JP5624795B2 - Protection cap for snap terminal of prismatic battery - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a rectangular battery terminal protective cap provided with two male and female snap terminals corresponding to either positive or negative poles on one end face of a rectangular tube-shaped battery can.

  As is well known, prismatic batteries include prismatic batteries called 006P, 6P, 9V, etc., and secondary batteries compatible with prismatic batteries (nickel cadmium batteries, nickel metal hydride batteries, etc.) There is. As shown in FIG. 3, these rectangular batteries 10 include male and female snap terminals (12, 13) corresponding to either positive or negative poles on one end face of a rectangular tube-shaped battery can 11. . In addition, in the battery can 11, a plurality of flat box-shaped unit cells connected in series are stored in a stacked state, and either one of the positive and negative electrodes of the assembled battery formed in series is male or female. It is connected to one of the snap terminals (12, 13). Usually, the male snap terminal 13 is a positive electrode and the female snap terminal 12 is a negative electrode.

  Here, in the prismatic battery can 11 of the prismatic battery 10, when the end surface on which the snap terminals (12, 13) are formed is the top surface, the prismatic battery 10 is connected to the terminals (12, 12) on the top surface of the battery can 11. 13), there is a problem that when the metal plate (coin or the like) is touched so as to cover the upper surface, both poles are easily short-circuited. In addition, the snap terminals (12, 13) protrude larger upward than the upper surface of the battery can 11 and are easily deformed by an impact from above as compared with the cylindrical dry battery. In particular, the female snap terminal 12 is formed by cutting out a cylindrical upper edge of a hollow cylinder and expanding it in a petal shape, or bending the expanded upper edge further inward. Therefore, the female snap terminal 12 is particularly easily deformed. Therefore, the prismatic battery 10 is often stored in a state in which a protective cap made of an insulating resin is attached to the snap terminals (12, 13), except when the prismatic battery 10 is individually packaged by a blister package or the like.

  FIGS. 4A and 4B show the appearance of the conventional protective cap 1c and the prismatic battery 10 with the protective cap 1c attached thereto, respectively. The protective cap 1c is an integrally molded product of resin, and has two different diameters to be fitted to the male and female snap terminals (12, 13) on one surface of a plate 2c having the same planar shape as the upper surface of the battery can 11. Hollow cylindrical projections (3c, 4c) are formed. The male and female protrusions (4c, 3c) of the protective cap 1c are fitted into the corresponding male and female snap terminals (12, 13), respectively. Thereby, the short circuit in the rectangular battery 10 and the deformation | transformation of a terminal (12, 13) are prevented. In addition, the standard regarding the dimension of the snap terminal in a square battery is described in the following nonpatent literature 1.

Battery Association of Japan, “Battery Room / Terminal Safety Design Guidebook for Dry Battery Equipment”, [online], [Search April 15, 2010], Internet <URL: http: //www.baj.or. jp / frombaj / anzen-guide090430.pdf>

  By the way, unlike a cylindrical battery or the like, a prismatic battery does not directly store a power generation material in an electrode can using a battery can as an electrode can. Further, the terminal does not need to function as a sealing plate for hermetically sealing the power generation material in the battery can. Therefore, strict accuracy is not required for the shape of the battery can and the snap terminal as compared with a cylindrical dry battery or the like from the viewpoint of suppressing the manufacturing cost. That is, the tolerance of the external dimensions of the snap terminal can be made relatively large. Further, the snap terminals themselves are manufactured by a plurality of manufacturers, and the shape and dimensions of the terminals are slightly different for each manufacturer. Furthermore, the snap terminal is formed by pressing a metal plate, and when the snap terminal is produced overseas with low labor cost, the processing accuracy itself is low. Therefore, the dimension of the snap terminal varies greatly depending on each individual rectangular battery.

