JPH0528983A - Battery - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a short circuit accident between electricity supplying terminals by positioning a shutter at the position to be covered at the time of not attaching an external casing, a battery is built therein, to an appliance in electricity receiving side, and positioning the shutter at the releasing position by pressing it by an electricity receiving terminal pin at the time of attaching the casing to the appliance. CONSTITUTION:A terminal exposing hole 9 is formed in the installation surface 3 of an external casing 2 a battery 1 is built therein and an electricity supplying terminal 10 having reverse polarity is formed in the hole. A shutter 11 able to rotate between a being-covered position to cover the terminal 10 and the releasing position to expose the terminal is installed. At the time the external casing 2 is not attached to a videocamera, the shutter 11 is made to be at the being-covered position by a returning spring 20 and at the time of being attached to the camera, the shutter 11 is moved to the releasing position by pressing it with an electricity receiving terminal pin 27 in the camera side and thus the terminal 10 is exposed and brought into contact with the pin 27 and electricity is supplied to the camera. In this way, at the time of no use, the electricity supplying terminal is covered with the shutter, so that short circuit between electricity supplying terminals is prevented.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a novel battery. Specifically, it relates to a battery in which a plurality of power supply terminals are arranged on the mounting surface of the outer shell containing the battery,
When not in use, a short circuit between the power supply terminals can be reliably prevented by covering at least one of the power supply terminals that have the opposite polarities to each other. In addition, the battery is mounted on the power receiving side device in the covered state. Sometimes it can be released by using the power receiving terminal pin, so that there is no hindrance to the use of the battery or mounting on the power receiving side device, and a means for preventing a short circuit is simple,
It aims to provide a new battery that can be attached compactly.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a battery is often used as a power source for a device that is often used while moving or a portable electronic device, and generally, a battery used for such a device is the device. It is designed to be detachably attached to the.

FIG. 11 shows an example a of a conventional battery for a video camera.

In the figure, b is the outer shell of the battery a,
c is the mounting surface, d and d are oblong terminal exposure holes formed in the mounting surface c, and e and e ′ are power supply terminals for a battery (not shown) contained in the outer shell b, one of which is the anode side. , The other side e'is a cathode side power supply terminal, f, f, ... are engagement grooves formed at both upper and lower ends of the mounting surface c, and the power supply terminals e and e'are terminal exposure holes. It is arranged so that d and d are closed from the inside.

Then, when the mounting surface c is moved laterally from the state in which the mounting surface c overlaps the battery mounting surface of the video camera, the engaging projections provided on the battery mounting surface are engaged with the engaging grooves f, f ,.
... and the battery a is attached to the video camera, and the two power receiving terminal pins projecting from the battery attachment surface individually contact the power feeding terminals e and e ', respectively. The camera is ready to supply power.

[0006]

However, in such a battery a, since the power supply terminals e and e'are always exposed, the power supply terminals e and e'are short-circuited unexpectedly. Power may be consumed.

This short-circuit is often caused by a conductive object contacting the power supply terminals e and e'in a bridging manner. For example, the battery a is carried together with a metal object in a bag. It often happens.

[0008]

In order to solve the above problems, the battery of the present invention covers at least one of a plurality of power supply terminals arranged on the mounting surface of the outer shell in which the battery is built. A rotatable shutter that is moved between a position and an open position that exposes the power supply terminal, and an elastic member that urges the shutter toward the covering position are provided, and while the shutter is not attached to the power receiving side device. The shutter is held in the covering position by the elastic force of the elastic member, and when it is attached to the power receiving side device, the shutter is pressed by the power receiving terminal pin to move to the open position, thereby exposing the power supply terminal. The power receiving terminal is brought into contact with the power receiving terminal.

[0009]

Therefore, in the battery of the present invention, since at least one of the power supply terminals is covered by the shutter when not in use, short circuit between the plurality of power supply terminals can be prevented, and moreover, Since the covering state of the power supply terminal by the shutter is released by the power reception terminal pin when the battery is mounted on the power reception side device and the power reception terminal pin and the power supply terminal come into contact with each other, there is no hindrance to the use of the battery, and The operation when installing the battery does not become troublesome, and since the means for preventing short circuit consists only of the shutter and the elastic member, the structure should be simple and compact. You can

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the battery of the present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

The embodiment shown in the drawings applies the present invention to a battery for a video camera.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a battery.

