JP3249290B2 - Battery devices and chargers with built-in secondary batteries - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a battery device having a built-in secondary battery and a charger for charging the secondary battery built in the battery device. In this specification, the term “battery device” is used in a broad sense that includes an electric device having a secondary battery therein and a battery pack having a secondary battery in a case.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Battery equipment having a secondary battery built in a case,
For example, a mobile phone or the like is set and charged in a charger when not in use. When the battery device is set in the charger, it is necessary to securely connect the charging terminal provided on the battery device to the charging contact of the charger. If contact failure occurs, the secondary battery of the battery device cannot be reliably charged.

Conventionally, in order to securely connect the charging terminal of the battery device to the charging contact of the charger, the battery device and the charger are attracted by a permanent magnet. Compared to the structure in which the battery device is mounted on the charger, the structure in which the magnet is attracted by the magnet allows the charging terminal to be reliably connected to the charging contact. However, this structure has a drawback that if the attraction force of the permanent magnet is increased to securely connect the contacts, the battery device cannot be easily removed from the charger. For this reason, it is difficult to make the attraction force of the permanent magnet so strong.

[0004] A structure is also adopted in which an insertion recess is provided in a charger, and a battery device is inserted therein to connect a charging terminal to a charging contact. In this structure, the battery device set in the insertion recess is provided with an elastic claw that is elastically pressed, so that the battery device can be set in the insertion recess so as not to come out of the battery device. In order to reliably connect the charging terminal of the battery device to the charging contact of the charger, the charging contact is usually made of a metal plate that is elastically deformed. The elastically deformable charging contact can reliably make electrical contact by strongly pressing the battery device against the charger.

When the battery device and the charger are new, the charging terminal is securely electrically connected to the charging contact. However, the probability of causing a contact failure increases with use. This is because an oxide film is formed on the metal surface, or a foreign substance adheres to the surface to hinder electrical connection. By strongly pressing the charging contact of the charger against the charging terminal of the battery device, it is possible to reduce poor contact occurring over time. In order to strongly press the charging contact against the charging terminal, the battery device needs to be fixed in a fixed position of the charger. If the charging contact is strongly pressed against the charging terminal without being fixed, the battery device will move.

[0006]

In a charger having an elastic claw in an insertion recess, a charging contact can be pressed against a charging terminal to prevent a battery device from coming off. This is because the elastic claws elastically press the inserted battery device surface to prevent the battery device from coming off. However, in the case of the charger having this structure, similarly to the structure in which the battery device is attracted by the permanent magnet, the elastic claw is strongly pressed against the surface of the battery device in order to securely fix the battery device in the insertion recess. It is necessary to provide a structure in which a concave portion is provided on the elastic claw and the convex portion of the elastic claw is fitted into the concave portion and locked. For this reason, make it easy to remove the battery device from the charger,
The charging contact cannot be pressed strongly against the charging terminal. This is because if the charging device is designed to be easily pulled out, when the charging contact strongly presses the charging terminal, the battery device is pushed out of the insertion recess. Therefore, the conventional battery device and the charger have a drawback in that the charging contact can be reliably connected to the charging terminal, and the battery device cannot be designed to be easily removed from the insertion recess.

The present invention has been developed with a view to further solving this drawback. An important object of the present invention is to provide a battery device which can be reliably inserted into an insertion recess of a charger. It is an object of the present invention to provide a battery device and a charger that incorporate a secondary battery that can be easily and smoothly taken out from a recess.

[0008]

A battery device and a charger incorporating a secondary battery according to the present invention have all the following configurations to achieve the above-mentioned object. (A) The battery device 1 includes one or more secondary batteries in a case 2. (B) The battery device 1 includes a charging terminal 3 at the bottom of the case 2 for charging a secondary battery. The charging terminal 3 is connected to a secondary battery via a lead wire. (C) The charger 4 includes an insertion recess 5 into which the battery device 1 is inserted from the bottom. (D) The charger 4 is provided with the battery device 1 at the bottom of the insertion recess 5.
Has a charging contact 6 connected to the charging terminal 3. (E) Each of the battery device 1 and the charger 4 has at least one of a locking portion 2A and an elastic claw 7 that engage with each other when the battery device 1 is inserted into the insertion recess 5, and the locking portion 2
A, the elastic nail 7 is hooked on the
Restrict being pulled out of (F) The insertion recess 5 of the battery charger 4 opens the lead-out path 5A of the battery device 1. (G) An opening / closing lid 8 is provided in the drawer path 5A. (H) When the battery device 1 is inserted into the insertion recess 5 of the charger 4, the charging terminal 3 of the battery device 1 is connected to the charging contact 6 to charge the built-in secondary battery, and the battery device 1 is opened and closed. 8
Is moved in the opening direction and is taken out of the insertion recess 5.

