JP2006344537A - Battery housing chamber structure - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a battery housing chamber structure capable of improving battery life by reducing contact resistance between a terminal of a battery and a terminal of an equipment side. <P>SOLUTION: When an external force is applied in longitudinal direction, a lid-side contact terminal 24 can move in a direction of external force in opposition to energizing force of energizing contact terminals 20, 22 and moves in the direction crossing at right angles the longitudinal direction of the battery 14 when at least the battery lid 12 is closed. Thereby, by utilizing a force of a user, vertical direction resistance is increased and frictional force is increased, thus, self-cleaning effect by friction of the contact parts between the lid-side contact terminal 24 and the terminal of the battery 14 is improved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a battery storage chamber structure of a small portable device such as a camera.

In a small portable device such as a camera, particularly a digital camera, it is necessary to improve the battery life because of a demand for increasing the number of images that can be taken. One technique for improving the battery life is to improve the contact resistance between the battery terminal and the camera terminal.
As a method for reducing the contact resistance, there is a method called self-cleaning in which contact portions between a battery terminal and a camera-side terminal are rubbed together to remove an oxide film, which is disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example.

However, the method described in Patent Document 1 has the following problems.
When the cleaning effect is to be generated stably by rubbing, it is necessary to increase the friction coefficient and the vertical drag acting in the direction perpendicular to the contact surface by increasing the roughness of the contact surface. . In the battery storage chamber of the digital camera, the other side of the battery contact piece (terminal) on the fixed side is a spring contact piece that urges the battery, and the urging force by this spring is a vertical drag.
However, if the contact surface roughness is too large in order to increase the cleaning effect, there is a problem that the surface of the battery is scratched and it is practically difficult to increase the roughness.
Also, considering the dimensional constraints of the battery chamber and the elastic modulus of the copper-based material with good conductivity, the biasing force by this spring is limited to about 4.9 N (500 gf), which is sufficient for the destruction of the oxide film. There was a problem that normal resistance could not be obtained and contact resistance could not be reduced.
JP 2003-100270 A

  The subject of this invention is providing the battery storage chamber structure which can improve battery lifetime by reducing the contact resistance between the terminal of a battery, and the terminal by the side of an apparatus.

In order to solve the above problems, the invention of claim 1 is a battery storage chamber structure in which an opening is formed on one side in the longitudinal direction of the battery, the battery lid closing the opening, and the battery being opened. An urging contact terminal that urges in the direction of the battery and contacts the terminal portion of the battery; and a terminal of the battery that is directly or indirectly attached to the battery lid and that is opposite to the side that the urging contact terminal contacts. A lid-side contact terminal that contacts the part, and the lid-side contact terminal is movable in that direction when an external force is applied against the biasing force of the biasing contact terminal in the longitudinal direction of the battery. And at least when the battery lid is closed, the battery housing structure moves in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the battery.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the battery storage chamber structure according to the first aspect, a terminal provided on the battery lid so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction of the battery independently of the movement of the battery lid. A battery housing structure comprising a holding member, wherein the lid-side contact terminal is provided on the terminal holding member.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the battery storage chamber structure according to the first or second aspect, the battery storage is provided with a deformation preventing portion that prevents the biasing contact terminal from being deformed by a predetermined amount or more. It is a chamber structure.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the battery storage chamber structure according to any one of the first to third aspects, the battery lid opening / closing regulating mechanism for regulating an opening / closing operation of the battery lid is provided, and the battery lid opening / closing mechanism is provided. The restriction mechanism is a battery storage chamber structure in which a restriction state for restricting an opening / closing operation of the battery lid is released by movement of the terminal holding member in a direction substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the battery.

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the lid-side contact terminal can move in the longitudinal direction of the battery when an external force is applied against the biasing force of the biasing contact terminal, and at least the battery lid can be moved. Since it moves in the direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the battery when closing, even in a small battery storage chamber, it can increase the vertical drag required to destroy the oxide film, can reduce the contact resistance of the battery, Battery life can be improved.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the terminal holding member provided to the battery lid is provided so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction of the battery independently of the movement of the battery lid, and the lid-side contact terminal holds the terminal Since it is provided on the member, the operation force of the user can easily be in the direction of the normal force.

  According to the invention of claim 3, since the deformation preventing portion for preventing the deformation of the biasing contact terminal by a predetermined amount or more is provided, the biasing contact terminal has a spring limit even when the user's operating force is too strong. It is possible to prevent plastic deformation beyond the range.

  According to the invention of claim 4, the battery lid opening / closing regulating mechanism is released from the regulation state that regulates the opening / closing operation of the battery lid by the movement of the terminal holding member in the direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the battery. When the terminal is closed, the terminal holding member is always pushed, and self-cleaning can be performed more reliably.