Reference numeral 2 denotes an outer shell of the battery 1, and the outer shell 2
Is vertically long when viewed from the thickness direction (the upward direction in FIG. 1 is the upper side, and the downward direction is the lower side.
The direction toward the lower right in the figure is the front side, the direction toward the upper left is the rear side, the direction toward the lower left is the left side, and the direction toward the upper right is the right side. In the following description, the direction is used when indicating the direction. ) Has a rectangular box shape, and a rechargeable battery (not shown) is housed inside the box. And the outer shell 2
One side surface 3 in the thickness direction, that is, the front surface 3 is a mounting surface for mounting the battery 1 on a battery mounting portion of a video camera described later, and the mounting surface 3 is entirely flat.

Engagement grooves 5 and 6 are formed at the corners where the upper end surface 4 of the outer shell 2 and the mounting surface 3 are continuous, and the lower end surface 7 of the outer shell 2 and the mounting surface 3 are continuous. The same engagement groove 5,
6 is formed. These engaging grooves 5, 5, 6, 6 are formed in a substantially L-shape that is long in the left-right direction when viewed from above and below, and the short portion thereof is formed to extend forward from the left end of the long portion, The left ends of the left engagement grooves 5 and 5 reach the left side surface of the outer shell 2, and the right engagement grooves 6 and 6 are arranged at positions slightly closer to the left than the right side surface of the outer shell 2. The left and right widths of the engagement grooves 6, 6 are longer than that of the left engagement grooves 5, 5.

Reference numeral 8 is a front wall of the outer shell 2, and two terminal exposing holes 9 and 9'which are arranged leftward and rightward apart from each other are formed at a position near a lower end thereof, and the terminal exposing holes 9 and 9 are formed. ´ has a long hole on the left and right. Reference numerals 10 and 10 'are power supply terminals of a battery (not shown) and have polarities opposite to each other.
The power supply terminals 10 and 10 'have terminal exposure holes 9 and
9'is formed in the shape of a horizontally-long rectangular plate that is approximately one size larger than that of 9 ', and is supported by a terminal plate (not shown) arranged inside the outer shell 2, and is separated from the front wall 8 by a small distance, and
The terminal exposing holes 9 and 9'are arranged so as to face each other. Therefore, the power supply terminals 10 and 10 'are exposed to the outside of the outer shell 2 through the terminal exposure holes 9 and 9'.

Reference numerals 11 and 11 'denote the two power supply terminals 10 and
A shutter for covering the right side 10 '(hereinafter, referred to as "first power supply terminal") 10' of the corresponding terminal exposure hole 9 so as to be openable and closable, and has a shape substantially symmetrical to each other. is doing.

These shutters 11, 11 'are flat plate-shaped covering portions 12, 12' which are substantially square when viewed from the front and rear direction.
And arms 13 and 13 ′ protruding upward from the ends of the upper ends of the cover portions 12 and 12 ′ that are close to each other, and the arms 13 and 13 ′.
The spring support portions 14, 14 'and the like protruding from the outer peripheral surface of the substantially disk-shaped upper end portion toward substantially opposite sides are integrally formed, and the right shutter 11 (hereinafter referred to as "main shutter"). .) Is formed with a pressed portion 15 protruding forward from the middle portion of the left side edge portion of the cover portion 12 in a wall shape, and the left shutter 11 '(hereinafter referred to as "sub shutter"). In the front surface of the right end portion of the cover portion 12 '), a sloped surface 16 is formed at a position corresponding to the pressed portion 15 so as to be displaced rearward as it goes to the right.

The cover portions 12 and 12 'have terminal exposing holes 9 and
It is formed to be slightly larger than half the size of 9'in the left-right direction.

On the inner surface of the front wall 8 of the outer shell 2, a support shaft 17,
17, spring contact protrusions 18, 18, and stopper protrusions 19 are provided in a protruding manner. The stopper protrusions 19 are provided at a position separated from the intermediate portion of the right side terminal exposure hole 9 in the left-right direction to a slightly upper position. The support shafts 17 and 17 are stopper protrusions 19.
It is located above and is formed on both the left and right sides of the stopper protrusion 19 when viewed from above and below.
18 is formed at a position separated from each other on the left and right sides with the support shafts 17 interposed therebetween.

