CN201107812Y - Battery pack - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model provides a battery pack, charger to and be used for wiring row and the wireless electric tool of this subassembly, charger. The assembly includes a battery cell disposed between end caps and in a lower housing of the assembly, and an encapsulating boat that houses assembly electronics electrically connected to the battery between the end caps and is located in an upper housing. The module terminal block is connected to the package boat within the upper housing. Both the charger and the power tool include a terminal block for providing an electrical connection between the charger/tool and the battery pack. The terminal block is configured to float laterally to provide a displacement movement within the charger housing or the tool housing for aligning the battery pack terminal block.

Description

battery pack

technical field

Exemplary embodiments generally relate to battery assemblies and chargers for cordless power tool systems, to terminal blocks for battery assemblies, and to terminal blocks for cordless power tools and battery chargers for interfacing with battery assembly terminal blocks.

Background technique

Wireless products using rechargeable batteries are common in all workplaces as well as at home. Rechargeable batteries are used in many devices ranging from household items to power tools. Typically, nickel-cadmium (NiCd), nickel metal-hydrogen (NiMH), and/or lithium-ion (Li-ion) cells are used in these devices. Since these devices use many battery cells, the battery cells are often assembled into battery packs. These battery packs can be integrated with the wireless device and fastened to the device. The battery pack can be removed from the wireless device and charged in a battery charger or in the wireless device itself.

One disadvantage associated with wireless devices is frequent charging of the battery pack due to power limitations of the battery pack. Charging of the battery requires releasable disconnection of the battery pack from the wireless device. As a result, the connection between the battery pack and the wireless device can weaken (degrade the electrical connection) and/or break the connection.

A terminal bar may be provided on the battery pack and the wireless device for releasably interconnecting and electrically connecting the battery pack and the wireless device. The terminal blocks may include connections that prevent any lateral and longitudinal movement relative to each terminal bank.

Furthermore, the battery assembly can be centered along the axis of the wireless device by engaging the guide rails on the battery pack with cooperating guide rails carried by the wireless device. The battery pack is then more precisely centered by engagement of the tool terminal strips with the battery pack terminal strips.

However, due to the frequent interconnection between the terminal blocks, the blades on the terminal blocks can deteriorate or break. This can cause misalignment between the tabs of two connected terminal blocks. This misalignment can adversely affect the mechanical and electrical connection between the two terminal blocks.

Utility model content

Exemplary embodiments relate to a battery assembly having an assembly housing comprised of an upper housing portion and a lower housing portion, and a plurality of battery cells positioned within the lower housing portion between a pair of end caps. The assembly includes a potting boat located inside the upper housing portion. The packaging boat houses assembly electronics electrically connected to the battery cells between the end caps. The battery assembly includes a terminal block attached to the housing boat and located inside the upper housing for engaging the terminal block of an attached cordless tool or charger.

Another exemplary embodiment relates to a charger having an upper housing portion and a lower housing portion. The charger includes an open deck cavity formed therethrough at the location of the upper housing and the lower housing for receiving the battery pack. The charger includes a pair of vertically spaced rails on the sides of the open recessed cavity for engaging grooves on the battery pack. The charger includes a terminal block located inside the open concave cavity for providing electrical connection between the charger and the battery pack. The terminal block is configured to float laterally, thereby providing displacement movement of the terminal block inside the housing for aligning the battery pack inside the charger.

Another exemplary embodiment relates to a cordless power tool. A cordless power tool comprising a housing comprised of a first clamshell half and a second clamshell half joined at the housing longitudinal centerline of the bisected clamshell halves together. The cordless power tool includes a pair of spaced apart rails along opposite side edges on the bottom of the tool housing for engaging the recesses of the battery pack. A terminal block is located on the bottom of the housing to provide electrical communication between the cordless power tool and the battery pack. The terminal block is configured to float laterally to provide displacement movement of the terminal block within the housing for aligning the battery pack with the power tool.

Another exemplary embodiment relates to a terminal block for engaging with a terminal block of a battery pack in an electronic device. The device terminal block includes a main body, a logic terminal between a single power terminal and a pair of power terminals and located at the center of the main body, and a logic terminal protector located under the logic terminal. A plurality of ribs are provided on one of an underside of the main body above the logic terminals and a surface of the logic terminal protector below the logic terminals.

