.

Figure 8 is a sectional view of a support according to the invention mounted vertically on an electrical circuit.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of an electrical circuit in which the first embodiment of the battery support can advantageously be implemented.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of an electrical circuit in which the second embodiment of the battery support can advantageously be implemented. A first variant of a first embodiment of a battery support 20 according to the invention, shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, mainly comprises a piece 18 made of sheet metal. This piece 18 is intended to be fixed, for example by welding, on a printed circuit 16 to form the support. The piece 18 is provided for this purpose with two lugs 13 and 14. It essentially comprises a flat portion 15, located in a plane shifted by a distance greater than the thickness of the stack that the support is intended to receive, relative to in the plane of the legs 13 and 14.

Partial cut-outs of the sheet constituting this piece 18 make it possible to disengage in its flat part 15 at least one elastically deformable strip 17 which is then folded so that it has a rounded end whose apex is in a plane offset by relative to the plane of the legs 13 and 14 by a distance less than the thickness of the stack that the support is intended to receive. Thus, the elastic strip 17 exerts an elastic action on the battery when it is inserted into the support mounted on the printed circuit, which ensures good electrical contact with the first pole of the battery, typically the positive pole. This action is taken up by the printed circuit board 16, the elastic action thus also ensures a good electrical contact between the second pole of the battery and a central pellet PGND conductive present on the printed circuit. Note that all the metal part is then brought to the potential of the first pole of the battery. In this embodiment variant, the PGND chip constitutes a conductive element intended to come into contact with a pole of the battery and an electrical termination of this element. Conductive pellets CPCC present on the printed circuit make it possible to establish an electrical contact between the first pole of the battery and an electric circuit defined by the printed circuit.

The metal part 18 also comprises a second elastically deformable element. This element has the shape of a lamella 11 extending from the flat portion 15 radially beyond the circumference of the stack (for example from 5 to 10 mm). A double fold 12 increases the elasticity of this strip and makes it possible to return its free end in a plane lying between the plane of the part 15 and the plane of the tabs 13 and 14 or the plane of the printed circuit 16. A conductive pad P11 is present on the printed circuit vis-à-vis the blade 11. The distance between the free end of the blade and the printed circuit is for example 1 to 2 mm in the absence of any stress on the blade. This distance is intended to prevent inadvertent contact between the blade and the pellet. The strip is further intended to be deformed under the effect of a mechanical action so as to establish an electrical contact with the chip PP11, that is to say between the first pole of the stack and the chip PP11.

The conductive sheet used to produce the supports known from the prior art has all the mechanical and electrical characteristics necessary to make the metal part 18 of the support 10 according to this first embodiment. For a small additional cost or no, the support of the invention also has the additional function of electrical contact for infrequent use.

A second variant of the first embodiment of a battery support 20 according to the invention, shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, mainly comprises an annular portion 31 made of insulating material. This annular portion has an L-shaped section and allows receive the battery. To do this, it has an equal inner diameter (the clearance necessary for the implementation near) to the outer diameter of the battery.

This support 30 is mounted on a printed circuit 42. When the battery is in position in the support, its upper face is in pressing contact against an upper blade 34 and its lower face is in pressing contact against a lower blade 35. upper blade 34 is in electrical contact with the first pole of the battery, typically the positive pole, while the lower blade is in contact with the second pole of the battery. When a battery is put in place in the support, the lamellae are elastically deformed in flexion so as to guarantee their contact with the poles of the battery.

The upper and lower lamellae are supported by shoulders 32 and 33 made of insulating material. Preferably, these shoulders are part of the annular part and are obtained therewith by molding. The shoulders may also have reversible means for holding the stack in position in the support.

The lower and upper lamellae are respectively connected to TGND and TVCC electrical terminations. These terminations have the form of conductive pins passing through the shoulders 32 and 33 and the printed circuit and define a plane substantially perpendicular to that of the lamellae. These pins are intended to be soldered on the printed circuit so as to mechanically link the support to the latter and to electrically link the lamellae 34 and 35 to the electrical circuit defined by the printed circuit via conductive pads PVCC and PGND. An additional upper leaflet 36 is disposed in the vicinity of the upper leaflet 35. This additional upper leaflet 36 is also connected to an electrical termination TP11. This termination also has the form of a conductive pin passing through the shoulder 32 and the printed circuit. This pin is also intended to be soldered on the printed circuit so as to mechanically link the support to the latter and to electrically bond the additional upper blade 36 to the electrical circuit defined by the printed circuit via a conductive pad PP11.

The additional upper leaflet 36 is, in its rest position, offset relative to the upper leaflet 34 so that a space is provided between the first pole of the battery and the additional upper leaflet 36. This offset is obtained by a different positioning in height of the slats 34 and 36 on the shoulder 32. Alternatively, the positioning of each slat can be made at the same height on the shoulder, but in this case, the slats have different bends.

