JP2000285890A - Battery housing structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To minimize the wear of a rocking shaft by supporting a movable terminal attitude-switchable between a first attitude and second attitude for receiving a first battery and second battery in a battery housing part, respectively, on the body of the battery housing part, rockable about the axial center extending along the taking-in and -out direction of the battery. SOLUTION: A positive electrode contact piece is constituted of four movable terminals 12a-12d supported on the body 6a of a battery housing part 6 in such a manner as to be rockable about the axial center vertical to the bottom surface of the battery housing part 6. The movable terminal is attitude-switchable between a first posture for receiving AA battery in the battery housing part 6 (the state shown by the movable terminals 12a, 12b, 12d) and a second attitude for receiving AAA battery in the battery housing part 6 (shown by the movable terminal 12c) and rotated about 90 deg. between the first attitude and the second attitude. Even if the other movable terminals are in any of the first attitude and the second attitude, each movable terminal performs the attitude switching between the first attitude and the second attitude without making contact or interfering with them.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a battery accommodating structure, and more specifically, to an opening opened in a battery insertion / removal direction, and a pair of contacts for contacting an anode and a cathode of the accommodated battery. And at least one of the pair of contact pieces has a first length in a predetermined axial direction.
A movable attitude switchable between a first attitude for receiving a battery in the battery housing and a second attitude for receiving a second battery having a shorter axial length than the first battery in the battery housing. The present invention relates to a battery storage structure configured as a terminal. Here, “battery storage structure” refers to NiCd batteries, N
Rechargeable batteries such as iMH batteries that can be recharged can be stored, and a battery charger that charges these stored rechargeable batteries with an AC power supply, and the above-mentioned rechargeable batteries and non-rechargeable manganese It refers to a structure that can be used for a battery case that can store batteries and that supplies or discharges a load such as a light emitting unit such as an LED or a driving force generating unit such as a motor from these stored rechargeable batteries.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an example of the above-mentioned conventional battery storage structure, there is a charger described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 44365/1985. The contact piece on the anode side of this charger is provided as a movable terminal (preparation body 18) that can swing around an axis that intersects the battery insertion / removal direction. That is, when the movable terminal is in the upright position (when the opening of the charger is placed upward), the AA battery can be received in the battery storage portion. The internal dimensions of the storage section are shortened, and a AAA battery having a shorter axial length than an AA battery can be received in the battery storage section. Then, in either case when the movable terminal is in the upright posture or the horizontal posture, so that a contact piece for the anode facing the cathode is obtained,
Contact pieces for AA batteries and contact pieces for AAA batteries are separately provided on two different surfaces on the movable terminal. In each of the movable terminals, two types of current limiting resistors having different resistance values for AA batteries and AAA batteries are provided. Is connected to the contact piece for the battery. That is, when storing AA batteries, the current limiting resistor for AA batteries is automatically incorporated into the charging circuit via the AA battery contact pieces, and the AA batteries are stored. In this case, the current limiting resistor for the AAA battery is automatically incorporated into the charging circuit via the contact for the AAA battery. Therefore, in the charger exemplified above, the AA battery and the AAA battery can be selectively stored and charged simply by switching the posture of the movable end between the first and second postures.

[0003]

However, in the battery storage structure according to the above-described conventional example, the movable terminal is supported by the main body of the battery storage portion so as to be swingable around an axis which intersects with the battery insertion / removal direction. For this reason, there is a possibility that the following problems may occur during the operation of inserting and removing the battery.
That is, during the operation of extracting the AAA battery already stored in the battery storage unit, the action of friction generated between the anode of the AAA battery that is moved upward according to the extraction and the movable terminal in the horizontal posture As a result, there is a possibility that the movable terminal is forcibly operated to swing from the horizontal position to the upright position for AA batteries. In such a situation, when the movable terminal is swung toward the upright posture, the vicinity of the lower edge of the movable terminal in the horizontal posture approaches the cathode side more than the anode for the AAA battery on the movable terminal. As a result, the vicinity of the lower edge of the protruding movable terminal and the anode side edge of the AAA battery are pressed with abnormally large stress, and as a result, constitute the swing axis of the movable terminal. There was a possibility that members and the like would wear abnormally fast.

