JP7199831B2 - battery holder - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a battery holder that is housed in an electronic device with a plurality of batteries loaded therein.

2. Description of the Related Art A battery holder capable of holding a plurality of cylindrical dry batteries connected in series is used in an electronic device that uses a battery as a drive power source. The battery holder is detachable from the electronic device because the holder is taken out from the battery housing portion of the electronic device and replaced when the battery is replaced.

An electronic device is provided with contact terminals (first contact terminal, second contact terminal) for serially connecting batteries loaded in a battery holder. The first contact terminal has a contact to be connected to the positive electrode (+ electrode) or the negative electrode (- electrode) of the battery, and is provided independently in the innermost part of the battery housing part. Also, the second contact terminal has two contacts so as to connect the two batteries with opposite polarities, and is provided on the inlet side of the battery accommodating section.

By the way, the second contact terminal has two contacts that are connected to the respective poles of the two batteries arranged in parallel with opposite polarities. There is a battery lid mounting type provided on the back side of the lid portion of the electronic device that houses the battery holder. As a battery lid-mounted battery holder, for example, the one disclosed in Patent Document 1 below is known.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-232003

A battery cover-mounted battery holder, such as the battery holder disclosed in Patent Document 1, has a structure in which a leaf spring-shaped second contact terminal is attached to the back surface of a cover attached to a housing of an electronic device. As the period of use increases, the contacts will corrode, and if the contacts are bent due to being dropped, repair will be required.

However, since the second contact terminal is provided on the lid portion, the electronic device main body must be repaired by the manufacturer, which causes a problem that the downtime of the user extends for a long period of time. Further, if the contact terminal is shaped like a leaf spring, there is a problem that the contact portion is likely to be deformed by the impact when dropped.

Further, if a leaf spring is used as the second contact terminal, it is easy to attach to the lid, but the contact portion is likely to be deformed by the impact when dropped, and the contact portion between the terminal and the electrode portion of the battery may be slightly rubbed. There is a problem that contact resistance increases due to sliding corrosion (fretting corrosion) due to dynamic wear, and poor connection between the second contact terminal and the battery is likely to occur.

It is possible to use a coil spring instead of a leaf spring in consideration of bending, etc., but since the coil spring cannot be attached to the lid by crimping like a leaf spring, it is fixed using a separate fixing part. There is a problem that the manufacturing process is complicated and leads to an increase in cost.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a battery holder that is attachable to and detachable from an electronic device, has excellent impact resistance when the electronic device is dropped, and furthermore has a contact terminal and battery contact resistance. It is an object of the present invention to provide a battery holder capable of stably supplying power by preventing connection failures due to fine sliding wear occurring in parts.

In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention provides a holder body for holding batteries arranged side by side so as to have opposite polarities;
a contact terminal, which is a torsion coil spring integrally configured and has two contacts for contacting and conducting the positive electrode of one battery and the negative electrode of the other battery held in the holder main body;
a support shaft that is pivotally supported by inserting the contact terminal at a position between the two contacts in one end of the holder body and is detachably fixed to the holder body;
with
The battery holder is characterized in that one end of the holder main body is provided with a terminal holder having a rib that holds the contact terminal so as not to move in the axial direction of the support shaft .

A second aspect of the present invention is the battery holder according to the first aspect, wherein the torsion coil spring of the contact terminal is
A coil portion through which the support shaft is inserted, and contact portions having contact points at apexes of V-shaped bent portions provided on both sides of the coil portion are formed from a single metal wire. is a battery holder.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the battery holder according to the first aspect, an opening hole is formed in the bottom surface of the terminal holder for allowing the contact to partially protrude toward the battery housing area of the holder body. is,
The battery holder is characterized in that the dimension of the opening in the width direction is narrower than the diameter of the positive electrode of the battery.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the battery holder according to the first aspect, the terminal holder is engaged with the tip of the contact terminal so that the swinging range of the terminal does not protrude from the terminal holder. A battery holder characterized in that it is provided with a constraining projection member.

According to the present invention, since the contact terminal is supported by the support shaft, even if the electronic device is dropped, it will not be deformed like a leaf spring-like terminal, and the contact terminal itself can be used as an appropriate battery connection between batteries. A state in which the contact pressure is maintained can be maintained. In addition, since the contact terminals are not provided on the lid of the electronic device, even if the contact terminals are broken, only the battery holder can be replaced or repaired, thus reducing downtime.