The space between the blade 36 and the first pole of the battery must be sufficient to prevent any inadvertent electrical contact between them. The space can for example measure 1 to 2 mm.

The upper upper blade 36 thus constitutes a normally open electrical contact with the first pole of the battery.

In FIG. 3, the TGND pin, the PGND chip and the shoulder 33 have been represented in dashed lines, although these are upstream of the IH-III section plane.

A printed circuit board 42 on which is mounted an electronic circuit 43, of which only the battery carrier has been shown, is contained in a housing 40. a remote control device. This casing is provided with an orifice 41 located opposite the additional upper leaflet 36. The introduction of a projecting tool such as a screwdriver or a fine pencil into the hole 41 makes it possible to exert pressure on the upper upper blade 36 to deform and establish between it and the upper pole of the battery an electrical contact. This action is represented by a solid arrow RST.

An identical arrangement of the housing, the printed circuit and the battery support can also be used with the first variant of the first embodiment. In this case, the orifice is opposite the lamella 11.

A third variant of the first embodiment of a battery support 20 according to the invention, shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, differs mainly from the previous variant in the arrangement of the upper lamellae. It comprises an insulating part 51 intended to receive the battery

20 and having shoulders 52 and 53 respectively supporting upper lamellae 54 and 56 and a lower lamina 55. The lamellae 54, 55 and 56 are respectively connected to electrical terminations TVCC, TGND and TP11 making it possible to link the support to the printed circuit 42 .

In this variant, the additional upper lamella 56 is disposed above the upper lamella 54. A gap of one to two millimeters separates the two lamellae to prevent inadvertent contact between them. When an action is exerted on the upper upper lamella 56, this latter deforms and comes into contact with the top lamella 54. The additional upper lamella 56 is thus brought to the same potential as the upper lamella 54, that is to say say at the same potential as the top of the stack. A second embodiment of a support 60 according to the invention is shown in FIG. 7. The support 60 comprises an insulating part 61 intended to receive the stack 20 and having shoulders 62 and 63 respectively supporting upper lamellae 64 and 66 and a lower blade 65. The lamellae 64, 65 and 66 are respectively connected to electrical terminals TVCC, TGND and TP11 making it possible to link the support 60 to the printed circuit 42.

This support 60 differs mainly from the third variant of the first embodiment in that when no action is exerted on the additional upper leaflet it is in contact with the upper blade 64. The two upper lamellae are arranged on the upper lamella. one above the other. The additional upper leaflet has a horizontal portion 662 and a folded portion 661 whose end comes into contact with the upper leaf 64. As a result, the two upper leaves are brought to the same electric potential when no action is exerted on the additional top slat. Under the horizontal portion 662 of the additional upper lamella is disposed a recess 67 and thus the additional upper lamella rests in fact on two edges 68a and 68b delimiting the obvious. When an action (represented by the arrow RST ^* ) is applied to the horizontal portion 662 at the recess, the latter bends and the free end of the folded portion 661 is moved upwards so that the electrical contact between the two upper lamellae is removed.

The different variants of the different embodiments of the support can also be fixed vertically on the printed circuit so as to save the space occupied by the support on the printed circuit. A support 70 of this type, similar to the support 50 previously described, is shown in Figure 8. It differs from the support 50 in that its lamellae 54 ', 55' and 56 'have a shape modified so that their electrical terminations TP11, TVCC and TGND is oriented substantially parallel to the stack and define a connection plane to the printed circuit substantially parallel to the axis of the stack.

In any case, the state of the electrical contact between the additional upper blade and a pole of the battery can be modified by manual action on the additional upper blade, for example by means of a cylindrical tool operated through an orifice. For infrequent but less exceptional uses, the orifice may be provided with a touch of insulating material to act on the additional blade.

The circuit diagram of an electronic circuit to which the invention according to the first embodiment applies is represented in FIG. 9. This circuit comprises at least one MCU component powered under a DC voltage and comprising at least one information input. P11. The MCU component is for example a microcontroller. In this case, the information input is preferably one of the logic inputs of a microcontroller port. Alternatively, the information input P11 may be an analog input. In this case, the voltage of the signals applied to this input is compared with a voltage threshold within the microcontroller. A resistor R1 connects the information input P11 to the GND electrical ground of the circuit in the idle state.

A battery 20 supplies the circuit. The negative pole of the battery is connected to the GND electrical ground, while the positive pole is connected to a VCC supply wire of the MCU component. In a variant, a regulator REG, represented by a dashed rectangle in FIG. 9, is inserted into the supply circuit of the MCU component. However, it can be considered that such a regulator is integrated in the MCU component. The The controller can also have an energy saving function, for example by periodically interrupting the power supply of the MCU component.

The battery 20 is inserted into a support according to the first embodiment of the invention, mounted on the printed circuit comprising the MCU component. With the aid of elements of which at least one is elastically deformable, the two poles of the battery 20 are connected to the electric circuit. Arrows arriving on the symbol of the stack represent these elements in Figure 9. The support integrates as seen above a third elastically deformable element in the form of a slat and for electrically connecting the input P11 of the microcontroller to the positive pole of the stack, when an action is applied to that element. This element constitutes a normally open RST electrical contact.