[0009]

The battery device and the charger incorporating the secondary battery according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention are used as follows.

As shown by an arrow A in FIGS. 1 to 3, a battery device 1 containing a secondary battery is inserted into an insertion recess 5 of a charger 4. At this time, the opening / closing lid 8 is at a position for closing the opening of the insertion recess 5 as shown by a solid line. In the battery device 1 set in the insertion recess 5, the charging terminal 3 on the bottom is connected to the charging contact 6 of the charger 4. The elastic claw 7 of the insertion recess 5 is engaged with the locking portion 2A of the battery device 1.
Caught on The elastic claw 7 holds the insertion recess 5 so as not to come out of the battery device 1. This state is set when the battery device 1 is not used or when a secondary battery built in the battery device 1 is charged. When the charging of the secondary battery is completed or when the battery device 1 is used, the battery device 1 is moved in the direction in which the opening / closing cover 8 is opened as shown by an arrow B, and the battery device 1 is inserted into the insertion recess 5.
Remove from

As described above, the battery device and the charger incorporating the secondary battery of the present invention close the opening / closing lid 8 when the battery device 1 is inserted into the insertion recess 5 and move the battery device 1 into the insertion recess 5.
When taking out from the opening, the opening / closing lid 8 is opened and taken out in the direction of the opening / closing lid 8. Therefore, the elastic claw 7 is
As a structure capable of securely locking the locking portion 2A, the contact failure is prevented, and the battery device 1 can be smoothly removed from the insertion recess 5. Insert the battery device 1 into the recess 5
This is because the direction in which the battery device 1 is inserted is different from the direction in which the battery device 1 is taken out from the insertion recess 5, and the opening / closing lid 8 is opened when the battery device 1 is taken out.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the following examples illustrate a battery device and a charger incorporating a secondary battery for embodying the technical idea of the present invention, and the present invention describes the battery device and the charger as follows. Not specific to

Further, in this specification, in order to make it easy to understand the claims, the numbers corresponding to the members shown in the embodiments will be referred to as "claims", "actions", and "actions". In the column of "Means for solving the problem". However, the members shown in the claims are
It is by no means specific to the members of the embodiment.

FIGS. 1 to 4 show a battery device 1 containing a secondary battery and a charger 4 for charging the secondary battery contained in the battery device 1. FIG. These figures show specific examples in which the battery device 1 is a portable telephone. The battery device 1 can be not only a portable electric device such as a portable telephone but also a battery pack having a secondary battery built in a case.

The battery device 1 includes a plastic case 2
In addition, a plurality of secondary batteries (not shown) are built in as power supplies. Case 2 to charge the built-in secondary battery
A charging terminal 3 is disposed at the bottom of the charging terminal. Charging terminal 3
Is connected to a secondary battery via a lead wire, not shown. The charging terminal 3 is exposed outside the case 2 by a window (not shown) opened in the case 2.

The case 2 of the battery device 1 has a prismatic shape as shown in FIG. 1, and has locking portions 2A on both sides. The locking portion 2A has a groove shape extending forward and backward. The groove of the locking portion 2 </ b> A extends to the back of the case 2. Further, the case 2 of the battery device 1 is provided with a plurality of operation buttons 9 and a liquid crystal display unit 10 on the front surface, and is provided with an antenna 11 protruding from the upper end.

The charger 4 has an insertion recess 5 for inserting the battery device 1 from the bottom. The insertion recess 5 has an opening at the upper end and the front surface, and the opening at the front surface serves as an outlet 5A of the battery device 1. The insertion recess 5 is designed to have a width slightly larger than an outer width of the battery device 1 and a width before and after the width slightly larger than a thickness of the battery device 1 so that the battery device 1 can be inserted therein.