Since the contact terminal is a torsion coil spring, the contact pressure of the battery can be easily adjusted, and the V-shaped contact part catches the electrode part of the battery on the contact part when the battery is attached or detached. You can put it on and take it off smoothly. In addition, since the contact of the contact portion is made linear by forming the contact terminal from a single metal wire, the contact portion and the battery are rubbed against each other, and the oxide film is removed to remove the contact portion between the contact terminal and the battery. It is possible to prevent connection failure due to fine sliding wear that occurs in.

In addition, since the terminal holder is provided with ribs that sandwich and hold the contact portion of the contact terminal, it is possible to prevent the contact portion of the contact terminal from swinging in the axial direction of the support shaft when the battery is attached or detached. .

Furthermore, since the width dimension of the opening formed in the bottom surface of the terminal holder is narrower than the diameter of the positive electrode of the battery, the positive electrode does not excessively push the contact portion when the battery is loaded into the battery holder. Deformation can be prevented without applying a direct impact to the terminal.

In addition, if the tip of the contact terminal is hooked to the tip fixing projection when stored, one tip is caught by the tip fixing projection when the contact terminal swings, restricting the swinging range of the contact terminal. It is possible to prevent the tip from protruding from the terminal holder.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an electronic device in which a battery holder according to the present invention is accommodated; FIG. Fig. 3 is a schematic exploded perspective view of the state in which the main parts that constitute the holder are exploded; (a) is a schematic perspective view of the holder viewed from the bottom side of the terminal holder, and (b) is a schematic perspective view of the holder viewed from the top side of the terminal holder. (a) is a schematic partial cross-sectional view of a state in which the contact terminal is temporarily stored in the terminal holder, and (b) is a schematic partial cross-sectional view of the state in which the contact terminal is stored in the terminal holder. (a) is a schematic configuration diagram of the terminal holder viewed from the opening side, and (b) is a schematic configuration diagram of the holder main body viewed from the battery housing area side.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the form for implementing this invention is demonstrated in detail, referring attached drawings.

It should be noted that the drawings attached to this specification may be represented schematically by appropriately changing the scale, ratio of length and width, shape, etc. from the actual product for the convenience of illustration and ease of understanding, but this is only an example. and does not limit the interpretation of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is not limited by the embodiments described with reference to the attached drawings, and other practicable forms, embodiments, and operation techniques that can be conceived by those skilled in the art based on these forms are all of the present invention. shall be included in the category of

Also, in this specification, when the terms up, down, left, and right are used to denote directions or positions in the following description with reference to the attached figures, this means that the user can refer to the figures as shown. matches above, below, left, and right when viewed from above.

As shown in FIG. 1, a battery holder 1 according to the present invention is configured to be attachable to and detachable from an electronic device 100. A plurality of cylindrical batteries B for supplying power to the electronic device 100 are loaded in the electronic device. It is housed in a battery housing portion 101 provided in the grip portion of 100 .

[Electronics]
The electronic device 100 of the present embodiment is a radio control device that is operated when an industrial device such as a crane or an unmanned guided vehicle is operated as an object to be controlled. and transmits a control signal to the steered object.

A housing 100a of the electronic device 100 is formed with a battery housing portion 101 for housing the battery holder 1, and a lid portion 102 is pivotally supported near the opening of the battery housing portion 101 so as to be freely opened and closed. After closing the lid portion 102 in a state in which the battery holder 1 loaded with the battery B is housed in the battery housing portion 101 , the lid portion 102 is screwed with the screws 103 .

A terminal portion 104 that conducts with the battery B loaded in the battery holder 1 is formed in the inner depth portion 101 a facing the opening portion of the battery housing portion 101 . In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, two of the batteries B accommodated in the battery holder 1 are provided independently so as to be in contact with the electrodes of two batteries B, respectively. The terminal portion 104 is wound in a coil shape and has a spring property, and when the battery holder 1 loaded with the battery B is housed in the battery housing portion 101, the terminal portion 104 comes into contact with the electrode (positive electrode or negative electrode) of the battery B. Then, an appropriate contact pressure is applied to the battery B, and power is supplied to the power terminal of the electronic device 100 .