A mechanical action on this elastic element closes the electrical contact RST between the information input P11 and a first pole of the battery, here the positive pole. From a logical point of view, the input P11 then goes from the low state to the high state.

This information can be interpreted by the microcontroller MCU to engage a particular program sequence. For example, in the case where the electronic circuit is that of a transmitter or a receiver of control commands, closing the contact RST causes the program to switch to a transmission or reception mode of a code particular, allowing the pairing of this device to another.

According to the alternative embodiments, the electrical contact can be removed between the deformable element and the battery or between the deformable element and the input P11 of the microcontroller MCU. The circuit diagram of an electronic circuit to which the invention according to the second embodiment applies is shown in FIG. 10. This circuit differs from the circuit of FIG. 9 in that it comprises a normally closed contact RST * constituted by by an elastic lamella of a support as described with reference to FIG.

The PVCC, PGND and PP11 pellets are metallic and arranged on the printed circuit. They are respectively electrically connected to the potentials VCC, GND and P11 of the electrical circuit.

Claims

Claims:

A battery holder (10; 30; 50; 60; 70) for mounting on a printed circuit (16; 42) and having a first conductor element (17; 34; 54; 54 '; 64) elastically deformable and connected to a first electrical termination (TVCC) and intended to come into contact with a first pole of the battery (20) when the latter is in the support (10; 30; 50; 60; 70) and a second element (PGND;

35; 55; 55 '; 65) connected to a second electrical termination (TGND) and intended to come into contact with a second pole of the battery (20) when the latter is in the carrier (10; 30; 50; 60; 70), characterized in that it comprises a third element (11;

36; 56; 56 '; 66) elastically deformable conductor and modifying, depending on whether a mechanical action is applied thereto or not, the state of an electrical contact between a pole of the battery (20) and a third electrical termination (TP11).

2. Support (10) battery (20) according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a monobloc (18), metallic and conductive constituting at least the first (17) and third (11) elements.

3. Support (10) battery (20) according to claim 2, characterized in that the third element (11) comprises at least one elastically deformable tongue extending in a radial direction along a radius greater than the radius of the stack ( 20).

4. Support (30; 50; 70) battery (20) according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the first element consists of an upper plate (34; 54; 54 '), in that the second element consists of a lower lamella (35; 55; 55 ') and in that the third element consists of an additional upper lamella (36; 56; 56 ') disposed in the vicinity of the upper lamella and which is not in contact with the cell (20) when it is in its holder and when no action is exerted on this additional lamella (36; 56; ').

5. Support (60) battery (20) according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the first element consists of an upper blade (64), in that the second element consists of a lower blade (65 ) and in that the third element consists of an additional upper lamella (66) disposed in the vicinity of the upper lamella and which is in contact with the cell (20) when it is in its holder and when no action is exerted on this additional blade (66).

6. Battery holder according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the conductive elements are permanently fixed to a part (18; 31; 51; 61) providing a support function of the battery.

7. Electronic circuit (43) comprising a printed circuit (16; 42) on which at least one component (MCU) powered by a battery (20) is arranged, characterized in that it comprises a support (10; 30; 60; 70) of battery (20) according to one of the preceding claims and in that the third element (11; 36; 56; 56 '; 66) elastically deformable conductor makes it possible to electrically contact a pole of the battery (20) with a component information input (P11) (MCU).

8. Electronic circuit (43) according to claim 7, characterized in that the electrical contact between a pole of the battery (20) and the input

(P11) component information (MCU) is normally open and goes to the closed state when the third element (11; 36; 56; 56 ') is deformed.

9. Electronic circuit (43) according to claim 7, characterized in that the electrical contact between a pole of the battery (20) and the input

(P11) component information (MCU) is normally closed and goes open when the third element (66) is deformed.

10. Electronic circuit (43) according to one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that the pole of the battery (20) connectable to the component information input (MCU) through the third element (11). 36, 56, 56 ', 66) is the positive pole.

11. Electronic circuit (43) according to one of claims 7 to 10, characterized in that the third element (11) elastically deformable is arranged vis-à-vis a conductive surface (PP11) of the printed circuit, connected at the component information input (P11) (MCU).

12. Remote control device having a housing (40), characterized in that the housing (40) comprises an electronic circuit (43) according to one of claims 7 to 11 and an orifice (41) located vis-à-vis -vis the third elastically deformable element (36).

13. Metal part (18) intended to be fixed on a printed circuit (16) to form therewith a battery support (10) comprising a planar portion (15) on which is arranged an elastically deformable lamella and at least two legs (13, 14) for binding the metal part (18) to the printed circuit (16), characterized in that it comprises an elastic lamella deformable member (11) extending from the planar portion (15) in a plane substantially parallel thereto.