Further, in the above-described conventional battery housing structure, it is necessary to separately provide a contact piece for an AA battery and a contact piece for a AAA battery on the outer surface of the movable terminal while being insulated from each other. In addition, two current limiting resistors are provided in one small movable terminal having a size substantially the same as the battery to be stored,
A complicated assembly process is required, such as the necessity of connecting these current limiting resistors to the contact pieces, and there are problems such as a large number of parts.

[0005] Therefore, in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art battery storage structure exemplified above, the object of the present invention is to provide an unusually large pressing action between a part of the movable terminal and the battery which occurs when the battery is pulled out. An object of the present invention is to provide a battery housing structure in which members constituting a swing shaft of a movable terminal are less likely to be abnormally fast worn.

Therefore, another object of the present invention is to provide
An object of the present invention is to provide a battery housing structure that does not require a complicated assembling process and requires a relatively small number of parts.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a battery housing structure, wherein the movable terminal is provided around a first axis extending along the battery insertion / removal direction. It is characterized in that it is swingably supported by the main body of the battery storage section.

[0008] In order to have such a characteristic configuration,
In the battery housing structure according to claim 1 of the present invention, the second battery housed in the battery housing portion (the first battery having a predetermined axial length, the second axial length being shorter than the first battery). Even if friction occurs between the battery and the movable terminal during the operation of removing the battery (whether a battery), the movement of the battery to be removed is less likely to cause a change in the position of the movable terminal. An abnormal pressing force acts between the battery and the movable terminal, thereby reducing the possibility of promoting the wear of the components constituting the swing shaft of the movable terminal.

Further, a plurality of movable terminals are provided for receiving a plurality of batteries in the battery housing, and each movable terminal is provided irrespective of the posture of the remaining movable terminals.
A configuration is possible in which the posture can be switched between the first and second postures. According to this structure, not only the first battery having a longer length or only the second battery having a shorter length can be stored, but also the first batteries having different lengths can be stored. The battery and the second battery can be mixed and stored, and the usability is further improved.

[0010] A holding mechanism may be provided for holding the respective positions of the movable terminal in the first position or the second position. With such a configuration, even in a situation where the battery housing structure takes various postures (for example, a posture inverted upside down) other than an upward opening of the opening that opens in and out of the battery,
It is possible to prevent the movable terminal from inadvertently changing its position from the first position or the second position due to the action of its own weight, the action of inertia, or the like (contrary to the intention of the user). As a result, the user must prevent inadvertent change of the position of the movable terminal from the first position or the second position with the other hand while storing or removing the battery with respect to the battery storage portion with one hand. The troublesome procedure described above is not required, and the usability is improved.

More specifically, the holding mechanism includes a first protrusion formed so as to protrude from one of the main body of the battery housing and the movable terminal to the other, and the first posture or the second posture taken by the movable terminal. What is necessary is just to comprise the 1st locking mechanism which has the said main body and a pair of engagement recessed part formed in the said other of a movable terminal so that the said 1st projection may be engaged according to an attitude | position. According to this structure, when both the main body and the movable terminal of the battery housing are formed by injection molding of resin or the like, the constituent parts of the holding mechanism are integrally formed with the main body of the battery housing and the movable terminal. As a result, the number of manufacturing steps can be reduced.