The arm 1 of the shutter 11, 11 '
Insertion holes 13a, 13 'formed at the upper ends of 3, 13'
The support shafts 17 and 17 are respectively inserted through a, so that the shutters 11 and 11 'are rotatably supported by the support shafts 17 and 17 in a substantially left-right direction, and their cover portions 12 and 1 are provided.
2'is positioned so as to be movable between the terminal exposure hole 9 and the first power supply terminal 10.

Numerals 20 and 20 'are return springs formed of wire material having spring elasticity, and one end of each spring is individually and embedded in the spring supporting portions 14 and 14' of the shutters 11 and 11 '. It is fixed and the other ends are spring supporting parts 14, 14
The spring projections 18 and 18 are elastically contacted from below with the portion projecting from ′ being slightly curved.

As a result, the main shutter 11 is biased in the clockwise direction when viewed from the front, and the sub-shutter 11 'is biased in the counterclockwise direction. When the arms 13 and 13 'are not pressed in the opposite directions, the lower ends of the arms 13 and 13' are positioned so as to sandwich the stopper projections 19 from the left and right sides, and as shown in FIG. 5, cover the shutters 11 and 11 '. Part 12 and 1
2 ′ and 2 ′ are in contact with each other, whereby the substantially right half of the first power supply terminal 10 is covered by the cover 12 of the main shutter 11, and the substantially left half of the first power supply terminal 10 is covered by the cover 12 ′ of the sub-shutter 11 ′. To be done.

Therefore, in this state, that is, the shutter 11,
When 11 ′ is in a position where the right and left halves of the first power supply terminal 10 are separately covered (hereinafter, referred to as “covering position”), the terminal exposure hole 9 corresponding to the power supply terminal 10 is a shutter. Since it is closed from the inside by 11, 11 ', there is no contact with the power supply terminal 10 from the outside of the outer shell 2, thereby preventing the power supply terminals 10 and 10' from being short-circuited.

If there is a difference in the rotational force urged by the return springs 20 and 20 ', the arm 13 or 1 of the shutter 11 or 11' of the one to which the strong rotational force is urged.
Since 3 ′ comes into contact with the stopper projection 19 to prevent further rotation, the contact positions of the cover portions 12 and 12 ′ of the shutters 11 and 11 ′ are significantly displaced from the center of the exposure hole 9. There is no such thing.

Reference numeral 21 is a video camera using the battery 1 as a power source (only a part is shown in the drawing).
Is.

Reference numeral 22 denotes an outer casing of the video camera 21, and a rear end portion 24 based on a back surface 23 thereof serves as a battery mounting portion for detachably mounting the battery 1, and the battery mounting portion 24 is The battery 1 comprises engagement grooves 5, 5, 6, 6 which are detachably engaged with each other, and two power receiving terminal pins which come into contact with the power supply terminals 10, 10 ', respectively.

Reference numerals 25 and 25 denote support ridges projecting from both upper and lower edges of the back surface 23 and extending in the left-right direction. The lower surfaces of the upper support ridges 25 and the upper surfaces of the lower support ridges 25 are located near the left end. Engaging protrusions 26, 26, ... Having a substantially L-shape that are long in the left-right direction when viewed in the vertical direction are formed at the position and the right end.

27 and 27 'are power receiving terminal pins. These power receiving terminal pins 27, 27 'are slidably supported on the rear wall of the outer casing 22 in the axial direction within a fixed range, and have substantially the same spacing as the center portions of the power feeding terminals 10, 10'. They are located parallel to each other with a distance therebetween, and are elastically urged by a moving force in a direction projecting rearward from the back surface 23.

The battery 1 is mounted on the battery mounting portion 24 as described above (see FIGS. 2 and 3).

First, as shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 2 and by the solid line in FIG.
The back surface 23 of the No. 1 is closely contacted with the back surface 23 in a direction facing the back surface 23. This operation is performed while aligning the battery 1 and the video camera 21 so that the right engaging protrusions 26, 26 are located in the right engaging grooves 6, 6. Next, when the battery 1 is moved to the left from that state, the engagement protrusions 26, 26, ... Engage with the engagement grooves 5, 5, 6, 6. As a result, the battery 1 is attached to the battery mounting portion 24.
Be attached to.