A charging contact 6 is provided at the bottom of the insertion recess 5 for charging the secondary battery of the battery device 1 set therein. The charging contact 6 is provided at a position connected to the charging terminal 3 of the battery device 1 set in the insertion recess 5. The charging contact 6 is a metal plate that can be elastically deformed, and is fixed to a printed circuit board 12 built in the charger 4 as shown in FIG. The charging contact 6 is a charging terminal 3 of the battery device 1.
The middle portion is bent in a U-shape, and the front end portion is bent in a V-shape with a predetermined radius of curvature so that it can be elastically pressed. The bent portion 6A projects further upward from the bottom surface of the case 4A. The bent portion protruding from the case 4A is inserted into the case 2 of the battery device 1 set in the insertion recess 5 to make contact with the charging terminal 3. The charger 4 shown in the figure has three charging contacts 6. The three charging contacts 6 are connected to a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a temperature sensor of a secondary battery built in the battery device 1.

Although not shown, the charger 4 has a built-in charging circuit inside the case 4A. The charging circuit is connected to the three charging contacts 6 and charges the secondary battery of the battery device 1. The charging circuit rapidly charges the secondary battery of the battery device 1. When the secondary battery is rapidly charged and becomes fully charged, charging is stopped or switched to trickle charging. further,
The charging circuit can also perform trickle charging without rapidly charging the secondary battery.

The charger 4 has elastic claws 7 on both sides of the insertion recess 5 to prevent the battery device 1 set in the insertion recess 5 from coming off. The elastic claw 7 is formed by forming a U-shaped slit 13 in a plastic case 4A to form a case 4A.
And are integrally formed. The U-shaped slit 13 connects the lower end of the elastic claw 7 to the case 4A. The elastic nail 7
There is a protrusion 7A protruding inside the upper end, and the upper end is formed in a hook shape. The hook-shaped protrusion 7A allows the battery device 1 to be inserted smoothly. In addition, the inserted battery device 1
Has the feature that it can be reliably prevented from coming off. The convex portion 7A of the elastic claw 7 is fitted into a groove serving as the locking portion 2A of the battery device 1 inserted into the insertion concave portion 5. In other words, elastic nail 7
Is disposed at a position where the protrusion 7A can be locked to the locking portion 2A of the battery device 1. Note that, contrary to the present embodiment, the battery device 1
An elastic claw may be provided on the charger 4 and a locking portion may be provided on the charger 4.

Further, the charger 4 is provided with an opening / closing lid 8 on the front surface of the insertion recess 5 which is the drawing path 5A. The opening / closing lid 8 is
When the battery device 1 is inserted into the insertion recess 5, the insertion recess 5
5A is closed. When taking out the battery device 1 from the insertion recess 5, the battery device 1 is tilted to open the drawer path 5A. The opening / closing lid 8 shown in FIG.
The case 2 is attached. The hinge 14 has the lower end of the opening / closing lid 8 attached to the lower end edge of the drawer path 5A, and the opening / closing lid 8 is disposed on the drawer path 5A so as to be freely opened and closed. When the opening / closing lid 8 is made of a transparent member such as transparent plastic, the battery device 1 is inserted into the insertion recess 5 of the charger 4 and the display unit 10 is opened.
Is covered by the opening / closing lid 8, or even if there is a display section showing the full charge of the secondary battery below the battery device 1, the displayed contents can be easily seen without opening the opening / closing lid 8. , Very convenient.

A hinge 14 for attaching the opening / closing lid 8 to the charger 4 has a spring 15. Spring 1 of hinge 14
Reference numeral 5 denotes a position where the opening / closing lid 8 closes the drawer 5A indicated by a solid line in FIG. When the battery device 1 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow B and taken out of the insertion recess 5, the spring 15 is elastically deformed, and the opening / closing lid 8 is tilted to the position indicated by the broken line in FIG. When the battery device 1 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow B and taken out of the insertion recess 5, the protrusion 7A of the elastic claw 7
Slides in the groove that is the locking portion 2A of the battery device 1. When the battery device 1 is pulled out of the insertion concave portion 5 through the lead-out path 5A, the spring 15 of the hinge 14 returns the opening / closing lid 8 to the solid line position. The hinge 14 having the spring 15 has a feature that the opening / closing lid 8 can return to the closed position of the drawer path 5A after the battery device 1 is extracted. However, the charger 4 of the present invention
However, it is not always necessary to move the opening / closing lid to the closing position of the drawer path by the spring. Although not shown, the opening / closing lid can be locked at a position where the drawer is closed, and after the battery device is extracted from the insertion recess, the opening / closing lid can be manually moved to the position where the drawer is closed. In order to lock the opening / closing lid at the closed position of the drawer path, for example, a concave portion capable of locking the side edge of the opening / closing lid is formed on both sides of the insertion concave portion, and the opening / closing lid is fitted into this concave portion and locked. can do.