In this case, the first protrusion includes an elastic member extending from the movable terminal in a radial direction of the first shaft center;
A configuration having an engagement piece extending in parallel with the first axis from the elastic member, wherein the pair of engagement recesses are engagement recesses formed in the main body so as to be separated from each other; can do. With this configuration, the engaging piece supported by the movable terminal via the elastic member enters the engaging concave portion formed in the main body through the elastic deformation of the elastic member. The user of the battery housing structure detects that the movable terminal has been switched to the first position or the second position by the swinging operation of the movable terminal when the engagement piece enters the engagement recess, and the user's finger. It can be recognized by non-visual means such as vibration and sound transmitted to the user, and as a result, the user can more reliably know the current posture of the movable terminal, and a more comfortable use feeling can be obtained . As yet another effect, even when the movable terminal is switched between the first position and the second position a number of times, wear of the components of the first locking mechanism is relatively small, and a longer life is achieved. can get.

Alternatively, as the holding mechanism, the first terminal is provided at least from one of an upper end surface and a lower end surface of the movable terminal.
A second protrusion extending in parallel with the axis;
A second positioning mechanism having an elastic piece extending in parallel with the axis is provided, and the movable terminal performs a step in which the second projection climbs over a tip end of the elastic piece based on a lateral elastic deformation of the elastic piece. After that, the configuration may be such that the posture can be switched between the first posture and the second posture. If the second positioning mechanism is configured to operate in the vicinity of the second posture of the movable terminal, the movable terminal is moved by the reaction force of the stored second battery to the first position for the first battery. Inconvenience such as inadvertent switching to the posture is prevented beforehand.
Further, when the second positioning mechanism is used in combination with the first positioning mechanism, the holding force of the movable terminal by the first positioning mechanism is necessary and sufficient because the posture of the movable terminal is not switched by its own weight or the like. However, it can be set to a relatively low level. In other words, the first positioning mechanism and the holding force of the second positioning mechanism can be separately and rationally designed as holding mechanisms each carrying a different purpose, and as a result, the structural design is simple. become.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a battery housing structure according to the present invention, wherein the movable terminal is non-conductive so as to be swingably supported on a main body of the battery housing portion. A movable block, and one conductive contact piece attached to the movable block, wherein the one contact piece has a first contact portion in contact with one pole of the first battery;
A second contact portion that is in contact with one pole of the second battery is provided.

In order to have such a characteristic configuration,
In the battery housing structure according to claim 7 of the present invention, the movable terminal needs two contact portions as electrical contacts with the battery poles corresponding to the first and second postures. Regardless, these two contact portions are arranged on one plate-shaped contact piece, so that the number of parts can be reduced as a result, which contributes to simplification of the assembly process and reduction of material costs. I do.
In addition, as a method of limiting the current according to the capacity of the target battery to be stored, two types of current limiting resistors having different resistance values are provided outside the movable terminal, and which capacity of the battery is stored is determined. This can be solved by providing a means for automatically determining and a means for automatically connecting an appropriate current-limiting resistance based on the result of the determination by the determining means in a circuit including a battery.

Further, the movable terminal swings around a predetermined axis, and the contact piece on the movable terminal is provided with an energizing terminal provided on the main body side regardless of the posture of the movable terminal caused by the swing. A flat portion extending so as to intersect with the predetermined axis in order to maintain a contact state with a contact point, wherein both the first contact portion and the second contact portion are perpendicular to the flat portion; It may be configured to extend in the direction. According to this structure, abrasion due to contact with the current-carrying contact provided on the battery housing main body is suppressed as compared with the case where two contact pieces are provided on the movable terminal in a state of being separated from each other.

Other features and advantages according to the present invention include:
The description will become apparent from the description of the embodiment using the drawings.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The battery storage structure of the present invention is described below.
This will be described with reference to the drawings based on an example in which this is implemented in the form of a battery charger. That is, the battery charger according to the present invention whose appearance is shown in FIG. 1 can accommodate rechargeable rechargeable batteries such as NiCd batteries, NiMH batteries, and the like. It can be recharged.

