JPH0626158U - Battery pack - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Objective] In view of the above-mentioned present situation, the present invention has a reliability that does not cause a short circuit due to contact between a terminal member and surrounding metal even when a battery pack is taken out from a transparent case. The feature is to provide a highly durable battery pack. In a battery pack including a terminal member 5 for electrically connecting a battery 4 housed in a cylindrical case 1 and an external device, the terminal member 5 is covered with a terminal member cover 23 made of an insulating material. There is.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a battery pack including a battery housed in a case and a terminal for electrically connecting an external device.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 The battery pack having the above structure has been widely used as a power source for cameras and the like, and recently, it is often sold separately from the main body of the electric device, and the demand for it on the market is increasing more and more. Examples of such battery packs include those disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-39862, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-14662, and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-2451.

The battery pack disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 61-39862 has a battery housed in a cylindrical case, and the terminal member is exposed to the outside through a through hole on the bottom surface of the cylindrical case. It is a composition. Further, the battery pack disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 62-14662 is also constructed by accommodating the battery in a cylindrical case, and the terminal material is exposed from the notches provided in the case body and the lid. It has such a configuration.

In the battery pack disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-2451, the unit cells are housed in a cylindrical case, and the ends of the case body are separated from the through holes provided in the bottom surface of the case body. The child member is exposed to the outside.

[0005]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 By the way, the above-mentioned battery pack is usually sold in stores in a form covered with a transparent case heat-welded to a mount. When the battery pack is used, the perforations made on the mount are cut open, the battery pack is taken out of the transparent case, and inserted into an electric device.

At this time, there is no problem if it is taken out from the transparent case and immediately attached to an electric device such as a camera. However, it is not always necessary to immediately mount it on an electric device, but the terminal member may be left uncovered. If the terminal member is exposed as described above, there is a problem in that the terminal member comes into contact with a metal (for example, a hairpin in a pocket) in the periphery to cause a short circuit.

Further, when such a short circuit occurs, the battery, and thus the battery pack, is heated, and the battery capacity is drastically reduced. As a result, there is a problem that the reliability of the battery pack is reduced. In view of the above situation, the present invention provides a highly reliable battery pack that does not cause a short circuit due to contact between a terminal member and surrounding metal even when the battery pack is taken out from the transparent case. The purpose is to

[0008]

[Means for solving the problem]

 To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a battery pack including an external connection terminal for electrically connecting a battery housed in a case and an external device, wherein the external connection terminal is a cover made of an insulating material. It is characterized by being covered. Further, the cover is removable.

[0009]

[Action]

 With the above-mentioned configuration, the following operations are performed. That is, even if the battery pack is taken out of the transparent case and not immediately connected to electrical equipment, the external connection terminals of the battery pack are covered with the cover made of an insulating material, and therefore the external connection terminals are not covered. Is never exposed to the outside. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a short circuit due to contact between the metal existing in the periphery and the external connection terminal.

[0010]

Embodiment 1 (Embodiment 1) A battery pack according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a battery pack according to an example of Embodiment 1, FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1 after assembly, FIG. 3 is a plan view with an upper lid removed, and FIG. 5 is a bottom view and FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG.

This battery pack includes two batteries 4, a tubular case 1 provided with a housing 11 for housing these batteries 4, and an upper lid 2 for closing openings 12 and 13 of the tubular case 1. , And the lower lid 3, a terminal member 5 fixed to the terminal portion of the battery and electrically connected to an external device, and a protective element 6 (PTC element). The cylindrical case 1, the upper lid 2 and the lower lid 3 are made of thermoplastic resin.

The battery 4 has a negative electrode terminal 41 having a protruding shape and a flat positive electrode terminal 42, and the outer can thereof also serves as a positive electrode. Further, an insulating ring 7 is attached to the upper portion of the battery on which the terminal member 5 is welded to the negative electrode terminal 41. The insulating ring 7 is composed of a stopper 71 and a cylindrical portion 72, and the width h of the cylindrical portion 72 has a sufficient length so that the terminal member 5 connected to the negative electrode terminal 41 does not come into contact with the battery outer can. . As a result, the battery outer can and the terminal member 5 do not come into contact with each other and a short circuit is prevented.

The space of the housing portion 11 of the cylindrical case 1 is partitioned by a partition plate 15, and the batteries 4 are housed in the respective partitioned spaces. Further, the outer shape of the cylindrical case 1 has an arc shape along the battery outer peripheral surface from the front surface to the side surfaces, and has a flat rear surface. Further, a notch 14 is provided on the front end surface of the tubular case 1 on the side of the opening 12 so that the terminal member 5 connected to the bipolar terminals 41, 42 of the battery is exposed to the outside.

The upper lid 2 has a shape corresponding to the opening 12 of the tubular case 1, and is fixed to the tubular case 1 by ultrasonic welding. Further, a cutout portion 21 for exposing the terminal member 5 to the outside is formed at a position of the upper lid 2 corresponding to the cutout portion 14 of the tubular case 1. A terminal member cover 23 is provided in each of the notches 14 and 21 to cover the exposed portion of the terminal member 5. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the terminal member cover 23 is integrally formed with the upper lid 2 and the thin portion 22 so as to cover the cutout portion 21 to the cutout portion 14. Further, the width n of the terminal member cover 23 is configured to be slightly smaller than the width m of the cutout portion 21, so that a slight gap is generated between the upper lid 2 and the tubular case 1 and the terminal member cover 23. Therefore, when the terminal member cover 23 is separated, it can be easily separated.