When the battery 1 is mounted on the battery mounting portion 24 as such, the main shutter 11
Is released from covering the first power supply terminal 10 to expose the right half of the power supply terminal 10 and the power supply terminal 1
The power receiving terminal pins 27 and 27 'are in contact with 0 and 10', respectively. This will be described below (see FIGS. 5 to 9).

First, when the battery 1 is brought into close contact with the rear surface 23 of the video camera 21 while being aligned as described above, the power receiving terminal pins 27 and 27 'are passed through the terminal exposing holes 9 and 9', respectively, and the battery 1 is attached. The tip of the power receiving terminal pin 27 on the right side (hereinafter, referred to as “first power receiving terminal pin”) is inserted into the outer shell 2 of the sub shutter 11.
The tip of the left power receiving terminal pin 27 ′ (hereinafter, referred to as “second power receiving terminal pin”) on the cover portion 12 ′ of ′ is referred to as the left power feeding terminal 10 ′ (hereinafter, referred to as “second power feeding terminal”). To tell.)
Abutting on the left end of each (see FIGS. 5 and 7). At this time, the power receiving terminal pins 27 and 27 'are pressed by the sub-shutter 11' and the second power feeding terminal 10 'and moved so as to be pulled into the outer casing 22.

When the battery 1 is moved to the left from this state, the power receiving terminal pins 27 and 27 'move to the right relative to the battery 1, so that the first power receiving terminal pin 2 is moved.
The tip end of 7 contacts the pressed portion 15 of the main shutter 11 (see FIG. 8).

From this state, the power receiving terminal pin 27 presses the pressed portion 15 to the right, so that the main shutter 11 is rotated counterclockwise while receiving the pressing force, and the first power reception is performed. The terminal pin 27 comes off from the right side edge of the cover portion 12 'of the sub-shutter 11' and comes into contact with the first power supply terminal 10 (see FIGS. 6 and 9).

The battery 1 is replaced by the video camera 2
When the first power feeding terminal 10 is attached to the first power feeding terminal 10, the second power feeding terminal 10 'comes into contact with the second power receiving terminal pin 27' from the beginning, and the main shutter 11 is substantially covered with the first power feeding terminal 10 from the covering position. Moved to the open position with the right half exposed,
The first power receiving terminal pin 27 contacts the exposed portion of the first power feeding terminal 10. As a result, the power of the battery (not shown) of the battery 1 can be supplied to the video camera 21.

When the battery 1 is completely attached to the video camera 21, the power receiving terminal pins 27 and 27 'individually contact the right end portions of the power feeding terminals 10 and 10'. , 27 'are maintained by the elastic force.

The main shutter 11 moved to the open position as described above returns to the covering position when the battery 1 is removed from the video camera 21.

That is, to remove the battery 1, the battery 1 is moved to the right to engage the engaging projections 26, 26, ... Of the video camera 21 and the engaging grooves 5, 5, of the battery 1.
This is done by disengaging 6,6. Therefore,
At this time, the power receiving terminal pins 27, 27 'move relatively to the left, so that the main shutter 11 which has been in the open position until then is rotated by the return spring 20 to rotate the first power receiving terminal pin 27. It is rotated in the clockwise direction so as to follow behind and is returned to the covering position (see FIG. 10). Further, at this time, the first power receiving terminal pin 27 is connected to the sub shutter 11 '.
Of the cover portion 12 ′ is guided by the slope 16 to ride on the front surface of the cover portion 12 ′, or when the slope 16 cannot be mounted, the cover portion 1
While pressing the right side edge of 2'to rotate the shutter 11 'in the counterclockwise direction, the shutter 11' is relatively moved to the left end portion of the power supply terminal 10 (FIG. 10 shows this state). Then, in the case of the state shown in FIG. 10, the left half of the first power supply terminal 10 is once exposed, but the power receiving terminal pin 27 of the sub shutter 11 ′ is pulled out from the terminal exposure hole 9. At about the same time, it is returned to its original position by the turning force urged by the return spring 20 'to cover the left half of the power supply terminal 10.

