IE43325B1 - Portable casing for a storage battery - Google Patents

Abstract

1497008 Portable battery container COMPAGNIE EUROPEENE D'ACCUMULATEURS SA 5 Oct 1976 [23 Oct 1975] 41339/76 Heading H1B A portable plastic casing for a storage battery comprises a jar closed by a plastie cover 1, the top surface of the cover having two parallel walls 5, 8 deforming an oblong socket accommodating a handle 20 held in position in the socket by a detachable oblong bolt 11 capable of being slid longitudinally into the channel. The channel cross-section may take the form of an inverted "T" (see Fig. 3), or it may be dove-tail or generally circular in cross section. The handle may be of any suitable material, and it may be embedded in the bolt so that bolt and handle form a single assembly.

Description

The present invention relates to a casing for a storage battery having handling means for facilitating transport thereof. This applies to a Storage battery whose active components are accommodated in a jar made of a plastics material closed by a cover also made of a plastics material when it is necessary to transport the battery e.g. between a place of use and a recharging site.

The present invention provides a portable casing of plastics material for a storage battery the casing comprising a jar closed by a cover, the top surface of the cover having at least one handle-retaining socket moulded thereon, the socket being in the form of an oblong channel with at least one end open and with a longitudinally directed slot Open in its top surface, the slot being narrower than the channel whereby a removeable oblong bolt of greater width than the slot is slideable along the channel to retain a handle in the socket for carrying the battery.

According to a first embodiment the handle is fixed directly in the bolt, e.g, in bored ends of the bolt.

According to a second embodiment the handle is held by jamming between the base of the socket and the bolt. - 2 43325 The handle can be made of metal or plastics material. The oblong channel may have a cross-section in the form of an inverted T or dove-tail or be generally circular. The bolt and the channel preferably have complementary interfitting cross-sections.

The bolt preferably has at least one locking stud suitable for co-operating with a surface of the recess, in order to lock the bolt in the recess during transport and to avoid it sliding out of the channel accidentally.

An embodiment of the invention is described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a battery cover having a detachable handle, and Figure 2 is a partial cross-section of the battery having the detachable handle in figure 1.

The battery shown has a casing made of plastics material. The casing is constituted by a compartmented jar 4 closed by a cover 1. The cover 1 has a plurality of electrolyte supply ports in the form of moulded upstanding tubular rims which are internally threaded to receive plugs for closing the ports. An adjacent pair of such rims are shown and are referenced 2 and 3.

Two short parallel walls 5 and 8 are also moulded on the cover 1 between the respective rims 2 and 3 and tangential thereto. These walls, together with an intervening portion 6 of the top surface of the cover 1, define an oblong socket. The socket is in the form of a channel between the walls 5 and 8 and has a cross-section in the shape of an inverted T. The cross-bar of the Tshape provides a seating having two downwardly facing bearing surfaces 9 and 10. The stem of the T-shape forms a slot extending between the walls 5 and 8 and has . respective upper edges 13 and 14. Both ends of the channel are open and the end visible in the drawings is referenced 7.

A detachable oblong bolt 11 is longitudinally slideable in the channel. The cross-section of the bolt 11 is such that its top part is complementary to the open slot of the channel while a lower part engages the seating to bear against the bearing surfaces 9 and 10.

The lower face of the bolt 11 does not reach the base 6 of the socket (i.e. the said intervening portion of the surface of the cover) and further it includes a longitudinally extending V-shaped groove 12 whereby a cylindrical portion of a handle 20 can be accommodated between the sides of the groove and the base 6 of the socket.

The handle 20 is a cyclindrical bar bent into the shape of a rectangle with rounded corners. The ends of the bar should preferably be joined together to make an uninterrupted member, but if they are left unjoined the break in the rectangle should be placed inside the channel when in use.

As can be readily understood by looking at the drawings the handle 20 can be readily removed from or installed in the battery by sliding it together with thebolt 11 along the channel of the socket. 43323 Thus when the battery is.stored the handle 20 and the bolt 11 are removed thereby ensuring that the overall bulk of the battery is no greater than one not fitted with a handle-retaining socket. Naturally the height of the walls 5 and 8 is chosen so that they do not project above the level of the ports with their respective plugs in place.

Of course the cover 1 can be arranged to accommodate several handles, two being a preferred quantity for most applications.

Other suitable cross-sections may be provided for the channel and its associated bolt 11.

The handle may be of any suitable material and may be accommodated in any suitable way by the bolt 11.

It may for example be fixed directly in the bolt so that the two members, bolt and handle for m a single assembly.

Claims (9)

1. CLAIMS: 1. A portable casing of plastics material for a storage battery the casing comprising a jar closed by a cover, the top surface of the cover having at least one I handle-retaining socket moulded thereon, the socket being in the form of an oblong channel with at least one end open and with a longitudinally directed slot open in its top surface, the slot being narrower than the channel, whereby a removeable oblong bolt of greater width than the slot is 0 slideable along the channel to retain a handle in the socket for carrying the battery.

2. A casing according to claim 1, wherein the handle is fixed directly in the bolt.

3. A casing according to claim 1, wherein the 5 handle is held by jamming between the base Of the socket and the bolt.

4. A casing according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the oblong channel has a cross-section in the form of an inverted T. 0 5.. A casing according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the oblong channel is of dove-tail cross-section. 6. A casing according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the oblong channel has a generally circular cross-section.

5. 7. A casing according to any one of claims 4 to

6. , wherein the bolt and the channel have complementary interfitting cross-sections.

7. 8. A casing according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the bolt has at least one locking stud 4332$ suitable for co-operating with a surface of the channel.

8.

9. A portable casing for a storage battery substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the figures of the accompanying drawing.