The lower lid 3 has a shape corresponding to the opening 13 of the tubular case 1, and is fixed to the tubular case 1 by ultrasonic welding. The terminal member 5 includes a battery connecting portion 51 connected to the bipolar terminals 41 and 42 of the battery by electric welding, and an exposed portion 53 exposed from the cutout portion 14 and an exposed portion 52 exposed from the cutout portion 21. However, the end of the exposed portion 53 is fixed in a state of being sandwiched between the tubular case 1 and the insulating ring 7 when it is housed in the tubular battery case as shown in FIG. Although not shown, the terminal member 5 connected to the positive electrode is also sandwiched and fixed by the cylindrical case 1 and the battery 4.

The protective element 6 is for connecting the terminals of the battery on the lower lid 3 side in series. When using the battery pack having the above structure, the terminal member cover 23 is bent. Then, since the terminal member cover 23 and the upper lid 2 are torn and separated at the thin portion 22, the terminal member cover 23 is cut from the upper lid 2 to expose the terminal member 5 to the outside, and the terminal device It is possible to make a connection.

In addition, in the case of the present embodiment, since the terminal member cover 23 is integrally formed with the upper lid 2, the number of parts does not increase, so that there is no hindrance in the assembly, and therefore the cost and the process are improved. It is possible to ensure safety with almost no numerical increase. Although the terminal member cover 23 is formed integrally with the upper lid 2 in the above embodiment, it may be formed integrally with the cylindrical case 1. Example 2 A battery pack according to an example of Example 2 of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the battery pack according to the second embodiment, FIG. 8 is a plan view of FIG. 7, FIG. 9 is a front sectional view, and FIG. 10 is a bottom view. The basic structure of the battery pack is the same as that of the first embodiment, and those having the same function are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. However, the cylindrical case 1 of this embodiment has a bottom, and the opening 12 is closed by the upper lid 2. Furthermore, since the battery pack of this embodiment is a battery pack using a single battery 4, the outer shapes of the respective members are made different correspondingly.

A through hole 24 for exposing the terminal member 5 is provided in a central portion of the upper lid 2 that closes the opening 12 of the cylindrical case 1. A terminal member cover 25 is provided in the through hole 24 so as to cover the exposed terminal member 5. The terminal portion material cover 25 is integrally formed with the upper lid 2 and the thin portion 26. Further, the diameter of the terminal member cover 25 is configured to be slightly smaller than the diameter of the through hole 24.

On the other hand, the bottom surface 8 of the cylindrical case 1 is also provided with a through hole 81 for exposing the terminal member 5. The through hole 81 is provided with a terminal member cover 82 for covering the exposed terminal member 5 similarly to the upper lid 2 side. The terminal member cover 82 is integrally formed with the bottom surface 8 and the thin portion 83. Further, the diameter of the terminal member cover 82 is configured to be slightly smaller than the diameter of the through hole 81.

Further, the terminal member cover 82 has a hanging portion 84 for hooking. When the battery pack as described above is connected to an external device, the terminal member covers 82 and 25 are separated from the bottom surface 8 or the upper lid 2 and the terminal member 5 is exposed to the outside, as in the first embodiment. , Connect to electrical equipment.

Further, since the terminal member cover 82 of this embodiment is provided with the hanging portion 84 for hooking, it can be easily removed. (Embodiment 3) A battery pack according to an embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 11 is a partial perspective view of the third embodiment, FIG. 12 is a plan view of FIG. 11, FIG. 13 is a top sectional view, and FIG. 14 is a bottom view. This battery pack is the same as the battery pack shown in the second embodiment, except that a removable cap 9 made of an insulating material is provided instead of the terminal member cover 82 provided in the through hole 81 of the tubular case 1. is there.

The cap 9 is provided with two convex portions 91. On the other hand, inside the bottom surface 8 of the tubular case 1, as shown in FIG. 13, when the cap 9 is attached, a concave step portion 85 is provided at a position corresponding to the convex portion 91. By fitting the convex portion 91 and the concave portion 85 into each other, the cap 9 that has been once removed can be attached again.

Further, the cap 9 is provided with a hanging portion 92 for use as a knob for removal. When using the battery pack, the cap 9 is removed and the terminal member 5 is exposed to the outside for connection. Since the cap of this embodiment is removable, even if the cap is once removed to connect to an electric device, the terminal member 5 can be covered with the cap again.

In the above three embodiments, the battery pack using one or two batteries has been described, but the number of batteries is not limited to this, and three or more batteries can be used. The battery pack used can also be implemented.

[0027]

[Effect of device]

 As described above, according to the present invention, the cover made of the insulating material covers the terminal member exposed to the outside, so that the contact between the terminal member exposed to the outside and the metal existing in the surroundings. Since it is possible to prevent a short circuit due to, it is possible to improve the safety of the battery pack.

Further, in the cover system formed integrally, there is no increase in the number of parts and the number of steps, and the assembly can be performed in the same manner as the conventional one.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a battery pack according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of FIG. 1 after assembly.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the upper surface of FIG. 2 with the upper lid 2 removed.

FIG. 4 is a front sectional view.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view.

6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the battery pack according to the second embodiment.

8 is a plan view of FIG. 7 after assembly.

FIG. 9 is a front sectional view.

FIG. 10 is a bottom view.

FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of a battery pack according to a third embodiment.

12 is a plan view of FIG. 11 after assembly.

FIG. 13 is a front sectional view.

FIG. 14 is a bottom view of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Cylindrical case 4 Battery 5 Terminal member 23 Terminal member cover 25 Terminal member cover 82 Terminal member cover 9 Cap

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A battery pack provided with an external connection terminal for electrically connecting a battery housed in a case and an external device, wherein the external connection terminal is covered with a cover made of an insulating material. And battery pack. 2. The battery pack according to claim 1, wherein the cover is removable.