  On the other hand, the protective cap is an integrally molded product of resin, and the dimensional accuracy is stable. For this reason, if the snap terminal has a large variation in the radial direction, the protective cap will not fit securely into the snap terminal, and the fit will be loose and will easily fall off, or the fit will be too tight and easy to attach and detach. I can't. If the fitting is tight, there is a possibility that the user may hurt the nail or the like when removing the protective cap when using the square battery. Alternatively, in the worst case, when removing the protective cap, it is assumed that the cap does not come off, the snap terminal itself comes off from the battery can, and the battery itself is damaged.

  In addition, the battery needs to undergo various inspection processes such as measuring the voltage between terminals from the time it is assembled until it is shipped. In the case of a square battery, it is often necessary to move to an inspection process with a protective cap attached to prevent a short circuit after assembly. In such a case, it is necessary to attach and detach the protective cap when inspecting the square battery. . Therefore, if the fit is tightened, the workability is reduced and the manufacturing cost of the prismatic battery is increased. Moreover, not only a user but the operator may hurt a nail | claw at the time of attachment / detachment work. Of course, there is no problem if the processing accuracy of the snap terminal is improved, but the manufacturing accuracy increases due to the improved accuracy, and it becomes difficult to provide the battery at a low cost.

  The present invention has been made in view of various problems related to the snap terminal of a rectangular battery and its terminal cap, and the object thereof is to ensure the snap terminal without increasing the manufacturing cost of the rectangular battery itself including the protective cap. An object of the present invention is to provide a protective cap for a snap terminal that can be easily attached and detached while being fitted to the connector. Other purposes will be clarified in the following description.

The present invention for achieving the above object is a prismatic battery terminal protective cap provided with two male and female snap terminals on one end surface of a rectangular tube-shaped battery can,
The resin is integrally molded,
A plate portion, and a hollow cylindrical female projection portion and a male projection portion that are fitted to the male and female snap terminals of the rectangular battery on the surface of the plate portion ,
The male and female hollow cylindrical protrusions are each formed with a slit that divides the cylinder into a plurality across the radial direction,
The hollow cylindrical male protrusion has an outer diameter on the plate portion side that is smaller than the outer diameter on the distal end side, and the outer diameter on the distal end side is the male snap terminal of the rectangular battery. Larger than the maximum inner diameter including the tolerance of
This is a protective cap for a snap terminal of a rectangular battery.

In addition, the hollow cylindrical female projection has an inner diameter on the tip side that is smaller than the inner diameter on the plate side, and the inner diameter on the tip side is the same as that of the female snap terminal of the rectangular battery. Smaller than the minimum outer diameter, including tolerances,
It can also be set as the protective cap for the snap terminal of the square battery characterized by the above-mentioned.

  The plate may be a protective cap for a snap terminal of a rectangular battery in which a hole penetrating the front and back surfaces of the plate is formed in communication with the hollow inner cylinder of the hollow cylindrical male and female projections.

  According to the protective cap of the present invention, the rectangular battery terminal can be securely fitted to the terminal of the rectangular battery having two male and female snap terminals corresponding to either positive or negative polarity on one end face of the rectangular battery can. And can be easily attached and detached.

It is a figure which shows the state (C) which attached | subjected the external appearance (A), side view (B), and the said protective cap of the protective cap for snap terminals concerning the Example of this invention to the square battery. It is an external view of the protective cap for snap terminals according to another embodiment of the present invention. It is an external view of a square battery. It is a figure which shows the external appearance (A) of the conventional protective cap for snap terminals, and the state (B) which attached the said protection camp to the square battery.

=== Basic structure of protective cap ===
FIGS. 1A and 1B are a perspective view and a side view of a protective cap 1a according to an embodiment of the present invention, respectively. FIG. 1C shows a state where the protective cap 1a is attached to the prismatic battery 10. The protective cap 1a of this embodiment is an integrally molded product of resin, similar to the conventional protective cap 1c shown in FIG. 4, and has a male and female on one surface of the plate 2a having the same shape as the upper surface of the battery can 11. Two hollow cylindrical protrusions (3a, 4a) having different diameters fitted to the snap terminals (12, 13) are formed.

