JP4269240B2 - battery pack - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a battery pack that supplies DC power to an electronic device.

  Today, a large number of battery packs that contain one or more batteries for supplying DC power to portable electronic devices are on sale. There are many types. Therefore, there is a possibility that a battery pack that is not compatible with the electronic device may be mounted, which may cause malfunction or damage. Therefore, a mechanism for avoiding such erroneous mounting is now provided in the battery pack. As such an example, a battery pack of a camera-integrated video tape recorder is shown in FIGS. 9A is a plan view of the battery pack as viewed from above, FIG. 9B is a side view, and FIG. 9C is a bottom view.

The battery pack 1, the cases consisting of the upper case section 2 and the bottom case portion 3 which thus configured, in each case section 2 and 3 are engagement mechanism is provided to avoid erroneous mounting. For example, the groove 2A provided on the upper surface of the upper case portion 2 is a groove for preventing the insertion direction from being mistaken when the battery case is inserted into the apparatus body so as to be inserted in the wrong direction. When trying to mount in the direction, the part without the groove collides with a guide rail provided on the apparatus side so that it cannot be inserted.

  On the other hand, the bottom case portion 3 is provided with recesses 4, 5, 6, and 7 along the center line XX, and a recess 8 along the side wall. Of these, the concave portions 5 and 8 are detection holes as detection portions, and the concave portion 6 is a lock hole when attached to an externally mounted electronic device. More specifically, the recess 4 is a spare detection hole, and the recess 5 is a detection hole indicating that the battery pack 1 has a built-in lithium ion battery. The recess 8 is a detection hole indicating that the battery pack 1 is a rechargeable battery pack.

  In addition, the bottom case portion 3 is also provided with grooves 9A, 9B and 10A, 10B for mounting on an externally mounted electronic device or the like across the side portion and the bottom portion. A marker 13 for indicating the state of charge is attached to the surface of the bottom case 3 where the power terminals 11 and 12 are provided, so that it can be determined whether the battery pack 1 is charged or used. It is like that.

There are various other battery packs (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-94953

  As described above, based on whether or not a protrusion prepared in advance with respect to the detection hole is engaged, the electronic device and the charger can determine whether or not the battery pack is suitable. .

  However, at present, the functions required of electronic devices and the like are becoming more and more multifunctional, and information with higher accuracy is required. For example, information such as the accurate remaining capacity and output current value of the battery pack corresponds to this.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to propose a battery pack that can accurately transmit information about the batteries in the battery pack to an external device.

In the present invention for solving the above problems, a first end face positioned on the front side, and the first and second end faces and a first end surface located on the rear side facing the second end face A battery case including a connecting surface connected on the bottom side, a built-in battery housed in the battery case and connected to a pair of power supply terminals, and a state of the built-in battery housed in the battery case via the communication terminal In the battery pack having a microcomputer having a function of communicating with the power source, the power supply terminal is provided with respect to the first end surface, and the communication terminal is located between the positive electrode and the negative electrode terminal of the power supply terminal on the first end surface. In addition, when the battery pack is mounted on an external device, the battery pack is formed so that it can be mounted on either the first end surface or the connecting surface.

  As a result, the counter electrodes of the external device on the side on which the battery pack is mounted can be gathered in one place to reduce the space required for the arrangement of the counter electrodes, and the battery pack can be connected to the first end surface and the connecting surface. When any of these surfaces is attached to an external device, the communication terminal is erroneously short-circuited to the negative electrode terminal in the power supply terminal while eliminating the possibility that the communication terminal is short-circuited to the positive electrode terminal in the power supply terminal in advance. Even in such a case, an overvoltage is not applied to the microcomputer, and the microcomputer can be prevented from malfunctioning.

  According to the present invention, the counter electrodes of the external device on the side on which the battery pack is mounted can be gathered in one place to reduce the space required for the arrangement of the counter electrodes, and the battery pack has the first end face. And when connecting with an external device on either side of the connecting surface, the communication terminal is erroneously connected to the negative electrode terminal in the power supply terminal while eliminating the possibility that the communication terminal is short-circuited with the positive electrode terminal in the power supply terminal in advance. Even in the case of a short circuit, an overvoltage is not applied to the microcomputer, and a failure of the microcomputer can be prevented in advance.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(1) Structure of Battery Pack FIGS. 1 and 2 show an outline of the external appearance and internal structure. The first feature of the battery pack 21 is that accurate information (current value, voltage value, remaining capacity, etc.) regarding the internal battery 23 detected by the built-in microcomputer 21A is stored in the external device 27 via the communication terminal 24. The point is that communication is made with the microcomputer 27A.

  The second feature is that the communication terminal 24 is provided so as to be adjacent to one of the negative electrode (−) power supply terminal 25 and the positive electrode (+) power supply terminal 26. In this example, it is provided adjacent to the negative electrode (−) power supply terminal 25. Even if the negative electrode (−) power source of the microcomputer 21A is connected to the negative electrode (−) power source terminal 25 and the communication terminal 24 and the negative electrode (−) power source terminal 25 are accidentally short-circuited. This is to prevent an overvoltage from being applied to the microcomputer 21A.

