Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
  • H01R13/00—Details of coupling devices of the kinds covered by groups H01R12/70 or H01R24/00 - H01R33/00
  • H01R13/62—Means for facilitating engagement or disengagement of coupling parts or for holding them in engagement
  • H01R13/627—Snap or like fastening
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M1/00—Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers
  • H04M1/02—Constructional features of telephone sets
  • H04M1/0202—Portable telephone sets, e.g. cordless phones, mobile phones or bar type handsets
  • H04M1/026—Details of the structure or mounting of specific components
  • H04M1/0262—Details of the structure or mounting of specific components for a battery compartment
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
  • H01R13/00—Details of coupling devices of the kinds covered by groups H01R12/70 or H01R24/00 - H01R33/00
  • H01R13/62—Means for facilitating engagement or disengagement of coupling parts or for holding them in engagement
  • H01R13/627—Snap or like fastening
  • H01R13/6271—Latching means integral with the housing
  • H01R13/6272—Latching means integral with the housing comprising a single latching arm
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04B—TRANSMISSION
  • H04B1/00—Details of transmission systems, not covered by a single one of groups H04B3/00 - H04B13/00; Details of transmission systems not characterised by the medium used for transmission
  • H04B1/38—Transceivers, i.e. devices in which transmitter and receiver form a structural unit and in which at least one part is used for functions of transmitting and receiving
  • H04B1/3827—Portable transceivers
  • H04B1/3833—Hand-held transceivers
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04B—TRANSMISSION
  • H04B1/00—Details of transmission systems, not covered by a single one of groups H04B3/00 - H04B13/00; Details of transmission systems not characterised by the medium used for transmission
  • H04B1/38—Transceivers, i.e. devices in which transmitter and receiver form a structural unit and in which at least one part is used for functions of transmitting and receiving
  • H04B1/3827—Portable transceivers
  • H04B1/3883—Arrangements for mounting batteries or battery chargers
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M1/00—Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers
  • H04M1/02—Constructional features of telephone sets