The battery charger shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
It includes a battery charger main body 2 made of a synthetic resin such as a BS resin and a cover 4 made of a transparent resin. The battery charger main body 2 is provided with a battery storage section 6 capable of storing up to four batteries of a predetermined standard (here, AA rechargeable batteries B1 or AAA rechargeable batteries B2). In this case, four individual storage spaces provided in the battery storage section 6 so as to accommodate one battery therein are respectively stored in the battery storage sections 6a, 6a,. . I will call it. The battery housing 6 has an opening 8 opened in the battery insertion / removal direction, and the cover 4 is between a state in which the opening 8 shown in FIG. 1 is opened and a state in which the opening 8 shown in FIG. It is swingably supported with respect to the battery charger main body 2 so that opening and closing operations can be performed. In addition, the cover 4 can be placed between the cover 4 and the battery charger main body 2 in an upright posture as shown in FIG. 2 (this is a state in which the plug 26 is inserted into a household wall outlet in order to perform charging). A locking mechanism (not shown) is provided to prevent the door 4 from opening carelessly due to its own weight or the like. On the other hand, the cover 4 can be completely removed from the battery charger main body 2 or can be attached again. Battery compartment 6
At one end, a contact piece 1 that contacts the anode of the stored battery
2, and a contact piece 10 that contacts the cathode of the battery is disposed at the other end in the battery housing 6. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, the contact piece 10 for the cathode is
It is formed of a total of four metal plates formed for each,
It is fitted into a mounting recess formed in the battery housing portion body 6a made of synthetic resin. Each cathode contact piece 10 is formed with a support protrusion 10a for pressing and supporting a generally flat cathode surface of the batteries B1 and B2.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 to 5, the contact piece 12 for the anode extends along an axis X perpendicular to the bottom surface of the battery housing 6 (in the battery insertion / removal direction). One example of the first shaft core) Four movable terminals 12a, 12b, 12 supported on the main body 6a of the battery housing 6 so as to be swingable therearound.
c, 12d. As shown in FIG. 3, these movable terminals 12 are in a first attitude (FIG. 3) for receiving an AA battery B1 (an example of a first battery having a predetermined axial length) in the battery housing 6. 1 and FIG. 2 show the movable terminals 12a, 12b, and 12d) and the AAA battery B
2 (an example of a second battery whose axial length is shorter than the first battery) in the battery housing 6 (see FIG. 1).
(The state shown by the movable terminal 12c in FIG. 2). The movable terminal 12 rotates about 90 degrees between the first posture and the second posture. Incidentally, even if the remaining movable terminals 12 take any posture (including an arbitrary intermediate position) between the first and second postures, the movable terminals 12 do not contact with or interfere with each other. The posture is switchable between the first and second postures without being performed. Further, when the movable terminal 12 switches from the first position to the second position, the volume in the battery housing 6 is substantially reduced.

As best shown in FIG. 5, each of the movable terminals 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d is made of a synthetic resin and has a generally rectangular parallelepiped movable block 14 and a metal plate-like contact piece 16. Consists of The plate-shaped contact piece 16 has a first contact portion 16a which appears on the inner surface of the battery housing 6 when the movable terminal 12 is in the one position and faces the cathode 10; 6 the cathode 10
And a second contact portion 16b opposed to the second contact portion 16b. The first contact portion 16a and the second contact portion 16b each extend in a branch shape from the flat portion 16c of the plate-shaped contact piece 16 provided along the lower surface of the movable block 14. The flat portion 16c is
The movable terminal 12 extends parallel to the bottom surface of the battery housing 6.
Irrespective of the swing posture around the first axis X, the portion 16p that maintains a reliable contact state with the output terminal 30 (see FIG. 4) of the power supply circuit separately provided in the battery charger main body 2 Having. The first contact portion 16a and the second contact portion 16b are each bent at a right angle from the flat portion 16c. Also,
The plate-shaped contact piece 16 includes a first contact portion 16a and a second contact portion 16b.
The movable block 14 is formed by a pair of mounting ends 16i and 16j provided further apart from the flat portion 16c with the
In each of the engagement holes 14e and 14f formed in the
(Utilizing the elastic deformation of the contact portions 16a and 16b).

