MXPA97002619A - Replaceable battery package in the site and method for subterran installations - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a battery pack assembly for an electrical device located in an enclosure that is located below a ground surface, the electrical device being enclosed in a device housing and the battery pack assembly comprising: waterproof material box with an upper opening for receiving a battery, the box being formed with means for joining the box to the device housing without the use of screws or other separate fasteners, at least one battery placed in the box; for electrically connecting the battery to the device through an access opening in an upper part of the electrical device housing, a material for sealing over the upper opening of the box and the battery and for sealing over the opening of the upper part of the housing of device, and an upper cover of waterproof material that covers the upper opening in the Aja, the top cover having a portion extending laterally beyond the box to cover the access opening in the device housing.

Description

REPLACEABLE BATTERY PACKAGE IN THE SITE AND METHOD FOR UNDERGROUND FACILITIES Technical Field The present invention relates to public service measurement reading units and transmitter-receivers that are located outside a building in an underground enclosure.

Previous Technique In areas of moderate climate, public service meters are located in underground enclosures in areas adjacent to residences or other housing. Such enclosures are referred to as "pits." An example of such an enclosure was illustrated in the Patent of the United States No. 5,298,894 to Cerny et al. In Cerny et al, the measured data are transmitted from an emitter-receiver unit in an underground pit to an electronic collection unit carried by a reader or by a vehicle. In Cerny et al, the emitter-receiver unit in the pit includes one or more batteries that are installed during manufacture. Eventually, such batteries require replacement. The pit environment can be filled with water. Therefore, a convenient way to handle battery replacement is needed in this rugged environment.

