JPH097568A - Chargeable battery with magnetically attracting element and charger with charge portion mounting unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a chargeable battery (a secondary battery) and a charger to charge the battery, which is a common charger usable for batteries, regardless of difference in shape. CONSTITUTION: A '+' terminal 3 and a '-' terminal 4 and magnetically attracting elements 2a, 2b made of highly permeable material, at least, are provided in a proper area on the outer periphery of a case for a chargeable battery 1 formed in a packed shape. To charge the chargeable battery provided with the magnetically attracting elements made of highly permeable material, a '+' terminal 13 and a '-' terminal 14 on the charger side are provided corresponding to the '+' terminal and the '-' terminal on the chargeable battery side and permanent magnet elements 12a, 12b are provided corresponding to the magnetically attracting elements made of highly permeable material. With magnetic attraction between the magnetically attracting element made of highly permeable material and the permanent magnet element, an electric contact relationship and a mounting relationship between the chargeable battery and a charger are maintained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention charges a rechargeable battery (secondary battery) and a rechargeable battery as an electric energy source for mobile or portable electronic equipment that does not depend on an AC power source supplied by a power company. The present invention relates to a rechargeable battery and a rechargeable battery having interconnecting means for enabling charging with a common charger regardless of the difference in shape of the batteries.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Batteries, which are generally referred to as secondary batteries, have a wide variety of shapes with the recent technological development. The pioneer of the practically used secondary battery is the lead storage battery (terminal voltage 2.
It was 0 V / cell), but in response to the demand of smaller size and larger battery capacity, nickel.
It has evolved to cadmium battery (terminal voltage 1.2V / cell), nickel metal hydride battery (terminal voltage 1.2V / cell), lithium ion battery (terminal voltage 2.5V / cell).

Even if batteries of the same kind are used, not only are they smaller in shape, lighter in weight and longer in life, as in the case of, for example, batteries for mobile phones, but also a space between them and other parts constituting the device. At present, it is necessary to develop a new battery outer shape for the sake of distribution.

On the other hand, the conventional charger is provided with a groove for fixing on the charger side, a pressing metal fitting, etc. as means for fixing the battery. That is, in order to fix the entire case of the battery, there was a contact fixing point with the case in a portion other than the charging terminal.

[0005]

Under these conditions, the shape of the battery is restricted by the shape of the charger,
This will be a constraint on the development of new battery shapes. If we develop a shape that cannot be recharged with an existing charger, we will make a charger suitable for that battery. This forces the user to replace each battery with a charger designed and manufactured accordingly. This is for the user
It is uneconomical and inconvenient. The present invention aims to solve the above problems.

[0006]

A piece of magnetic attraction means, for example, an iron piece, is provided on the battery side, and a remaining piece of cracks, that is, a permanent magnet element is provided on the charger side. Because of the electrical connection between the battery and charger, and the connection between the battery-side terminal and the charger-side terminal, the contact-fixing positional relationship with the entire battery housing has been specified as in the past. The fixing method is based on magnetic coupling using the magnetic lines of force of the permanent magnet element without providing the fixing point.

[0007]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. First, examples of rechargeable batteries will be described, and then a charger with a charging section mounting unit will be described.

(Rechargeable battery): FIG. 1 (A) shows an example of a rechargeable secondary battery pack having 1.2 V per cell.
3 cells of nickel-hydrogen battery having electromotive force of 3 are electrically connected in series and housed in a housing, and at least + terminal 3 and-
A battery pack 1 having a terminal voltage of 3.6 V, which is provided with a terminal 4.
Is exemplified. The terminal 7 is for an overcharge prevention temperature sensor which is provided as an option.

The example of the battery pack 1 shown in the figure is to be fitted on the back surface of a mobile phone, has a power capacity of 300 mAh, and has a sickle-shaped appearance of 5 cm in length, 4 cm in width, and 1 cm in thickness. Presents. Kamaboko type is an example,
It may be flat plate type or rod type, and the shape is free. In the case of a battery pack used for an electronic device that consumes more power, the size of the battery cell to be stored in the pack may be increased. Even if the size of the battery cell is increased, the terminal voltage of the battery pack (3.6 V in this embodiment) does not change unless the number of cells connected in series in the battery pack changes.

