GB2266405A

GB2266405A - A Battery conversion kit

Info

Publication number: GB2266405A
Application number: GB9208707A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Paul Bracchi
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1992-04-22
Filing date: 1992-04-22
Publication date: 1993-10-27
Anticipated expiration: 2012-04-22
Also published as: GB9208707D0; GB2266405B

Abstract

The kit comprises a set of nesting sleeves 1, 2 and 3 whose internal and external diameters correspond to those of a set of standard batteries, the smallest battery being indicated at 4, the base of each sleeve having an electrically conductive base plate 11 and internally (Fig. 3 not shown) there is a spring to contact either the base plate of another sleeve or the base of a battery. If a battery of a particular size is required but only a battery of a smaller size is available then sleeves of suitable sizes can be selected to contain the available battery. The assembled set will then be of the equivalent size of the required battery and the end contacts will be provided by the top end of the actual battery and the base plate of the outermost sleeve. At least the outer sleeve may have a removable cover (Fig. 3 not shown) and at least one of the sleeves may have a cage formation (Fig. 4 not shown) or U-shaped formation (Fig. 5 not shown). <IMAGE>

Description

A Batters Conversion Kit Conventional electrical batteries come in a variety of sizes depending upon the power capacity of the battery.

Normal cylindrical batteries tend to come in a standard range of sizes. For example, in Great Britain, the standard range comprises, from the smallest to the largest, batteries coded by the letters AAA, AA, C and D. Whilst these batteries all have the same voltage rating they cannot be interchanged because they are, of course, of significantly different sizes.

It is one object of this invention to provide means whereby batteries of one size can be used to supply power in situations where batteries of another size would normally be required.

According to the present invention there is provided an electrical battery conversion kit comprising a series of concentric sleeves removably fitted one within the other and each having an electrically conductive plate centrally disposed of a base thereof and extending through that base, and defining a central opening at the other end, the sleeves having internal and external diameters corresponding to the diameters of consecutive ones of a series of batteries of standard size.

With such an arrangement a battery of a small size can be converted up in size to the dimensions of a battery of a larger size by using relevant parts of the conversion kit.

Thus with a suitable kit, a battery of the smallest size of the range can be installed within the innermost sleeve of the complete set so that the combined arrangement becomes equivalent to the size of the largest battery in the range.

The electrically conductive plates at the base of each sleeve will provide an electrical contact through to the one end of the battery and the other end of the battery will be available through the central opening at the other end of the sleeves. Similarly, a battery of an intermediate size can be built up to a larger size by using intermediate parts of the sleeve kit.

In order to provide for a good contact between the conductive plates in the base of a sleeve, an internal contact spring can be provided to project from the plate on the inside of the sleeve. This can be provided in some or all of the sleeves, particularly the largest one.

The outer sleeve at least can be formed to have a removable top portion which is releasably connected to the bottom portion thereof to provide for full access to the interior of the sleeve. This holds a battery or assembly of sleeves and a smaller battery securely in place within the outer sleeve. For the smaller sleeves securing of the battery so that it cannot fall out may not be important.

The releasable connection could be a bayonet or screwthreaded fitting.

Whilst it is preferred that the sleeves should have a solid cylindrical wall it would be feasible to construct the longitudinal wall of one or more of the sleeves as a cagelike formation. A further alternative would be to provide that the base and the top wall, together with a longitudinally extending wall of one or more of the sleeves, define an elongated U-shaped formation. Batteries or smaller sleeves could then be slid into position from the side of a larger sleeve.

The sleeves may be formed from any convenient materials but for the body of the sleeves a plastics material would be preferred in most instances. The sleeves could, however, be turned from wood or formed from compressed card or paper.

The use of the conversion kit enables existing batteries to be used as a temporary power source in replacement of a normal battery of a larger size. This would be particularly useful in emergency situations when a battery of the correct size has run down and it would also be possible to use up partly discharged small batteries. For the type of battery which is capable of being recharged, the use of the conversion kit enables a single size recharging unit to be used for all sizes of battery in a range.