  The purpose of improving the battery life by reducing the contact resistance between the battery terminal and the device terminal is to increase the vertical drag required to destroy the oxide film using the user's power. As a result, the battery storage chamber and the device having the same were realized without increasing the size.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of Embodiment 1 of a battery storage chamber structure according to the present invention.
The battery storage chamber 10 of the first embodiment is provided in a digital camera, and an openable / closable battery lid 12 that can close the opening of the battery storage chamber 10 is provided at the bottom of the camera. Two batteries 14 can be inserted into the battery chamber 10 by opening and closing the battery lid 12. In addition, the battery 14 in a present Example is an AA type battery.
Biasing contact terminals 20 and 22 are disposed at the depth end of the battery storage chamber 10. The biasing contact terminals 20 and 22 have the same terminal shape.
The urging contact terminals 20 and 22 are made of, for example, a copper-based material, and are formed with protrusions 20a and 22a that are in contact with the positive terminal or the negative terminal of the battery 14 and have elasticity as a whole. It is formed in a substantially U shape. The surfaces of the urging contact terminals 20 and 22 are plated.

A terminal holding member 60 is provided inside the battery lid 12 so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction of the battery 14. Specifically, the terminal holding member 60 can move by the clearance C in FIG.
The terminal holding member 60 is provided with the lid side contact terminal 24. The lid-side contact terminal 24 is made of, for example, a copper-based material, and has two protrusions 24a and 24b that are in contact with the negative terminal and the positive terminal of the two batteries 14, respectively.
One end of the battery lid 12 is formed with a long hole 12a into which the camera shaft 16 is inserted, and the other end is a hook 12b that engages with a recess 10a formed in the battery storage chamber 10. Is formed.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a process of closing the battery cover 12 according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state where the battery cover 12 of Example 1 is fully closed.
When closing the battery cover 12, the battery cover 12 is rotated around the support shaft 16 to the same plane as the camera bottom surface (FIG. 2), and then in the right direction in FIGS. 2 and 3 orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the battery 14. The hook 12b of the battery lid 12 is engaged with the recess 10a on the battery storage chamber 10 side by sliding it toward the side (FIG. 3). Further, the sliding operation of the battery lid 12 causes the contact portions to rub against each other in a state where the two protrusions 24 a and 24 b of the lid-side contact terminal 24 are in contact with the negative electrode and the positive electrode of the battery 14, respectively.

Here, in this embodiment, the lid-side contact terminal 24 is fixed to the terminal holding member 60 with a screw (not shown), and as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the lid-side contact terminal 24 and the terminal holding member 60 are The battery 14 is movable in the longitudinal direction of the battery 14 by the distance of the clearance C provided in the battery lid 12. When the battery cover 12 is slid to close the battery cover 12, the external force is manually applied to the terminal holding member 60 and pressed against the urging force of the urging contact terminals 20, 22, thereby pressing the urging contact terminal 20. , 22 can be applied to the contact portion between the lid-side contact terminal 24 and the battery terminal. Thereby, the normal force acting on the contact position between the battery 14 and the lid-side contact terminal 24 can be increased.
In addition, the deformation | transformation prevention part 70 is provided in the battery storage chamber 10 so that the spring bending limit of the biasing contact terminals 20 and 22 with spring property may not be exceeded. Accordingly, the urging contact terminals 20 and 22 are deformed until they contact the deformation preventing portion 70, but further deformation is suppressed.

  As described above, by increasing the vertical drag and increasing the frictional force, the self-cleaning effect by rubbing the contact portions between the lid-side contact terminal 24 and the terminal of the battery 14 can be improved. And oxide film can be removed. Thereby, the contact resistance between the lid-side contact terminal 24 and the terminal of the battery 14 can be stabilized at a low value, and the battery life can be improved. Although there is a difference of about 20% in the battery life depending on the presence or absence of the oxide film, according to this embodiment, the self-cleaning effect is high and the battery life equivalent to the case without the oxide film is realized.