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to the field of latches and particularly to battery housing latches.
• batteries for power.
• the batteries are of the rechargeable type and are removable in order to be placed in a battery charger to be recharged or to be disposed of once depleted.
• a latch mechanism In order to attach the battery, typically contained in a housing, to the electronic device, a latch mechanism must be used. This latch may be of the type requiring the housing and the latch be assembled after being molded separately. This type of latch requires greater complexity, labor, and cost to produce. There is a resulting need for a latch that is molded in the housing to reduce the cost of the device.
• the latching system of the present invention connects a first device to a second device.
• the system is comprised of a first latch coupled to the first device.
• the first latch comprising at least one protrusion that extends substantially perpendicular to a plane parallel to the first device.
• a second latch is coupled to the second device.
• the second latch is comprised of a pocket having a size such that the protrusion rests within the pocket when the first device is brought into contact with the second device. At least two sides of each of the first and second devices are coupled by means for coupling.
• FIG. 1 shows a typical radiotelephone that incorporates the latching system of the present invention.
• FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the radiotelephone housing incorporating the latch of the present invention.
• FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the battery housing incorporating the latch of the present invention.
• FIGs. 4-1, 4-2, and 4-3 show cross-sectional/operational views of the latches of the battery housing and the telephone housing.
• FIGs. 5-1, 5-2, and 5-3 show cross-sectional/operational views of an alternate embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 3 illustrates the battery housing latch (300) of the present invention.
• This latch (300) is comprised of two ribs (301 and 302) that, in the preferred embodiment, extend the length of the latch (300).
• the ribs (301 and 302) are substantially perpendicular to the back of the housing.
• these ribs (301 and 302) are angled such that their height above the battery housing back increases as they extend from the housing top (303). Alternate embodiments would use one or more ribs.
• the ribs (301 and 302) have protrusions (304 and 305) that are in the same plane as the ribs (301 and 302) but extend slightly above the height of the ribs (301 and 302).
• the protrusions (304 and 305) extend from the ribs (301 and 302) via an angled surface. This surface is angled back at a 45° angle from the vertical. Alternate embodiments could change this angle or have the protrusion at a 90° angle to the rib.
• the portion of the protrusion facing the end of the latch drops off at a 90° single to the end of the latch (300). This angle could also be different for other embodiments.
• the battery housing latch (300) is surrounded by a cut ⁇ out area (310) so that it is attached to the battery housing only by a thin, controlled section of material (311) extending along a crosswise axis, slightly angled in the preferred embodiment, through the latch (300). This material (311) is molded into the latch (300) and battery housing (350).
• the protrusion portions (304 and 305) of the latch (300) are raised up slightly due to the front portion of the latch (300) being depressed and the latch (300) pivoting on the ribs (301 and 302). As will be shown later, this rotation facilitates the removal of the battery housing (350) from the radiotelephone housing (200).
• FIG. 2 shows a view of the radiotelephone housing latch (230) of the present invention.
• the radiotelephone housing back contains a depression (210) forming a pocket that is raised above the radiotelephone housing back. This depression
• the front edge of the depression (420 in FIG. 4-1) is angled 45° from the vertical. This is the edge that will contact the leading edge of the battery housing latch (300) as it is slid into place.
• the depression (210) is just large enough to accept the protrusions (304 and 305) of the battery housing latch (300). The tolerances of the depression's dimensions must be small since the battery housing latch (300) cannot have room to move around. This would cause a rattling noise when the radiotelephone is moved and would give the radiotelephone a low quality appearance to a user.
• the sides of both the battery housing (350) and the radiotelephone housing (200) have rail connectors (220 and 320) to connect the sides of the housing to each other.
• the connectors (220 and 320) on each housing are thin, elongated protrusions from the side of the surfaces.
• the rail connectors (220 and 320) on each housing (200 and 350) are arranged such that the rail connectors (320) on the battery housing (350) are situated below the rail connectors (220) on the radiotelephone housing (200) when the two housings (200 and 350) are brought into contact. This permits the two housings (200 and 350) to move in only a back and forth direction along an axis extending through the length of the radiotelephone.
• the battery housing (350) is brought into contact with the radiotelephone housing (200) so that the side rail connectors engage.
• the battery housing (350) is then slid along the back of the radiotelephone housing (200) so that the top (303) of the battery housing is moved towards the top of the radiotelephone housing (403). This movement is illustrated in FIG. 4-1.
• the battery housing latch is forced to rotate upwards on the protrusion end.
• the battery housing latch pivots about the point of contact of the front edge of the depression and the ribs of the battery housing latch.
• FIG. 4-3 shows the latches of the battery housing and the radiotelephone housing engaged.
• the protrusion of the battery housing latch rests in the depression of the radiotelephone housing latch.
• the vertical portion (430) of the rear of the battery housing latch contacts the vertical portion (431) of the rear edge of the radiotelephone housing latch. This makes it difficult to remove the battery housing since the rail contacts only permit movement in a back and forth direction. These angles resist such a movement.
• the top of the rear portion of the protrusion has a 77° angle to reduce latch deformation when the radiotelephone experiences impacts such as from a drop.
• FIGs. 5-1 through 5-3 An alternate embodiment of the latching system of the present invention is illustrated in FIGs. 5-1 through 5-3. This embodiment uses the same depression (504) and rail connectors of the preferred embodiment. Additionally, the battery housing latch is coupled to the battery housing in the same rotational manner.
• the alternate embodiment replaces the ribs that extend the length of the battery housing latch with at least two shorter, flexible ribs (500) that have approximately the same thickness as the preferred embodiment ribs. For clarity, only one rib (500) is shown in the figures. These ribs (500) get their flexibility from an angled cutout (501) extending lengthwise through a large portion of the rib (500).
• This alternate embodiment operates by the front edge (502) of the depression (504) forcing the ribs (500) to flex upwards as seen in FIG. 5-2.
• the battery housing is latched when the tip (503) of the rib (500) is resting in the depression as illustrated in FIG. 5-3. Due to the raised position of the depression (504), the rib (500) is not allowed to re-extend to its original position. The rib (500), therefore, is applying downward pressure on the inside edges of the depression (504), thus holding the battery housing in place.
• the latching system of the present invention enables a latch to be molded into the material of the devices to be connected together. This reduces the labor required to assemble a device, thus reducing the cost associated with the device.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Telephone Set Structure (AREA)
• Battery Mounting, Suspending (AREA)
• Transplanting Machines (AREA)
• Massaging Devices (AREA)
• Casings For Electric Apparatus (AREA)
• Transceivers (AREA)
• Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)

Priority Applications (11)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=22253529

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (19)

Cited By (8)

Families Citing this family (3)

Citations (4)

Family Cites Families (5)

• 1994
  • 1994-06-20 ES ES09550009A patent/ES2117552B1/es not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1994-06-20 WO PCT/US1994/006926 patent/WO1995003642A1/en not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1994-06-20 AU AU71130/94A patent/AU669076B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 1994-06-20 JP JP7505140A patent/JPH08501897A/ja active Pending
  • 1994-06-20 CN CN94190505A patent/CN1112382A/zh active Pending
  • 1994-06-20 CA CA002142722A patent/CA2142722C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1994-06-20 PL PL94308148A patent/PL174305B1/pl unknown
  • 1994-06-20 GB GB9504954A patent/GB2285657B/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1994-06-20 KR KR1019950701055A patent/KR100221522B1/ko not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1994-06-20 HU HU9500816A patent/HUT72137A/hu unknown
  • 1994-06-20 BR BR9405523-8A patent/BR9405523A/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1994-07-13 FR FR9408716A patent/FR2709032B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1994-07-15 IT ITRM940463A patent/IT1272331B/it active IP Right Grant
  • 1994-07-19 BE BE9400686A patent/BE1007414A3/nl not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1994-08-12 TW TW083107395A patent/TW273657B/zh active
• 1995
  • 1995-03-13 NO NO950942A patent/NO950942L/no unknown
  • 1995-03-17 SE SE9500935A patent/SE9500935L/xx not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1995-03-20 FI FI951284A patent/FI951284A0/fi not_active Application Discontinuation
• 1998
  • 1998-05-23 HK HK98104470A patent/HK1005328A1/xx not_active IP Right Cessation

Patent Citations (4)

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