The invention may be performed in various ways and one preferred embodiment will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figures 1A to 1D illustrate parts of a battery conversion kit of this invention together with a smallest size battery; Figure 2 shows the various parts of the kit of Figure 1 in a partially assembled condition; Figure 3 is a cross-section through one of the parts of the kit as shown in Figure lA; and Figures 4 and 5 illustrate modified forms of sleeve member for a conversion kit of this invention.

The battery conversion kit comprises three sleeves 1, 2 and 3 which can be slid within one another. The smallest sleeve 3 has a cylindrical opening sufficient to receive an AAA battery 4. The sleeve 1 is formed in two parts so that the top portion 5 is removable from the lower portion 6 and the two parts can be held together by means of a bayonet fitting formed by a pair of bayonet slots 7 and bayonet pins 8 (see Figures 2 and 3). When the upper portion 5 of the sleeve 1 is removed the sleeves 2 and 3 and the battery 4 can be inserted as shown in Figure 2. When the cap 5 of the sleeve 1 is fitted into place, sleeve 2 will be held by a step 9 on the cap so as to press the base of the sleeve 2 down onto a spring 10 so that electrical contact is made between the base plate 11 of the sleeve 1 and a base plate 12 of the sleeve 2.A similar base plate 13 is formed on the sleeve 3 and each of these plate plates extend through the base of the relevant sleeve so as to create an electrical pathway through the base of each sleeve.

If all the sleeves and the battery 4 are assembled within one another in the manner indicated the size of the assembly is equivalent to that of a conventional D size battery so that the assembly can be installed in a housing for such a battery in a piece of electrical equipment or battery charger. The small size battery 4 will then provide the power via electrical connections to the nipple 14 and the base plate 11. This base plate 11 is electrically connected through the spring 10 and base plates 12 and 13 to the base of the battery 4. The combination of the battery 4 and the sleeve 3 can be replaced by a conventional AA size battery which could then be assembled within the sleeves 2 and 1 to make the total assembly equivalent in size to that of a D size battery.Similarly, a C size battery could be installed in the sleeve 1 to create an assembly again, equivalent to the size of a D battery. Furthermore, an AA size battery could, for example, be built up to the size of a C battery by installing that battery into the sleeve 2 and an AAA size battery inside the combined sleeves 3 and 2 will build that battery up to the size of a C battery.

By suitable use of the conversion kit a battery of one size can be built up to the equivalent size of a conventional battery of larger size for use in a piece of electrical equipment as an emergency measure or to use up an existing smaller battery which still has some life in it.

Equally, the combination which is built up can be installed into a battery charger designed for a particular battery size. It will be appreciated that a single battery charger adapted to receive the largest size of battery (D size) can be used for recharging rechargeable batteries to any of the four conventional sizes by using the conversion kit.

Figure 4 illustrates an alternative form of sleeve construction, of cage-like design.

Another possibility is illustrated in Figure 5 where the ends 15, 16 of a sleeve member are held apart by a partial sleeve portion 17 enabling batteries or other sleeve members to be slotted in through one side.

Another possible modification is to form the sleeves with solid outer walls but with internal ribs to suit the shape of the battery so that smaller ones can be received.

Claims

1. An electrical battery conversion kit comprising a series of concentric sleeves removably fitted one within the.

other, each sleeve having an electrically conductive plate centrally disposed of a base thereof and extending through that base, and defining a central opening at the other end, the sleeves having internal and external diameters corresponding to the diameters of consecutive ones of a series of batteries of standard size.

2. A battery conversion kit according to Claim 1, wherein an internal contact spring projects centrally from the base plate on the inside of one or more of the sleeves.

3. A battery conversion kit according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein at least the outer sleeve has a removable top portion which is releasably connected to the bottom portion thereof to provide for full access to the interior of the sleeve.

4. A battery conversion kit according to Claim 3, wherein the releasable connection is a bayonet or screwthreaded fitting.

5. A battery conversion kit according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, wherein the base plate of one or more of the sleeves has an externally projecting centrally disposed nipple.

6. A battery conversion kit according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the longitudinal wall of one or more of the sleeves is of cage-like formation.

7. A battery conversion kit according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the base and top wall, together with a longitudinally extending wall of one or more of the sleeves define an elongated U-shaped formation, enabling a battery or another sleeve to be inserted from one side of that sleeve.

8. A battery conversion kit substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.