Note that the form of the electronic device 100 is not limited to a radio control device for industrial equipment, and may include a radio control transmitter for operating various models (automobiles, motorcycles, aircraft, ships, etc.) as objects to be controlled, measurement data, and the like. Data loggers to be collected, flashlights, and other devices driven by batteries as a power supply may be used.

[Battery holder]
Next, the battery holder 1 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 2 or 3, the battery holder 1 of this embodiment includes a holding portion 20 that holds the battery B in the holder body 10, an intermediate terminal 30 that is interposed between the batteries B, and the battery B to be loaded. A contact terminal 40 connected to one electrode and a terminal holder 50 to which the contact terminal 40 is attached are provided.

<Holder body>
The holder main body 10 has a long rectangular partition plate 11 that matches the shape of the battery housing portion 101 as a base, and the same number of batteries B are connected in series with the partition plate 11 as a boundary. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the holder main body 10 has battery housing areas in which two batteries B are loaded on the front side and the depth side of the drawing around a rectangular partition plate 11 . The batteries B to be loaded into the holder main body 10 are loaded in opposite directions on the front side and the depth side in the figure so as to be connected in series.

<Holding part>
The holding portion 20 is formed of a pair of claw members curved outward from the side end portion of the partition plate 11 with a curvature along the shape of the battery B, and holds the battery B loaded in the holder main body 10 . In order to facilitate attachment and detachment of the battery B from the holder main body 10 , the holding part 20 has elasticity so that each claw member expands beyond the outer diameter of the battery B, and has a predetermined length along the longitudinal direction of the holder main body 10 . formed with a gap.

In the present embodiment, the holding portions 20 are formed in a total of eight pairs, four pairs centering on the partition plate 11 so as to hold one battery B at two locations. Therefore, when the battery holder 1 is removed from the electronic device 100 and the battery is replaced, the battery B can be easily replaced by putting a finger on the battery B from between the holding portions 20 .

<Intermediate terminal>
The intermediate terminal 30 is formed by bending a wire, which is a single metal wire, on one plane, and is interposed between the batteries B loaded in the holder main body 10 . As for the shape of the intermediate terminal 30, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, a U-shaped portion is formed by bending a wire into a substantially U-shape and further bending the central portion thereof toward the center into a substantially U-shape. The shape of the intermediate terminal 30 is not particularly limited as long as it is interposed between the electrodes of the batteries B and can be partially in line contact with the electrodes of the batteries B. As shown in FIG.

When the intermediate terminal 30 is interposed between the batteries B, when the battery B moves in the longitudinal direction of the holder body 10, the intermediate terminal 30 and the electrode of the battery B rub against each other, and the oxide film formed on the electrode surface is removed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent an increase in contact resistance between the batteries B caused by fine sliding wear occurring between the batteries B.

<Contact terminal>
The contact terminal 40 is a member for serially connecting the batteries B loaded into the holder main body 10 with the partition plate 11 as a boundary, with opposite polarities. The contact terminal 40 is accommodated in the terminal accommodating portion 52 of the terminal holder 50, the support shaft 51 is inserted through the shaft hole 50a and the coil portion 41, and the contact terminal 40 is supported by the E-ring 53 to prevent it from coming off. After mounting, the support shaft 51 is fixed. As a result, the contact terminal 40 is rotatably supported around the support shaft 51 . When exchanging the contact terminal 40 , it can be easily removed from the terminal holder 50 by removing the E-ring 53 and pulling out the support shaft 51 .

The contact terminal 40 is formed by bending a single metal wire (wire), as shown in FIG. It is a torsion coil spring having a substantially M shape and a contact portion 42 whose contact point is the apex of the curved portion of the letter.

The biasing force of the contact terminal 40 can be adjusted by varying the expansion degree of the contact portion 42, like the torsion coil spring. Therefore, by adjusting the expansion degree of the contact portion 42, it is possible to easily adjust the contact pressure to such an extent that the battery B can maintain good electrical contact. In addition, since the shape of the contact portion 42 is substantially V-shaped, when attaching and detaching the battery B, the electrode portion of the battery B does not get caught on the contact portion 42 and can be attached and detached smoothly along the inclined portion. .