  According to the present embodiment, since the mechanism for applying the vertical drag from the outside is provided, the frictional force between the battery terminal and the lid-side contact terminal can be increased, and the self-cleaning effect can be enhanced more stably. The contact resistance between the terminal and the lid-side contact terminal can be stabilized at a low value. Thereby, the battery life of the camera using a battery can be improved.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of Embodiment 2 of the battery storage chamber structure according to the present invention.
The second embodiment is an example provided with a battery lid opening / closing regulating mechanism for regulating the opening / closing operation of the battery lid 12 in addition to the battery storage chamber structure of the first embodiment. Accordingly, parts having the same functions as those of the first embodiment described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted as appropriate.
The battery housing chamber 10 is provided with a concave portion 10b that opens in a direction substantially orthogonal to the opening direction of the concave portion 10a at the end on the opening side.
The battery lid 12 is provided with an opening / closing regulating member 15 so as to be rotatable within a predetermined range about the rotation shaft 15b. In the state of FIG. 4 in which the battery lid 12 is completely closed, the opening / closing regulating member 15 has a convex portion 15a provided at one end thereof engaged with the concave portion 10b, thereby regulating the opening / closing operation of the battery lid 12. . The opening / closing regulating member 15 is biased in a direction in which the convex portion 15a engages with the concave portion 10b by a biasing means (not shown). A convex portion 60 a of the terminal holding member 60 is provided at a position adjacent to the end portion 15 c opposite to the convex portion 15 a of the opening / closing regulating member 15. Then, by pushing the terminal holding member 60 in the depth direction of the battery storage chamber 10, the convex portion 60a pushes the end portion 15c, and the opening / closing regulating member 15 rotates clockwise around the rotation shaft 15b to be convex. The engagement state between the portion 15a and the recess 10b is released, and the restriction state of the opening / closing operation of the battery lid 12 is released.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a process of closing the battery cover 12 according to the second embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a state where the battery cover 12 of Example 2 is completely closed.
In the battery storage chamber structure of the second embodiment, the hook 12b is engaged with the recess 10a as in the first embodiment, so that the battery lid 12 is kept closed. Therefore, the basic operation when the battery cover 12 is closed is the same as that of the first embodiment, and the battery cover 12 is rotated around the support shaft 16 to the same surface as the camera bottom surface (FIG. 5). And the hook 12b of the battery cover 12 is engaged with the recessed part 10a by the side of the battery storage chamber 10 by making it slide toward the right direction.

Here, in Example 2, since the battery lid opening / closing regulating mechanism including the opening / closing regulating member 15 is provided, in order to slide the battery lid 12 from the state of FIG. 5 to the state of FIG. It is necessary to get over the wall 10c around the recess 10b. In order for the convex portion 15a to get over the wall portion 10c around the concave portion 10b, the restriction state of the opening / closing operation of the battery lid 12 must be released by pushing the terminal holding member 60 in the depth direction of the battery housing chamber 10. I must.
Therefore, in the case of the embodiment 2, when the battery cover 12 is closed, the terminal holding member 60 is inevitably pushed into the inner side of the battery storage chamber 10, and the user's force is more reliably applied to the terminal holding member 60. Can be added. Therefore, the self-cleaning effect by rubbing the contact portions between the lid-side contact terminal 24 and the battery 14 terminal can be further enhanced.
Therefore, according to the second embodiment, the self-cleaning can be executed more reliably than the first embodiment, and the battery life can be improved more stably.

(Modification)
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications and changes are possible, and these are also within the equivalent scope of the present invention.
For example, in each of the embodiments, an example in which two AA batteries are accommodated has been described. However, the invention is not limited to this, and an AAA battery or other standard battery may be used. Further, the number of storages may be one, or may be other numbers.

  In each embodiment, a digital camera has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be, for example, a silver salt camera using a film, or other various portable devices using a battery as a power source. There may be.

It is sectional drawing of Example 1 of the battery storage chamber structure by this invention. It is a figure which shows the process in which the battery cover 12 of Example 1 is closed. It is a figure which shows the state which closed the battery cover 12 of Example 1. FIG. It is sectional drawing of Example 2 of the battery storage chamber structure by this invention. It is a figure which shows the process in which the battery cover 12 of Example 2 is closed. It is a figure which shows the state which closed the battery cover 12 of Example 2. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10: Battery storage chamber, 12: Battery cover, 15: Opening-closing control member, 20, 22: Energizing contact terminal, 24: Lid side contact terminal, 60: Terminal holding member, 70: Deformation prevention part

Claims (4)

A battery storage chamber structure in which an opening is formed on one side in the longitudinal direction of the battery,
A battery lid that closes the opening;
An urging contact terminal that urges the battery toward the opening and contacts a terminal portion of the battery;
A lid-side contact terminal that is directly or indirectly attached to the battery lid and that contacts the terminal portion of the battery on the opposite side to the side on which the biasing contact terminal contacts;
With
The lid-side contact terminal is movable in the longitudinal direction of the battery when an external force is applied against the biasing force of the biasing contact terminal, and at least when the battery lid is closed, the battery Moving in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of
A battery storage chamber structure. The battery storage chamber structure according to claim 1,
A terminal holding member provided for the battery lid so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction of the battery independently of the movement of the battery lid;
The lid-side contact terminal is provided on the terminal holding member;
A battery storage chamber structure. The battery storage chamber structure according to claim 1 or 2,
Comprising a deformation preventing part for preventing deformation of the biasing contact terminal by a predetermined amount or more;
A battery storage chamber structure. In the battery storage chamber structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A battery lid opening / closing regulating mechanism for regulating the opening / closing operation of the battery lid;
The battery lid opening / closing regulating mechanism is released from a regulation state that regulates an opening / closing operation of the battery lid by movement of the terminal holding member in a direction substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the battery;
A battery storage chamber structure.

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