  Furthermore, in the protective cap 1a of the present embodiment, the male and female hollow cylindrical protrusions (3a, 4a) are respectively divided into two by slits (5a, 6a) that traverse the radial direction of the cylinder. Accordingly, when this protective cap 1a is attached to the snap terminal (12, 13), a dimensional error in the snap terminal (12, 13) caused by individual difference of each rectangular battery 10 is formed in the protrusion (3a, 4a). It is absorbed by the slits (5a, 6a) and can be easily attached and detached.

  For example, when the diameter of the female snap terminal 12 is smaller than the design dimension and the fitting is tight with respect to the diameter of the male projection 4a, the insertion of the male projection 4a into the female snap terminal 12 causes the width of the slit 6 to So that the male protrusion 4a is reduced in diameter so that it can be narrowed. Similarly, when the fitting between the male snap terminal 13 and the female projection 3a is tight, the width of the slit 5a of the female projection 3a is widened, and the diameter of the female projection 3a is widened so that it can be easily mounted. be able to. In addition, when the male and female projections (3a, 4a) are fitted to the male and female snap terminals (13, 12), respectively, they attempt to return to the conventional diameter due to the elasticity of the resin, so the fitting state is ensured. Maintained. As a result, the protective cap 1a is less likely to drop off from the snap terminals (12, 13). When removing the protective cap 1a, the male and female projections (3a, 4a) are divided into two circular arcs by the slits (5a, 6a). The diameter can be easily removed by increasing or decreasing the diameter. The protective cap 1a having the above-described configuration is an integrally molded product of resin like the conventional protective cap 1c, and the manufacturing cost is almost the same as that of the conventional protective cap 1c. That is, there is no need to worry about cost increase by adding a special configuration.

=== Falling prevention function ===
As described above, the protective cap 1a of this embodiment can be easily attached to and detached from the snap terminals (12, 13) even when the fitting is tight. On the other hand, the fit may be loose, but in general, the diameter of the protrusion of the protective cap so that the fit is tight against the design dimensions including tolerances in the diameter of the male and female snap terminals. The design value is usually set, and there are few cases where loose fitting is a problem. However, depending on the processing accuracy of the snap terminals (12, 13), there is no possibility that the fit becomes so loose that it cannot be absorbed by the molding accuracy on the protective cap 1a side. In view of this, the protective cap 1a of this embodiment has a structure that more reliably prevents the snap terminal (12, 13) from coming off even if there is a large individual difference in the size of the diameter of the snap terminal (12, 13).

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1 (B), the protective cap 1a of this embodiment is such that the diameter of the male protrusion 4a gradually decreases from the tip 42 toward the base 41 connected to the plate 2a. The male projection 4a is tapered toward the plate 2a. The diameter of the tip 42 may be made larger than the maximum diameter of the snap terminals (12, 13) including the tolerance. Thereby, the male protrusion 4a expands so that its tip 42 has the initial diameter due to elasticity in a state where the male protrusion 4a is inserted into and fitted into the hollow cylinder of the substantially hollow cylindrical female snap terminal 12. The tip 42 presses the cylindrical inner wall surface of the female snap terminal 12 outward. As a result, the frictional force between the tip 42 of the male protrusion 4a and the inner wall surface of the female snap terminal 12 is increased, and the drop-off can be reliably prevented.

  Of course, the female protrusion 3a may be tapered from the base 31 toward the tip 32. In this case, when the female projection 3a is fitted to the male snap terminal 13, the cylindrical male snap terminal 13 is clamped in the axial direction from the outer periphery with a stress that returns to the original shape. Increase the force to prevent the dropout.

=== Ease of inspection ===
After the assembly is completed, the battery is shipped after undergoing a seed inspection process. Therefore, the prismatic battery 10 may be attached and detached several times before shipment after the protective cap 1a is attached after assembly. In the conventional protective cap 1c shown in FIG. 4, the contact surfaces of the protrusions (3c, 4c) and the snap terminals (13, 12) are worn out and repeatedly fitted and removed, and the fit may be loosened. . In addition, if the fit is tightened, it cannot be easily detached and the workability of the inspection is lowered, and it is difficult to reduce the cost of the rectangular battery.