[0023]

According to the present invention, the battery device and the charger incorporating the secondary battery of the present invention can be securely set so that the battery device does not fall out of the insertion recess of the charger. The feature is that it can be easily and easily and smoothly removed from the insertion recess. That is, the battery device and the battery charger incorporating the secondary battery of the present invention insert the battery device into the insertion concave portion of the charger with the opening / closing lid closed, hook the elastic claw on the locking portion, and the battery device is To prevent it from exiting,
This is because when removing the battery device, the open / close lid is opened and the battery device is removed in a direction different from the insertion direction. In the battery device of the present invention, which can be taken out in a direction different from the insertion direction, the movement in the direction in which the charging contact presses the charging terminal can be reliably stopped by the elastic claw. Therefore, the battery device and the charger incorporating the secondary battery of the present invention have features that the pressing force between the charging terminal and the charging contact can be increased, and the contact failure of the contact can be minimized. In particular, since it is possible to increase the pressing force between the charging terminal and the charging contact, there is a feature that it is possible to effectively prevent poor contact occurring over time due to deterioration of the metal surface. This is because the charging terminal and the charging contact that are strongly pressed against each other rub against each other at the pressed portions to remove foreign matter and an oxide film and are reliably connected electrically. Therefore, the battery device and the charger including the secondary battery of the present invention have an excellent feature that the built-in secondary battery can be reliably charged and normally operated for an extremely long time. In addition, by opening the opening / closing lid, it can be quickly taken out of the insertion recess when needed, so that it can be used very conveniently.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a battery device incorporating a secondary battery according to an embodiment of the present invention and a charger.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a battery device and a charger incorporating the secondary battery shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a battery device and a charger incorporating the secondary battery shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a state where the battery device shown in FIG. 1 is inserted into a charger.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Battery equipment 2 ... Case 2A ... Locking part 3 ... Charging terminal 4 ... Charger 4A ... Case 5 ... Insertion recess 5A ... Draw-out path 6 ... Charging contact 6A ... Bending part 7 ... Elastic claw 7A ... Convex part 8 ... Opening / closing lid 9 ... Operation button 10 ... Display unit 11 ... Antenna 12 ... Printed circuit board 13 ... Slit 14 ... Hinge 15 ... Spring

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A battery device and a charger incorporating a secondary battery having all of the following configurations. (A) The battery device (1) has a built-in secondary battery in a case (2). (B) The battery device (1) has a charging terminal (3) for charging a secondary battery at the bottom of the case (2). (C) The charger (4) includes an insertion recess (5) into which the battery device (1) is inserted from the bottom. (D) The charger (4) has a charging contact (6) connected to the charging terminal (3) of the battery device (1) at the bottom of the insertion recess (5). (E) The battery device (1) and the charger (4) each include a locking portion (2A) and an elastic claw (7) that engage with each other when the battery device (1) is inserted into the insertion recess (5). And the elastic claw (7) is hooked on the locking portion (2A) so that the battery device
(1) Restricts pulling out of the insertion recess (5). (F) The insertion recess (5) of the charger (4) is provided in the battery device (1).
(5A) is opened. (G) The drawer (5A) is provided with an opening / closing lid (8). (H) Insert the battery device (1) into the insertion recess (5) of the charger (4).
When the battery is inserted, the charging terminal (3) of the battery device (1)
(6) is connected and the built-in secondary battery is charged, the battery device (1) is moved in the direction of opening the opening / closing lid (8), and the insertion recess (5) is inserted.
It is configured to be taken out from the computer.