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, an upper rotating shaft 14A extends upward from the upper surface of the movable block 14, and a lower rotating shaft 14B extends downward from the lower surface. still,
The upper rotating shaft 14A and the lower rotating shaft 14B are formed integrally with the main body of the movable block 14 during the injection molding of the block. By the way, the battery charger main body 2 includes an upper structure 2s and a lower structure 2t that can be vertically attached to and detached from each other by a fitting structure (not shown). A downwardly opened support recess 2A is integrally formed in the upper structure 2s. On the other hand, from the lower structure 2t, a cylindrical body 2B provided with an upwardly opened support hole at the tip is provided. It extends vertically and integrally. Also, by combining the upper structure 2s and the lower structure 2t, the center of the support recess 2A and the cylindrical body 2
The centers of B are configured to cooperate with each other to form an axis X. Then, when fitting the upper structure 2s and the lower structure 2t in the assembly process of the battery charger according to the present invention, the four movable terminals 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d are fitted.
When the upper rotary shaft 14A is engaged with the support recess 2A and the lower rotary shaft 14B is engaged with the cylindrical body 2B, the movable terminals 12
Is mounted to be swingable about a vertical axis X.

Between each movable terminal 12 and the battery housing main body 6a, even if the battery charger main body 2 is changed in posture such as inverted or turned over, inertia based on the weight and mass of the movable terminal 12 is obtained. The operation causes the movable terminal 12 to move from the first position to the second position, or from the second position to the first position.
A holding mechanism is provided to restrict the change in the posture of the movable terminal 12 so that the posture is not changed to the posture. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the first locking mechanism as one of the holding mechanisms is configured to move from each movable terminal 12 or movable block 14 to the back surface of the upper structure 2s of the battery housing body 6a. The first protrusion 20 extending upward, and a pair of engagement recesses 22a formed on the upper structure 2s,
22b. According to each of the first posture (the posture indicated by the movable terminal 12c in FIG. 8A) and the second posture (the posture indicated by the movable terminal 12b in FIG. 8A) taken by the movable terminal 12, One protrusion 20 is formed of a pair of engagement recesses 22.
By selectively engaging one of the positions a and 22b, the position holding action in each posture is realized.

As shown more specifically in FIG.
The projection 20 has an elastic member 20a extending from the movable block 14 in the radial direction of the axis X, and an engaging piece 20b extending from the elastic member 20a in parallel with the axis X. The engagement piece 20b is a substantially triangular member having an apex extending upward. On the other hand, the pair of engagement recesses 22a and 22b are engagement recesses formed on the lower surface of the upper structure 2s so as to be separated from each other. More specifically, a fan-shaped groove 22 extending in the radial direction of the axis X is formed on the lower surface of the upper structure 2s, and a pair of engagement recesses 22a and 22b are formed in the circumferential direction in the fan-shaped groove 22. Are partitioned by a pair of wall members 22w, 22w that partition both end portions of the fan-shaped groove portion 22 from a central portion 22c.
The fan-shaped groove 22 is formed at the both ends. When the user switches the movable terminal 12 between the first position and the first position, the engagement piece 20b is moved by the elastic member 2.
Since it gets over the wall member 22w through the elastic deformation of 0a and fits into one of the pair of engagement recesses 22a, 22b,
It is positioned in each posture.

With this configuration, the movable terminal 12 is
Needless to say, when switching to the first posture or the second posture, the central part 22c (the middle region 22c) provided between the first posture and the second posture from the first posture or the second posture. In case of getting out in one example)
At the moment when 0b crosses over the wall members 22w, 22b, vibration or sound is generated based on the elastic return of the elastic member 20a, and the current state of the movable terminal 12 is shown more minutely through the tactile sensation or hearing of the user's finger. Can be. In addition, a key (key) portion of the fan of the fan-shaped groove portion 22 coincides with the axis X,
The fan-shaped groove 22 is formed along the outer periphery of the support recess 2A. Further, the elastic member 20a of the first projection 20 extends from the base end of the upper rotation shaft 14A on the movable block 14 to the axis X.
Extending in the radial direction.