Since the contact portion 42 of the contact terminal 40 is formed by bending a wire, the contact area with the battery B is minimized. As a result, the contact between the electrodes of the battery B becomes point contact (or line contact depending on the curvature of the wire) instead of surface contact, so that the contact portion 42 and the electrode are rubbed against each other and formed on the electrode surface. A self-cleaning effect of removing the oxide film can be obtained. Therefore, there is an effect of preventing poor contact caused by an increase in contact resistance caused by fine sliding wear between the electrode of the battery B and the contact portion 42 .

Further, as shown in FIG. 4A, the contact terminal 40 is temporarily housed in the terminal holder 50, and the expansion degree (arm angle) of the contact portion 42 about the coil portion 41 is set to an angle. 4(b), the contact terminal 40 is housed in the terminal holder 50 with the tip 43 hooked on the tip fixing projection 55, which will be described later.

As a result, even with a small spring stroke, the contact pressure applied by the two contact portions 42 of the contact terminal 40 centering on the coil portion 41 is uniform, and the contact pressure is sufficient to allow the battery B to maintain good electrical contact. can be granted.

<Terminal holder>
The terminal holder 50 has a cylindroid shape in which a terminal housing portion 52 for housing the contact terminals 40 is formed in a substantially central portion, and is provided at the end portion of the holder main body 10 on the lid portion 102 side.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the terminal holder 50 is formed with a pair of ribs 54 for preventing the contact terminal 40 from moving in the axial direction of the support shaft 51 . In this embodiment, since there are two contact portions 42 on both sides of the coil portion 41 of the contact terminal 40, two ribs 54 are formed so as to sandwich and hold each contact portion 42 therebetween. Since the ribs 54 hold the contact portion 42 from both sides, the electrical connection between the battery B and the connection terminal 40 can be maintained without moving the position of the contact in the axial direction of the support shaft 51 when the battery B is attached or detached. can be done.

Between the ribs 54 on the inner wall of the terminal housing portion 52, a tip fixing projection 55 is formed as a projection member that hooks the tip 43 of the contact terminal 40 to be housed. The distal end fixing projection 55 is formed at a position aligned with the center of the coil portion 41 of the contact terminal 40 . Therefore, the connection terminal 40 is accommodated in the terminal accommodating portion 52 with the tip 43 engaged with the tip fixing projection 55, so that the space in the height direction of the terminal accommodating portion 52 can be minimized.

Since the contact terminal 40 is formed by bending a single wire, the tip 43 of the contact terminal 40 is looped in a substantially U shape. The tip 43 is hooked on the tip fixing projection 55 against the urging force of , and stored.

As a result, when the contact terminal 40 accommodated in the terminal accommodating portion 52 is accommodated, the tip 43 of the contact terminal 40 is caught and engaged with the tip fixing protrusion 55 so that the tip 43 does not protrude from the terminal holder 50. The swing range of the contact terminal 40 is restricted. In other words, when the contact terminal 40 swings around the support shaft 51, even if one tip 43 swings in a direction protruding from the terminal holder 50, the other tip 43 is caught by the tip fixing projection 55. The swinging range of the contact terminal 40 can be restricted to a range in which the tip 43 does not protrude from the terminal holder 50 .

Further, by housing the contact terminal 40 in the terminal holder 50 with the tip 43 of the contact terminal 40 hooked on the tip fixing projection 55, the expansion degree of the contact terminal 40 can be expanded from the angle A to the angle A'. , necessary contact pressure is applied between the contact portion 42 and the battery B and between each battery B even with a small stroke.

As shown in FIG. 5( a ), on the bottom surface of the terminal holder 50 , a contact that will be the apex of the contact portion 42 when the contact terminal 40 is housed in the terminal housing portion 52 protrudes toward the battery housing area of the holder body 10 . An opening hole 56 is formed to allow it to pass through. The opening 56 has a rectangular shape, the short sides of which are designed to be shorter than the diameter of the positive electrode of the battery B, and the width is narrowed so that the positive electrode of the battery B does not enter the terminal holder 50 side. . A battery B to be loaded into the battery holder 1 is shown on the left side of the terminal holder 50 shown in FIG. 5(a). As shown in the figure, the opening 56 formed in the terminal holder 50 of this embodiment has a shorter width than the diameter of the positive electrode of the battery B in the lateral direction.