Brief Description of the Invention The invention is embodied in a battery pack assembly and the method for adding a replacement battery for an electrical device that is located below a ground surface. The battery pack assembly is assembled in a box of waterproof material. A pair of wires or other electrical connections are provided to electrically connect the battery to the housing of the electrical device through an access opening in the housing of the device. A material is used to fill the box to seal and protect the battery. An upper cover of waterproof material fits over an opening in the box. The top cover has a portion extending laterally beyond the battery case to cover the access opening in the device housing. In a preferred embodiment the top cover is an integrally formed member. In the method of the invention the electrical device is removed from the underground enclosure. A disconnection portion is removed from an upper wall of the device housing. At least one battery is sealed in a battery case with a pair of battery pack cables or other electrical connectors extending therefrom. The battery pack is mounted on one side of the device housing. The cables of the battery pack are connected to the terminals in the housing of the device and, the cover is provided to cover an upper opening in the battery box and the access opening in the device housing. In the method of the present invention, the original batteries are not removed from the electrical device. The sealing of the battery pack with impregnation material and the sealing around the new cover that is installed provides the unit with the environmental resistant characteristics that allow the installation of units in outdoor underground enclosures. Other objects and advantages, in addition to those described above, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the description of the preferred embodiment that follows. In the description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof and which illustrate examples of the invention. Such examples, however, are not exhaustive of the different embodiments of the invention and, therefore, reference is made to the claims that follow the description to determine the scope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a general graphic illustration showing the environment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken in the plane indicated by line 2--2 in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken in the plane indicated by line 3--3 in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a top view of a pit emitter-receiver housing in Figs. 1 2 and 3; Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken in the plane indicated by line 5--5 in Fig 4; Fig. 6 is a top view illustrating the steps in installing the battery pack shown in Figs. 1 2 and 3; and Fig. 7 is a top view illustrating the additional steps in the installation of the battery pack shown in Figs. 1 2 and 3; Fig. 8 is a front elevational view of the battery pack observed in Figs. 6 and 7; Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken in the plane indicated by line 9--9 in Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is a top view of the battery pack seen in Figs. 6 and 7 before the addition of an impregnation material; The Fig. 11 is a sectional view taken in the plane indicated by line 11--11 in FIG. 10; , Figs. 12-14 are top views illustrating a single battery embodiment of the invention; and Fig. 15 is a side elevational view of the embodiment of Figs. 12-14.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MODALITY With reference to Figs. 1 and 2, the invention is incorporated in a battery pack 40 that is attached to an emitter-receiver assembly 10, which is located in an underground pit enclosure 11. The transmitter-receiver unit 10 of Fig. 1 it is communicated by means of radio waves with a manual collection unit transported by a reader or a collection unit transported in a vehicle as shown in Cerny et al., cited above. The pit enclosure 11 is typically made of metal and includes side walls 13, 14 and a cover 15 that is removable to open the enclosure for access. A lower wall 12 is optional. The pit enclosure 11 is installed along the route of the water supply pipe 17. A water meter housing 16 is connected to the water supply line 17, using hexagonal head nuts 18, 19 which are sealed in a conventional way against leaks at the connection points. An electronic water measuring unit 20 is mounted towards the upper part of the water meter housing 16. The water meter 20 is connected by means of a shielded twisted pair cable 21 to the emitter-receiver unit 10. The assembly of transmitter-receiver 10 is attached to and hangs from the pit cover 15. The emitter-receiver housing has a cover portion 25, which encloses an antenna as described in Cerny et al., cited above. The cover 25 has a rod 24 which is inserted through an opening 29 in the pit cover 15 and is secured with a cover 22 to the pit cover 15. The cover 22 also has a hexagonal opening (not shown) through from the center to receive a stopper against alteration (not shown). The rod 24 has flattened sides, a threaded portion 28 and a hexagonal socket 31 on the upper part (Figs 4, 6 and 7) to receive the cap against alteration of hexagonal sides. The coating 25 is connected to a lower cylindrical portion 26 of the emitter-receiver housing. The cover 22, the covering portion 25 and the lower portion 26 are made of a waterproof plastic, for enclosing and protecting the electronic components of the emitter-receiver in the pit environment, which can sometimes be filled with water. Fig. 2 shows a top view of a cover 41 for the battery pack 40. The cover is preferably an integrally formed member of water impervious material, although multi-piece assemblies can also be employed. The cover 41 has a triangular insert 42 for fitting over an access opening 52 seen in Fig. 4, and an arm 43 extending from the insert 42 towards an oval cover portion 44 for enclosing the upper part of the package of battery 40. Small spaces are created between the oval cover portion 42 and the flat portion of the side wall of the cover to receive filling material after the cover 41 is in place. Fig. 3 shows the details of the connection of the battery pack 40 to the sender-receiver unit 10. The battery pack 40 is mounted on one side of the receiver-receiver housing 25, 26. The back of the battery it has a side facing the receiver-receiver housing 25, 26, as seen in Figs. 8 and 9, with curved surfaces 78, 79 and 80 for splicing the side wall. A projection 37 of Figs. 4, 5 and 6 is received in channel 75 and dovetailed edges of a tab 38 are formed on the side of the cover 25 and are received in slots 76, 77 on either side of the channel 75. This allows the box of the battery 62 is mounted on one side of the housing of the transceiver 25, 26 without the use of screws or other separate fasteners. From the battery pack 40 observed in Fig. 3, the insulated cables 47, 48 extend through a slot 97 (Fig. 8) in the wall of the battery pack 40 and a slot 98 (Fig. 3) in the side wall of the cover 25. The ring connectors 53, 54 on the ends of the cables 47, 48 are fastened with nuts 55, 56 (Fig. 7) to the terminals 50, 51 inside the housing of the receiver-receiver 25. , 26. The area around this connection is filled with filling material 57 (Fig. 3) after the cover 41 is installed. The cover 41 has a dependent flange 46 that fits within the wall of the battery case 62. In Fig. 3 a circuit board 70 is also shown, which is sealed by filler material 58 in the battery case 62 As seen in Fig. 4, an upper wall 32 of the cover 25 has a disconnection portion 33 of generally triangular shape traced by the frangible score line 34. A vertex is near an external wall of the receiver housing 25, 26 and has a generally rectangular slot 38 for receiving a screwdriver or other tool for raising and separating the disconnection portion 33. The other two vertices of the portion 33 are enclosed and positioned inwardly from the outer wall. The side wall of the cover 25 has a flat portion 36 slightly inwardly of the cylindrical side wall of the receiver-receiver housing 25, 26 along the apex of the disconnection portion 33. As seen in Fig. 6, when the disconnection portion 33 is removed, an opening 52 is provided for access to the power terminals of the transceiver 50, 51. The T-shaped barrier wall 39 physically separates and insulates the terminals 50, 51. They are also seen in Figs. 4, 6 and 7 the shielded twisted pair cable 21 that connects to the meter 20 in Fig. 1. The battery pack 40 is shown with the cover 41 removed to the exposed filler material 58 that is used to fill and around the components in the box 62, which is made of waterproof material. Figs. 10 and 11 show details of the battery pack 40, including the cables 66, 67 and 68, 69 connecting the top and bottom of each respective battery 60, 61, the rib spacers 65 along walls internal of the two tubes 63, 64 formed in the box 62 to receive the batteries 60, 61. The battery pack 40 contains a small circuit board 70 with the diodes 71, 72 and a capacitor 73 connected in a circuit so that if a battery 60, 61 is discharged, it will not provide a discharge path for the other battery 60, 61. The sealing material 58, such as GE RTV-162 is added and fills the sides of the batteries 60, 61 within the bottom of the box 62. The sealing material 58 also covers the upper part of the batteries 60, 61 and the circuit board 70 as seen in Figs. 6 and 7. The invention can also be used with a single battery pack. An AA-size lithium battery actually provides 4.5 years of 70 ° service and since the batteries are upgraded, this life expectancy is also expected to improve. As seen in Figs. 12-14, a battery pack 80 having a housing 81 containing an individual battery 82 can also be mounted on the side wall of the receiver-receiver housing 25, 26. Again, after a disconnect 94 is renewed as Along the incision line 95 using an implement in the slot 96, the ring terminals 85, 86 on the two battery cables 83, 84 are connected to the insulated terminals using screw fasteners 87, 88. A cover 90 with a portion 91 formed to cover the upper part of the battery case 81 and the tapered walls facing away from the battery case 81 has an arm 92 that is attached to a triangular insert portion 93 that replaces the disconnection portion 94. In the method of the invention, the battery or replacement batteries are supplied in either the 2-battery pack 40 or the 80-pack individual battery, respectively. In any case, the emitter-receiver assembly 10 must be removed from the pit 11 and the pit cover 15. Any dirt or debris must be removed from the cover tab 38 and the edges assembled in a dovetail. Then, the triangular disconnection 33, 94 is removed from the upper part of the transmitter-receiver housing 25 using a screwdriver or other tool inserted in the slot 35, 96 and is levering upwards to separate the disconnection 33, 94 a along respective incision lines 34, 95. The battery pack 40, 80 slides down into the tab 38, the vertically placed edges of the tab 38 which are received in the slots 76, 77. The cables 47, 48 or 83, 84 of the battery pack 40 or 80 are connected to the positive and negative terminals in the sender-receiver unit 10. Next, the terminal cover 41, 90 is adjusted in place to cover the upper opening 59. of battery pack 40, 80 and the exposed disconnection area. Using a filler gun, a compound 57 such as GE-RTV 162 is injected under the cover 41, 90 to fill the region of the terminals 50, 51 as seen in Fig. 3. The cured RTV 162 can be removed if it is necessary to make further replacements of the battery pack 40, 80. The sender-receiver 10 is then restored or reprogrammed before being replaced in the pit 11. This has been a description of two examples of how the invention can be carried out. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various details may be modified to arrive at other detailed embodiments and, those embodiments will come within the scope of the invention. Therefore, in order to appreciate the public nature of the scope of the invention and the modalities covered by it, the following claims were made.