Therefore, for battery packs having the same terminal voltage, the shape and size of at least the + terminal 3 and the-terminal 4 are at least irrespective of the size of the power capacity, the size of the external size, and the difference in the external shape. , If the positional relationship is fixed, the same charger should be shared. Thus, even if the outer dimensions and the outer shape of the battery pack are designed in a wide variety according to the design space allocation of the mobile phone or the electronic device to which the battery pack 1 is to be attached The first concept of the present invention is to realize the possibility of excluding the necessity of wasting a different charger for each battery and aiming to realize it.

By the way, in the case of a battery pack particularly required to be small and light, such as the battery pack 1 used for a mobile phone, the structure of terminals and the structure of a detachable fixing mechanism for a charger are compared. There are special restrictions.
The restriction is that the outer shape of the battery pack, particularly the surface having the terminals, is provided with as few protrusions as possible. For this reason, the structure of the terminal has been a conventional example in which the terminal surface is embedded so as to be flat with respect to the terminal mounting surface.

However, in the conventional charger, it is necessary to prevent the battery pack from being provided with a protrusion, so that the battery pack may be mechanically connected to the charger by an external member for mounting the battery pack on the charger side. It has been customary to provide a frame and a battery pack mounting groove in the outer frame. The outer frame for mounting the battery pack provided on the charger side hinders the preparation of a dedicated charger for a battery pack having a specific outer shape, which hinders "common use". Of.

The second concept of the present invention which focuses on this point is as follows.
As a means for mounting the battery pack in the charger, both the battery pack and the charger are provided with a structure having no protruding portion, and more specifically, a permanent magnet is used as a natural force utilization mode for realizing the structure. Utilizing a magnetic coupling means between the element and a high magnetic permeability material (for example, soft iron).

As for the combination of the permanent magnet element and the high magnetic permeability material described above, whichever is magnetically attracted or attracted is either the battery pack 1 or the charger (charger mounting unit 10). You may choose to place it on your side. However, for example, a mobile phone may co-exist with a magnetic strip such as a cash card in the user's pocket or bag, so that the permanent magnet element does not have a magnetic influence, so It is preferable that the block of the magnetic element is arranged on the charger side, for example, a plate body of a high magnetic permeability material typified by a soft iron plate is arranged on the battery pack side.

In the battery pack 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 (A),
Two vertically elongated soft iron strips 2a and 2b are embedded in parallel in the left-right direction, but not limited to the strips, a block-shaped one may be arranged vertically in parallel, diagonally or asymmetrically. In short, it may be arranged so as to be in contact with the permanent magnet elements 12a and 12b arranged on the charging unit mounting unit 10 side and to generate a necessary and sufficient magnetic attraction force.

The structure of the + terminal 3 and the-terminal 4 is formed in a plate shape which is embedded or attached so that the terminal surface is flat with respect to the terminal mounting surface. The arrangement of the + terminal 3 and the-terminal 4 is constant for each terminal voltage regardless of the shape and size of the battery pack 1. Positioning holes 5a, 5b shown in the figure
Is for connecting and aligning the battery pack 1 and the charging unit mounting unit 10 that are mechanically and electrically connected to each other by magnetic attraction, and is provided on the charging unit mounting unit 10 side. Positioning pins 15a, 15b
Can be fitted.

Positioning holes 5a, 5b and positioning pin 1
Which of 5a and 15b is to be provided in the battery pack 1 or the charging unit mounting unit 10 is a design matter, but the positioning holes 5a and 5b are provided on the battery pack 1 side as shown in the figure in that they do not form a protrusion. Is preferred.

Positioning holes 5a, 5b and positioning pin 1
The shape of 5a and 15b is also a design matter, and is not limited to the combination of the hole and the pin, and may be a combination of a rectangular groove and a rectangular block or a combination of an outer frame and a nest. If the battery pack 1 has a unique shape, size, and arrangement for each terminal voltage, it is possible to provide a function of preventing the risk of misuse (misconnection) of chargers having different voltages.