In addition to the first positioning mechanism, the holding mechanism includes a second protrusion 14C extending from the lower end surface of the movable terminal 12 in parallel with the axis X, and a lower structure (similar to the cylindrical body 2B). A second positioning mechanism having an elastic piece 2C extending from 2t in parallel with the axis X is provided. As shown in FIG. 5, the cross-sectional shape of the elastic piece 2C cut in the horizontal plane is a rectangle extending in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the stored battery. When the sheet is subjected to such a lateral stress as described above, it is elastically bent. As shown in FIG. 7, the free end of the elastic piece 2C extends to a level higher than the lower end of the second protrusion 14C of the movable terminal 12, and the elastic piece 2C and the second protrusion 14C The position in plan view is such that both members are the first and second movable terminals 12.
It is set to collide between postures. Therefore, when the movable terminal is switched between the first and second positions, the process of the second protrusion 14C climbing over the tip of the elastic piece 2C (based on the lateral elastic deformation of the elastic piece 2C) is performed. It is inevitable to pass along the way (for example, FIG. 8 (b)
The state of the movable terminal 12b shown in FIG.
b), or when the state is changed to the state of b, or the reverse movement).

Further, the elastic piece 2C and the second protrusion 14C collide with each other when the movable terminal 12 substantially indicates the second posture (ie, for example, in the state of the movable terminal 12b in FIG. 9B). Is configured to cause Also,
The second protrusion 14C is at least about 6 mm away from the axis X, while the first protrusion 20 that constitutes the first holding mechanism is arranged at a position that is at most about 4 mm away from the axis X. And the action portion of the first projection 20 constituting the first holding mechanism is provided with an inclined surface for facilitating climbing over the wall portion 22w. The holding force of the second holding mechanism is set to be sufficiently higher than that of the first holding mechanism, as supposed from the fact that the action portion of the second projection 14C has no inclined surface and extends vertically. Have been. Therefore, the movable terminal 12 is switched to the second position, and the AAA battery B2 is placed between the second contact portion 16b of the movable terminal 12 and the cathode contact piece 10 to resiliently repel the cathode contact piece 10. Even when the battery is stored against the force, the movable terminal 12 is not inadvertently switched to the first posture for the AA battery B1 due to the reaction force of the AAA battery B2 once stored. In addition, elastic piece 2C
Has a rigidity to the extent that it exhibits almost no bending or sag against a downward stress that intersects the longitudinal direction of the battery at its free end. Therefore, the end face of the elastic piece 2C in the direction of the axis X is connected to the movable terminal 12 in the first posture by the axis X.
Along, that is, upwardly, in a non-elastic manner. In other words, a support means for rigidly supporting the movable terminal 12 in the first position with the elastic piece 2C provided as a holding mechanism for holding the movable terminal 12 in one of the first and second positions. As a result, as compared with the case where a dedicated means for supporting the movable terminal 12 in the first position is provided, it contributes to reducing the volume of the material constituting the battery housing structure, and reduces cost and cost.
This contributes to a reduction in the overall weight of the battery storage structure.