  Therefore, in the protective cap 1a of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the projections of the hollow cylindrical male and female are penetrated through the front and back of the plate 2a as a configuration in consideration of workability during the inspection process. Holes (inspection holes 7, 8) communicating with the hollow inner cylinder (3a, 4a) are formed. For example, when the voltage between the positive and negative snap terminals (12, 13) is measured by the inspection hole (7, 8), the protective cap 1a is not removed and the inspection hole (7, 8) is passed through. The probe of the measuring device can be brought into contact with the snap terminals (12, 13). Thereby, workability in the inspection process can be improved, the inspection process time can be shortened, and cost reduction of the prismatic battery 10 can be expected. Moreover, the opportunity of attaching / detaching the protective cap until the rectangular battery 10 is shipped can be reduced as much as possible. Accordingly, the sliding operation between the protrusions (3a, 4a) and the snap terminals (13, 12) and the radial expansion / contraction operation of the protrusions (3a, 4a) can be minimized, and the protrusions (3a, 4a) can be minimized. It is possible to prevent the dropout due to the wear of 4a) and the failure to return to the original diameter due to the decrease in the elasticity of the resin.

=== Other Embodiments ===
In the protective cap 1a according to the above embodiment, the hollow cylindrical male and female protrusions (3a, 4a) have their cylindrical end faces divided into two arcs by slits (5a, 6a). Not limited to this example, the number of slits may be any number as long as the cylindrical end surface of the protrusion is divided in the radial direction. That is, the cylindrical end face only needs to be divided into a plurality of arcs. FIG. 2 shows, as an example, a protective cap 1b in which both male and female protrusions (3b, 4b) are divided into four parts. Two cylindrical male and female projections (3b, 4b) are formed on the surface of the plate 2b, and the cylindrical end surface is equally divided into 90 ° angular intervals in each projection (3b, 4b). Thus, slits (5b, 6b) are formed. Of course, the number of divisions may be the same or different between the male and female protrusions.

  The present invention can be applied to a rectangular battery having positive and negative snap terminals on one end face of a rectangular tube type battery can.

1a to 1c Snap terminal protective cap, 2a to 2c plate,
3a-3c female protrusion, 4a-4c male protrusion,
5a, 5b, 6a, 6b Slit, 7, 8 Inspection hole, 10 Square battery,
11 Battery can, 12 Female snap terminal, 13 Male snap terminal

Claims (3)

A rectangular battery terminal protective cap comprising two male and female snap terminals on one end surface of a rectangular tube battery can,
The resin is integrally molded,
A plate portion, and a hollow cylindrical female projection portion and a male projection portion that are fitted to the male and female snap terminals of the rectangular battery on the surface of the plate portion ,
The male and female hollow cylindrical protrusions are each formed with a slit that divides the cylinder into a plurality across the radial direction,
The hollow cylindrical male protrusion has an outer diameter on the plate portion side that is smaller than the outer diameter on the distal end side, and the outer diameter on the distal end side is the male snap terminal of the rectangular battery. Larger than the maximum inner diameter including the tolerance of
A protective cap for a snap terminal of a rectangular battery characterized by the above. In claim 1, the protrusion of the hollow cylindrical female, together are reduced in diameter than the inner diameter inner diameter of the distal end side of the plate portion, the inner diameter of the tip side, the said prismatic battery Smaller than the minimum outer diameter including the tolerance of female snap terminal,
A protective cap for a snap terminal of a rectangular battery characterized by the above. 3. The square according to claim 1, wherein the plate portion is formed with a hole penetrating the front and back surfaces of the plate portion so as to communicate with the hollow inner tube of the protruding portion of the hollow cylindrical male and female. Protective cap for battery snap terminals.

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