However, when the battery 1 is removed, the first power supply terminal 10 always keeps the shutters 11, 1
1'is covered.

In the pressed portion 15 provided on the main shutter 11, the power receiving terminal pin 27 abutting on the sub-shutter 11 'moves relatively laterally and the main shutter 1
Since this is a part for providing a step that can press 1 toward the open position side, the form of this part may be any form as long as it has such a function.

[0041]

As is apparent from the above description, the battery of the present invention is a battery in which a plurality of power supply terminals are arranged on the mounting surface of the outer shell containing the battery,
A rotatable shutter that is moved between a cover position that covers at least one power supply terminal and an open position that exposes the power supply terminal, and an elastic member that urges the shutter toward the cover position are provided. While not attached to the device, the shutter is held at the covering position by the elastic force of the elastic member, and when attached to the device on the power receiving side, the shutter is pressed by the power receiving terminal pin and moved to the open position, Thereby, the power supply terminal is exposed so that the power reception terminal pin is brought into contact with the power supply terminal.

Therefore, in the battery of the present invention, since at least one of the power supply terminals is covered by the shutter when not in use, it is possible to prevent a short circuit between the plurality of power supply terminals, and Since the covering state of the power supply terminal by the shutter is released by the power reception terminal pin when the battery is mounted on the power reception side device and the power reception terminal pin and the power supply terminal come into contact with each other, there is no hindrance to the use of the battery, and The operation when installing the battery does not become troublesome, and since the means for preventing short circuit consists only of the shutter and the elastic member, the structure should be simple and compact. You can

In the above embodiment, only one of the power supply terminals having the opposite polarities is covered with the shutter so that it can be opened and closed. However, both of them may be separately covered.

Further, in the embodiment, one power supply terminal is openably and closably covered by two shutters, but it may be covered by one shutter.

Furthermore, the present invention can be applied to a battery having three power supply terminals. For example, 2 for power supply
In a battery or the like having terminals for battery temperature detection in addition to the individual power supply terminals, at least a terminal having a polarity opposite to the detection terminal may be covered by a shutter so as to be openable and closable.

In addition, the structure and shape of the shutter, the elastic member, the power feeding terminal, the power receiving terminal pin and other parts shown in the embodiments, and the kind of the battery, etc. are just one example of embodying the present invention. However, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limitedly interpreted by these.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 shows an example in which the battery of the present invention is applied to a battery for a video camera, together with FIGS. 2 to 10. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the entire battery and a power receiving terminal pin of the video camera. ..

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a part of a video camera and a battery.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a main part with a part cut away for explaining a procedure of mounting a battery on a video camera.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing an exploded main part of the battery.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged front view showing a notched part of a main part in the initial state of the mounting operation of the battery to the video camera.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged front view of a main part showing a part of the main part in a state where the mounting operation of the battery to the video camera is completed.

FIG. 7 is a view showing the movement of the shutter to the open position by the power receiving terminal pin with the lapse of time together with FIGS. 8 and 9, and this figure is a partial cutaway of the initial state of the mounting operation of the battery to the video camera. It is an enlarged plan view shown.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged plan view showing a state in which a battery is partially attached to a video camera, the state being partially cut away.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged plan view showing a state in which a part of the battery is completely attached to the video camera, the state being cut away.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged plan view showing a state in which a battery is detached from the video camera while being partially cut away.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional battery.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Battery 2 Outer shell 3 Mounting surface 10 Power supply terminal (one power supply terminal) 10 'Power supply terminal 11 Shutter 20 Repulsion member 21 Power receiving side device 27 Power receiving terminal pin

Claims (1)

Claim: What is claimed is: 1. A battery in which a plurality of power supply terminals are arranged on a mounting surface of an outer shell containing a battery, the coating position covering at least one power supply terminal and the power supply terminal being exposed. A rotatable shutter that can be moved between the open position and
An elastic member for urging the shutter toward the covering position is provided, and the shutter is held at the covering position by the elastic force of the elastic member while the shutter is not attached to the power receiving device, and is attached to the power receiving device. The battery is characterized in that, when the power receiving terminal pin is pressed, the shutter is pressed and moved to the open position, thereby exposing the power feeding terminal and bringing the power receiving terminal into contact with the power receiving terminal pin.