Further, the holding mechanism includes a third protrusion 14D extending upward from the movable block 14 of the movable terminal 12 and a receiving surface 2D formed on the upper structure 2s of the battery housing body 6a (see FIG. 8). And a third positioning mechanism comprising: The receiving surface 2 </ b> D is a vertically extending concave portion having an arc-shaped cross section in plan view, and the first terminal of the movable terminal 12.
In the posture, it comes into contact with and receives one side surface of the third protrusion 14D (see the movable terminal 12c in FIG. 8A).
That is, the movable terminal 12 is switched to the first position, and the first contact portion 16a of the movable terminal 12 and the cathode contact piece 1 are switched.
0, the AA battery B1 is stored against the elastic repulsion of the cathode contact piece 10, and the pressing force applied to the movable terminal 12 from the AA battery B1 is reduced by the third protrusion 14D.
The battery housing unit main body 6a
It is accepted by. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the third protrusion 14D includes a portion that protrudes further upward than the upper structure 2s of the battery housing main body 6a when the movable terminal 12 is in the first position. The projecting part is the movable terminal 1
2 constitutes an operation knob for pulling out the second posture from the first posture toward the second posture. As a result, not only is it possible to obtain an easy-to-use battery housing structure in which the movable terminal 12 can be easily pulled out, but also the role and the user as components of the third positioning mechanism can be provided in one member, the movable block 14 of the movable terminal 12. It will also serve as an operation knob when pulling out and operating the movable terminal,
As a result, it is possible to reduce the number of parts or the volume of the material constituting the battery housing structure.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3,
In the upper structure 2s of the battery housing portion 6a, the AA battery B1 is housed in the battery housing 6 at a position adjacent to each receiving surface 2D where the third projection 14D also serving as the operation knob enters. At this time, the anode terminal of the AA battery B1 is connected to the first contact portion 1
Four curved first guide surfaces 2E for guiding up to 6a are formed in accordance with the number of storable batteries. Similarly, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the movable block 14 of each movable terminal 12 is also located above the second contact portion 16 b.
When the AAA battery B2 is stored in the battery housing 6, the anode terminal of the AAA battery B2 is connected to the second contact portion 16 of the movable terminal 12.
A curved second guide surface 14E for guiding to b is formed. Further, when the batteries B1 and B2 are stored in the battery storage unit main body 6a, 4
Three guide projections 2 for guiding the end portions of the batteries B1 and B2 on the cathode side to fixed positions of the provided batteries, and for restricting displacement of the batteries B1 and B2 once stored in the direction transverse to the longitudinal direction.
4 are provided.

(Regarding Circuit for Charging) In the lower structure 2t of the battery housing body 6a, a power supply circuit for applying a charging voltage to the stored battery is provided. The battery storage sections 6a are connected in parallel to the power supply circuit. In the power supply circuit, the current flowing through each battery storage section 6a is limited according to the capacity of the battery stored in the battery storage section 6a (ie, AA type or AAA type). Circuits are included by the number of battery storage sections 6a, that is, four circuits are included. Further, a determination means is included for determining which capacity of the battery is stored in each battery storage section 6a as soon as power is supplied to the input portion of the power supply circuit from a 100-volt commercial power supply. And each battery storage area 6
a is provided with a control device for selectively connecting a current limiting circuit (resistors having different resistance values are interposed) according to the determination result of the determination means. As the determination means, for example, means for detecting whether each movable terminal 12 is in the first position for AA batteries or the second position for AAA batteries (for example, the movable position of each Block 14
And a micro switch disposed between the battery housing section main body 6a). Therefore, in this battery charger, the battery storage unit 6 that can store up to four batteries is
Any number of batteries from one to four can be stored and charged in any of the battery storage sections 6a, and the length of the batteries in the axial direction can also be changed between AA batteries and AA batteries. Anything can be stored and charged. Of course, two AA batteries
If it is also possible to store and charge a total of four batteries and two AAA batteries at the same time, store only two AA batteries and one AAA battery. It is also possible to charge.

The lower structure 2 of the battery housing body 6a
Plugs 26, 26 for supplying power to the input section of the power supply circuit are supported on the back surface of t. Plug 2
Reference numerals 6 and 26 vertically protrude from the back surface of the lower structure 2t, and have an operation posture capable of being inserted into an outlet of a 100-volt AC power supply of a general household, and a lower structure extending substantially parallel to the back surface of the lower structure 2t. It is configured to be able to swing about 90 ° between a folding position hidden within 2t. further,
A red LED 40 is provided as a pilot lamp which is turned on during charging of the battery and is turned off when the charging is completed, at one place of the upper structure 2s of the battery housing body 6a.