  Further, the communication terminal 24 is provided so as to straddle the two surfaces of the front surface and the bottom surface on which the negative electrode (−) and the positive electrode (+) power supply terminals 25 and 26 are provided. Even in this case, it can come into contact with the communication terminal on the apparatus side.

Next, a more specific configuration of the battery pack 21 is shown in FIGS. The basic configuration is the same as that of the battery pack 1 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, but the groove length is different from the conventional configuration so that it can be mechanically determined that the battery pack has a communication function. Yes. A first basic structure, but the battery pack 21 is thus configured in cases consisting of the upper case 32 and lower case 33.

  For example, the groove 32A provided on the upper surface of the upper case portion 32 is formed to have a longer groove length than the groove 2A shown in FIG. Based on this difference in length, it is possible to determine whether or not the battery pack is a microcomputer built-in type on the side of the device to be mounted, and only devices compatible with the microcomputer built-in battery can be mounted. The groove 32A is a groove for preventing reverse insertion and is not inserted in the wrong direction.

  A similar groove is also provided on the bottom surface of the lower case portion 33, but the groove 34 is also formed longer than the groove 7 shown in FIG. This groove 34 is used to determine whether or not the battery pack 21 is a microcomputer built-in type when the battery pack 21 is mounted on the bottom surface of the lower case portion 33, and corresponds to the microcomputer built-in battery. Only equipment can be installed.

  Further, the bottom surface of the lower case portion 33 is provided with recesses 35, 36, and 37 along the center line XX, and the recess 38 is provided along the side wall.

  Of these, the recess 36 is a recess indicating that the battery pack 21 contains a lithium ion battery, the recess 38 is a recess indicating whether or not the battery pack is a rechargeable battery pack, and the recess 37 is an externally mounted electronic device. It is the recessed part for a lock | rock at the time of attaching to. These two concave portions 36 and 38 determine whether or not the battery pack 21 can be attached to the charger or the electronic device.

Also in the same line as the center line X-X, and a marker 39 for displaying the presence or absence of charging to the power supply terminal 25 and 26 side are attached, whether the battery pack 21 is used ones or charged ones It can be discriminated. For example, when the battery is charged, the marker 39 is exposed in the entire recess in which the marker 39 is arranged, whereas when the marker 39 is being used or used, the marker 39 is stored in the main body and only a part thereof is stored. It is exposed in the recess. The marker 39 is pulled out from the main body when the charging by the charger is completed and removed from the charger, and is pushed into the main body by a projection on the apparatus side when attached to the electronic device.

  On the other hand, two engaging grooves 40A, 40B and 41A, 41B having ribs are provided around the bottom surface of the lower case portion 33 on each long side, and the battery pack 21 is attached to the surface of the charger or electronic device. When the battery is mounted on the exposed battery mounting portion, it is fixed by engaging with the protrusion of the battery engaging portion.

  Further, lower step surfaces 42 and 43 are formed on the front end surface 33A of the lower case portion 33 so as to be lowered by one step from the surroundings, and power supply terminals 25 and 26 are provided on the lower step surfaces 42 and 43, respectively.

  Thus, the power supply terminals 25 and 26 are formed in the lower step surfaces 42 and 43 that are one step lower than the front end surface 33A, and are different in height from the mounting surface of the communication terminal 24, so that the conductive terminals An accident in which the communication terminal 24 and the negative electrode (−) power supply terminal 25 are short-circuited by a member or the like is less likely to occur. The power terminals 25 and 26 function as charging electrodes when the battery pack 21 is attached to a charger for charging, and function as power electrodes when the battery pack 21 is attached to an electronic device to supply power. It has become.

  As described above, according to the battery pack 21 of this configuration, the communication terminal 24 used for transmitting the information of the internal battery 23 detected by the built-in microcomputer 21A to the external device is the same mounting surface as the power supply terminals 25 and 26. And by arranging in the vicinity thereof, it is possible to reduce the size of the electronic device side terminal configuration by consolidating the communication terminals and the power supply terminals in one place for the mounted electronic device.

(2) Structure on Mounted Device Side FIG. 5 and FIG. The battery pack 21 can be inserted into a device or a device outside the device. Here, the camera pack-type video tape recorder 51 shown in FIG. An example of mounting so as to be inserted will be described, and an example in which the battery pack 21 is mounted outside the device by the charger 61 shown in FIG. 6 will be described.

  First, a camera-integrated video tape recorder 51 in which the battery pack 21 is built in the main body will be described. In this camera-integrated video tape recorder 51, a space for inserting the battery pack 21 is provided below the viewfinder. Inside this space, an electrode is provided at a position that makes a pair with the electrode of the battery pack 21, and a convex portion corresponding to the concave portion provided in the battery pack 21 is provided. For example, the reverse insertion preventing protrusion 52 is formed to have the same length as the groove 32A. As described above, the reverse insertion preventing protrusion 52 prevents insertion of a battery pack 21 other than a lithium ion battery with a communication function.