Claims (1)

1. A battery pack assembly for an electrical device located in an enclosure that is located below a ground surface, the electrical device being enclosed in a device housing, and the battery pack assembly comprising: a box of water-impermeable material with an upper opening for receiving a battery, the box being formed with means for joining the box to the device housing without the use of screws or other separate fasteners; at least one battery placed in the box; means for electrically connecting the battery to the device through an access opening in an upper part of the electrical device housing; a material for sealing on the upper opening of the box and the battery and for sealing on the opening of the upper part of the device housing; and an upper cover of waterproof material covering the upper opening in the box, the upper cover having a portion extending laterally beyond the box to cover the access opening in the device housing. The battery pack assembly of claim 1, wherein the device housing is generally cylindrical and the housing is mounted on a side wall of the device housing in a side-to-side relationship to the housing of the device. The battery pack of claim 1, wherein the device housing and the battery pack each have a side wall with a port through which the means for electrically connecting the battery to the electrical device extends from the opening top of the battery pack towards the top opening of the device housing. 4. The battery pack assembly of claim 1, wherein the top cover is an integrally formed member. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the means for attaching the battery case to the device housing includes a pair of slots for receiving a pair of engageable dovetail assemblies formed on the device housing. The assembly of claim 5, wherein the means for attaching the battery case to the device housing further includes a rounded channel for receiving a rounded projection formed on one side of the device housing, the rounded channel being positioned between the pair of slots. 7. A method for adding a new battery to an electrical device used in an underground enclosure, the electrical device being placed in a device housing, the method comprising the steps of: removing the housing of the device from the underground enclosure; removing a disconnecting portion of an upper wall of the device housing to provide an access opening for access of a pair of electrical terminals in the device housing; mounting a sealed battery in the battery case with a pair of battery pack cables extending therefrom to one side of the device housing; connect the cables of the battery pack to the terminals in the device housing; providing a sealed battery pack cover over a top opening in the battery box and the access opening in the device housing. The assembly of claim 7, wherein providing a sealed battery further includes the steps of: placing the battery pack cover on the upper opening in the battery case and the access opening in the device housing; and sealing the area of the upper opening in the battery case and the access opening through one or more ports formed by spaces between the battery pack cover and an upper wall of the device housing in the region of a side wall of the device housing.