As a result, when the battery B is loaded into the holder main body 10, the positive electrode of the battery B does not pass through the opening 56 but abuts against the outer peripheral portion of the opening 56. Therefore, when the battery is loaded, the contact portion 42 is pushed by the positive electrode of the battery B. Do not push more than necessary. Therefore, since a direct impact is not applied to the contact terminal 40, deformation of the contact portion 42 can be prevented even when the battery B is attached/detached or the electronic device 100 is dropped.

As described above, the battery holder 1 of the present embodiment has two contact portions 42 on both sides of the coil portion 41 through which the support shaft 51 is inserted, the contact points being the apexes of the V-shaped bent portions. A contact terminal 40 made of a torsion coil spring formed by bending a metal wire rod is attached to a terminal holder 50 so as to be swingable.

Accordingly, by adjusting the expansion degree of the contact terminals 40, an appropriate contact pressure between the batteries B can be easily obtained. In addition, since the contact portion 42 is substantially V-shaped, when attaching and detaching the battery B, the electrode portion of the battery B does not get caught on the contact portion 42 and can be attached and detached smoothly along the inclined portion. can. Furthermore, since the contact portion 42 of the contact terminal 40 is linear, the contact portion 42 and the battery B are rubbed against each other, and the oxide film is removed, resulting in fine sliding wear at the contact portion between the contact terminal 40 and the battery B. It is possible to prevent connection failure due to In addition, since the contact terminal 40 is formed by bending a metal wire, the contact portion does not deform due to the impact when the electronic device 100 is dropped unlike the leaf spring terminal.

Further, the terminal housing portion 52 of the terminal holder 50 is provided with a pair of ribs 54 that hold the contact portion 42 of the contact terminal 40 so as to sandwich the contact portion 42 of the contact terminal 40. 42 can be prevented from moving in the axial direction of the support shaft 51 .

Further, since the width dimension of the opening hole 56 formed in the bottom surface of the terminal holder 50 is narrower than the diameter of the positive electrode of the battery B, the contact portion 42 is excessively pushed by the positive electrode when the battery B is loaded into the battery holder 1. never Therefore, a direct impact is not applied to the contact terminal 40, and deformation of the contact portion 42 can be prevented.

Further, when the contact terminal 40 is accommodated in the terminal accommodating portion 52, the contact terminal 40 is accommodated in a state in which the tip 43 is hooked on the tip fixing protrusion 55 formed on the inner wall of the terminal accommodating portion 52 against the biasing force of the contact terminal 40. be. Therefore, when the contact terminal 40 swings, one tip 43 is caught by the tip fixing projection 55, restricting the swinging range of the contact terminal 40 and preventing the other tip 43 from protruding from the terminal holder 50. be able to.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Battery holder 10... Holder main body 11... Partition plate 20... Holding part 30... Intermediate terminal 40... Contact terminal 41... Coil part 42... Contact part 43... Tip 50... Terminal holder (50a... Shaft hole)
51... Support shaft 52... Terminal housing portion 53... E-ring 54... Pair of ribs 55... Tip fixing projection 56... Opening hole 100... Electronic device (100a... Housing)
101...Battery housing part (101a...Inner inner part)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 102... Lid part 103... Screw 104... Terminal part B... Battery

Claims (4)

a holder body holding batteries arranged in parallel so as to have opposite polarities;
a contact terminal, which is a torsion coil spring integrally configured and has two contacts for contacting and conducting the positive electrode of one battery and the negative electrode of the other battery held in the holder main body;
a support shaft that is pivotally supported by inserting the contact terminal at a position between the two contacts in one end of the holder body and is detachably fixed to the holder body;
with
A battery holder , wherein one end of the holder main body is provided with a terminal holder having a rib for holding the contact terminal so as not to move in the axial direction of the support shaft . The torsion coil spring of the contact terminal is
A coil portion through which the support shaft is inserted, and contact portions having contact points at apexes of V-shaped bent portions provided on both sides of the coil portion are formed from a single metal wire. Item 1. The battery holder according to item 1. An opening hole is formed in the bottom surface of the terminal holder for allowing the contact to partially protrude toward the battery housing area of the holder body,
2. The battery holder according to claim 1 , wherein the widthwise dimension of the opening is smaller than the diameter of the positive electrode of the battery. 2. The terminal holder according to claim 1 , wherein the terminal holder is provided with a projecting member that engages with the tip of the contact terminal to limit the swinging range of the terminal so that the terminal does not protrude from the terminal holder. battery holder.

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