  In the figure, the electrodes 30 and 31 shown by broken lines are paired with the power terminals 25 and 26 of the battery pack 21, respectively, so that they are electrically connected to the power terminals 25 and 26 and are supplied with power when mounted. It has become.

  The communication terminal 29 is paired with the communication terminal 24 of the battery pack 21 so as to be connected to the communication terminal 24 of the battery pack 21 at the time of mounting so as to receive the value of current flowing out of the lithium ion battery, the voltage value, and the remaining capacity. It has become. The communication terminal 29 issues an instruction to request information transmission to the battery pack 21 side.

  Next, the charger 61 that connects the battery pack 21 to the outside of the main body will be described. A marker position switching projection 62 and a locking projection 63 are provided along the center line on the mounting surface of the charger 61 with the battery pack 21, and the battery pack is removed after the marker 39 is completely charged by these projections. Sometimes pulled out and fixed to the mounting surface. Engaging protrusions 64A, 64B and 65A, 65B are provided on both sides of the mounting surface, and these four protrusions engage with the four engaging grooves 40A, 40B, 41, 41B of the battery pack 21. Yes.

  The electrodes 30 and 31 that are connected to the power terminals 25 and 26 of the battery pack 21 to supply the charging voltage and the communication terminals 29 that are connected to the communication terminal 24 and communicate information about the battery are respectively power terminals. 25 and 26 are provided at positions facing the communication terminal 24, but are configured as shown in FIG. 7 so as to be able to reliably contact the communication terminal 24 on the battery pack 21 side.

  That is, the communication terminal 29 is constituted by two spring-like terminals 29A and 29B so that the communication terminal 29 can be elastically contacted at two points when attached. As a result, at least one of the spring-like terminals 29A or 29B can reliably contact the communication terminal 24 side.

(3) Modification In the above-described embodiment, the description is limited to the battery pack 21 of the lithium ion battery. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other types of batteries are included in the pack. It can also be applied to the case.

  In the above-described embodiment, the communication terminal 24 of the battery pack 21 is formed not only on the mounting surface on which the power terminals 25 and 26 are provided but also on the bottom surface side adjacent to the mounting surface. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can also be applied to the case where the power terminals 25 and 26 are formed only on the mounting surface.

  In the above-described embodiment, the power supply terminals 25 and 26 of the battery pack 21 are provided at a position that is one step lower than the surface of the battery pack 21 that is the mounting surface, so that a step can be formed between the communication terminal 24 and the mounting position. Although the case has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and can also be applied to a case where a step is not provided at the mounting position.

  The battery pack, the electronic device, and the battery pack charger of the present invention can be applied to, for example, an application for supplying a DC power source to an electronic device.

It is a rough-line perspective view with which it uses for description of schematic structure of the battery pack which concerns on this invention. It is a basic diagram with which it uses for description of the electrical internal structure of the battery pack shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the battery pack which concerns on this invention. It is a basic diagram with which it uses for description of the top view of the battery pack shown in FIG. 3, a side view, and a bottom view. It is a basic diagram which shows the structural example of a to-be-mounted apparatus. It is a basic diagram which shows the structural example of a to-be-mounted apparatus. It is a basic diagram which shows the terminal structure of the to-be-mounted surface side. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the battery pack used conventionally. It is an approximate line figure used for explanation of a top view, a side view, and a bottom view of a conventional battery pack.

Explanation of symbols

21 ... Battery pack, 21A ... Microcomputer, 23 ... Internal battery, 24, 29 ... Communication terminal, 25 ... Negative (-) power terminal, 26 ... Positive (+) power terminal, 27 ... External equipment, 27A ...... microcomputer, 32 ...... upper case portion, 32A, 34 ...... groove, 33 ...... lower case section 3, 5,36,37,38 ...... recess 39 ...... marker, 40A, 40B, 41A, 41B ... engaging groove, 42, 43 ... step, 51 ... camera-integrated video tape recorder, 52 ... reverse insertion prevention projection, 61 ... charger, 62 ... marker position switching projection, 63... Locking projection, 64 A, 64 B, 65 A, 65 B.

Claims (3)

A first end face positioned on the front side, and a connecting surface for connecting the said first and second end faces and said first end surface located on the rear side facing and the second end surface at the bottom side Including battery case,
A built-in battery housed in the battery case and connected to a pair of power terminals;
In a battery pack having a microcomputer housed in the battery case and having a function of communicating the state of the built-in battery to the outside via a communication terminal,
The power supply terminal is provided with respect to the first end face;
The communication terminal is located between the positive electrode and the negative electrode terminal of the power supply terminal on the first end surface, and when the battery pack is attached to an external device, any one of the first end surface and the connection surface battery pack, characterized in that in the plane is formed in a state of straddling the mountable. The battery pack according to claim 1, wherein the communication terminal is provided in proximity to the negative terminal of the power supply terminal at the first end face. The battery pack according to claim 1, wherein the communication terminal is formed in a shape extending over at least two of the first end surface and the connection surface.

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