(Charger with charging section mounting unit): The front of the charging section mounting unit 10 is shown in FIG. 1 (B), and the rear surface of the same facing the battery pack 1 is shown in FIG. 1 (A). FIG. 2 shows the overall configuration of the charger including the plug 21, the electric wires 22, 22a, 22b.

The power plug 21 is a normal plug for connecting to a commercial 100V AC power socket, for example,
3-core electric wire 22, 22a, 22b including 2-core or ground wire
Power is supplied to the charging unit main body 23 via.

The external charging unit main body 23 shown in FIG. 2 transforms, for example, 100 V AC into 3 to 10 V and rectifies it.
The charging unit mounting unit 2 is passed through a control circuit having an arbitrary function such as a constant voltage function, a constant current function, or an overcharge prevention function.
To the charging terminal 25 of 4a, a predetermined DC low voltage (for example, 3.6
V).

The size of the charging unit main body 24a is about 50 cm ^{3 in} the case of a charger dedicated to charging, but it is about twice as large as the above even when it is used as an AC adapter for standby transmission and reception. Therefore, if necessary, the charging unit main body 2
4a can be integrated with the power plug 21.

The charging unit mounting unit 10 shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B is shown in a considerably enlarged manner. As mentioned above, the actual size of the exemplified battery pack is about 5 cm in length, 4 cm in width, and 1 cm in thickness, so the size of the charging unit installation unit is at most the size of a normal power plug in comparison with its size. Please understand that it is about 2 cups.

The shape and dimensions such that the + terminal 13, the -terminal 14, the overcharge prevention temperature sensor terminal 17, the permanent magnet elements 12a and 12b, and the positioning pins 15a and 15b can be brought into contact with corresponding portions on the battery pack 1 side, respectively. , Are disposed at the positions. The plurality of vertical lines 16 shown on the side surface indicate the battery pack 1
It is a protrusion that serves as a non-slip for the belly of the thumb and forefinger that pinch it when attaching or detaching.

As shown in FIG. 3, the charging section main body 23 may be integrated with the charging section mounting unit 24b. In the case of this embodiment, the vertical line 16 may be formed in a plurality of vertically long grooves so as to serve as a ventilation hole for the built-in charging unit body and a non-slip for a finger. .

[0026]

According to the charger of the present invention, the shape of the battery is not restricted by the shape of the charger. Therefore, for rechargeable batteries of the same voltage, if the terminals have the same shape,
The same charger can be shared. Further, sharing the charger increases convenience for the user, and at the same time, it becomes possible to develop various batteries according to applications and purposes.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 (A) is a perspective view of a rechargeable secondary battery pack of the present invention and a charging unit mounting unit shown opposite to it, and FIG. 1 (B) is a perspective view showing a front structure of the charging unit mounting unit. Is.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment in which the charging unit main body is an externally attached structure separate from the charging terminal mounting unit.

FIG. 3 is a view showing an embodiment in which a charging unit main body is integrated with a charging terminal mounting unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Battery pack 2a, 2b Soft iron strip 3 + Terminal 4-terminal 5a, 5b Positioning hole 10 Charging part mounting unit 12a, 12b Permanent magnet element 13 + Terminal 14-Terminal 15a, 15b Positioning pin 16 Vertical line

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A rechargeable battery formed in a pack shape, wherein at least a positive terminal and a negative terminal and a magnetic adsorption element made of a high magnetic permeability material are provided at a predetermined portion on the outer circumference of the case of the pack. A rechargeable battery with a magnetic adsorption element. 2. A charger for charging a rechargeable battery provided with a magnetic adsorption element made of a high magnetic permeability material, the charger being located at a position corresponding to each of the + terminal and the-terminal on the rechargeable battery side. Side positive and negative terminals, and a permanent magnet element is provided at a position corresponding to the magnetic attraction element made of the high magnetic permeability material provided on the rechargeable battery side, and the magnetic attraction made of the high magnetic permeability material is provided. By the magnetic attraction between the element and the permanent magnet element, the electrical contact relationship and the mounting relationship between the positive terminal and negative terminal on the rechargeable battery side and the positive terminal and negative terminal on the charger side are maintained. A charger with a charging section mounting unit characterized by the above.