[Alternative Embodiment] The battery housing structure of the present invention comprises:
It can be used as a battery case in addition to a battery charger. Here, the battery case is capable of storing a rechargeable battery or a non-rechargeable manganese battery, and a load such as a light emitting unit such as an LED or a driving force generating unit such as a motor from the stored rechargeable battery. Battery storage means for supplying or discharging power to or from a battery.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a battery charger implementing a battery storage structure of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the charger of FIG. 1 in another state.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the charger of FIG. 1 with a cover removed.

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway side view of the charger of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the vicinity of a movable terminal of the charger of FIG. 1;

6 is a front view of the movable terminal of FIG. 5 in a first posture.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a first positioning mechanism of the charger of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing the swinging procedure of the movable terminal and the first to third positioning mechanisms in FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is another plan view showing the swinging procedure of the movable terminal and the first to third positioning mechanisms in FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

 B1 First battery B2 Second battery 6 Battery storage unit 12 Movable terminal 14 Movable block 16 Plate-shaped contact piece 16a First contact part 16b Second contact part

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An opening which is opened in and out of a battery,
A first battery having a battery housing portion including a pair of contact pieces that respectively contact an anode and a cathode of the housed battery, wherein at least one of the pair of contact pieces has a predetermined axial length A first position for receiving the
A battery housing structure that is configured as a movable terminal that can switch its position between a second position for receiving a second battery having a shorter axial length than the battery in the battery housing, and wherein the movable terminal is A battery housing structure supported by a main body of the battery housing so as to be swingable around a first axis extending along the battery insertion / removal direction; 2. A plurality of movable terminals are provided for receiving a plurality of batteries in the battery housing, and each of the movable terminals is connected to the first and second terminals regardless of the posture of the remaining movable terminals. The posture can be switched between two postures.
Battery storage structure. 3. The battery housing structure according to claim 1, further comprising a holding mechanism for holding each of the postures of the movable terminal in the first posture or the second posture. 4. The holding mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the first protrusion is formed to protrude from one of the main body and the movable terminal to the other, and the first posture or the second posture taken by the movable terminal. 4. The battery housing structure according to claim 3, further comprising a first locking mechanism having the main body and a pair of engagement recesses formed in the other of the movable terminals so that the first projections engage. 5. The first projection has an elastic member extending from the movable terminal in a radial direction of the first axis, and an engaging piece extending from the elastic member in parallel with the first axis. 5. The battery housing structure according to claim 4, wherein said pair of engagement recesses are engagement recesses formed in said main body so as to be separated from each other. 6. A second projection extending from at least one of an upper end surface and a lower end surface of the movable terminal in parallel with the first axis as the holding mechanism, and extending from the main body in parallel with the first axis. A second positioning mechanism having an elastic piece, wherein the movable terminal passes through a step in which the second projection climbs over a distal end of the elastic piece based on a lateral elastic deformation of the elastic piece. The battery housing structure according to claim 5, wherein the posture can be switched between the first posture and the second posture. 7. An opening which is open in and out of the battery,
A first battery having a battery housing portion including a pair of contact pieces that respectively contact an anode and a cathode of the housed battery, wherein at least one of the pair of contact pieces has a predetermined axial length A first position for receiving the
A battery housing structure that is configured as a movable terminal that can switch its position between a second position for receiving a second battery having a shorter axial length than the battery in the battery housing, and wherein the movable terminal is A non-conductive movable block swingably supported on the main body of the battery housing portion, and one conductive contact piece attached to the movable block, wherein the one contact piece has A battery housing structure provided with a first contact portion in contact with one pole of a first battery and a second contact portion in contact with one pole of the second battery. 8. The movable terminal swings around a predetermined axis, and the contact piece on the movable terminal is connected to a power supply provided on the main body side irrespective of a posture change due to the swing of the movable terminal. A flat portion extending to intersect with the predetermined axis in order to maintain a contact state with the contact point for use, wherein both the first contact portion and the second contact portion are the flat portions. The battery housing structure according to claim 7, wherein the battery housing structure extends at a right angle from the battery housing.