Another exemplary embodiment relates to a system having a battery pack and a battery charger. The battery assembly includes an assembly casing and a battery terminal block arranged therein. The battery terminal block includes the battery logic area and multiple female power terminals. The component housing includes a pair of grooves, each groove being formed along opposite sides of the component housing.

The charger includes a charger housing having a pair of longitudinally spaced apart rails for slidably receiving corresponding recesses in the component housing. The charger housing includes a charger terminal block located in the open cavity of the charger housing for receiving the battery terminal block of the assembly. The charger terminal block includes logic terminals configured to fit snugly within the battery logic area, and includes a plurality of male tab terminals for engaging the female terminals in the battery terminal block. The charger terminal block is displaceable within the open cavity so that it can be moved from side to side to align the battery terminal block with respect to the charger terminal block prior to connecting the corresponding terminal strips and logic terminals.

Another exemplary embodiment relates to a system having a battery pack and a cordless power tool. The battery assembly includes an assembly housing and a battery terminal block disposed therein, and the battery terminal bar includes a battery logic area and a plurality of female screw terminals. The component housing includes a pair of grooves, each groove being formed along opposite sides of the component housing.

The power tool includes a tool housing having a pair of spaced apart rails disposed on a bottom side edge of the tool housing and slidably received in corresponding recesses in the component housing. The tool housing includes a tool terminal block for a snug fit with the battery terminal block. The tool terminal block includes logic terminals configured to fit closely within the battery logic area and a plurality of male blade terminals for engaging the female terminals in the battery terminal block. The tool terminal block is displaceable in the tool housing so that it can be moved from side to side to align the battery terminal block with respect to the tool terminal block prior to connecting the corresponding terminal strips and logic terminals.

Description of drawings

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like steps are designated with like reference numerals, which are given for illustration only , so it does not limit the utility model.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a battery assembly according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an upper casing of a battery assembly according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a battery assembly without an upper case according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a configuration of battery cells according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a battery assembly terminal block according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a terminal block according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a charger with a terminal block according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a bottom plan view of a power tool with a terminal block according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a tool terminal block according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a top view of a terminal block according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of interconnected terminal blocks according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

It should be noted that for purposes of describing these exemplary embodiments, these figures are intended to illustrate the general features of the method and apparatus of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention. These figures, however, are not intended to scale and may not accurately reflect the characteristics of any given embodiment, and should not be construed as defining or limiting numerical ranges or properties of exemplary embodiments within the scope of the present invention. The relative dimensions and sizes of tools, battery assemblies, and battery chargers may be reduced or exaggerated for clarity. The same reference numerals are used to designate like and corresponding parts in the various figures.

As used herein, a power tool may be understood as a cordless power tool that uses a lightweight portable power source, such as a lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery that can provide power matching its use. Exemplary power tools may include, but are not limited to, drills, high torque punches, single-handed metalworking tools, automatic nailers, hand planers, circular saws, jigsaws, variable speed belt sanders, reciprocating saws, Drills that require two hands such as rock drills that rotate and destroy thickness, routers, cutting tools, planers, drill presses, table saws, planers, miter saws, metalworking tools, cut-off saws, cutters, Bench Grinder etc. Some of these tools are currently only commercially available in corded models, but could be made wireless. These classifications are not intended to be inclusive of all power tools that may be applied to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, but are merely illustrative.

Those skilled in the art should understand that the battery assembly described herein includes a plurality of battery cells disposed in the battery assembly casing. For example, depending on the chemical composition, electrodes, and electrolytes of the individual battery cells of the battery assembly, the battery assembly can be embodied as at least one of lithium-ion (Li-ion), nickel-cadmium (NiCd), nickel-metal hydride (NiMH), and lead-acid battery assemblies. A sort of. The battery cells can be connected in series and/or in parallel.

With continued reference to the figures, exemplary embodiments relate to docking between the cordless power tool 30 and the battery pack 10 and docking between the battery charger 50 and the battery pack 10 . In the remainder of this detailed description, it should be understood that the docking described herein can be used with a variety of other substantially identical tools.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a battery assembly according to an exemplary embodiment. The battery pack 10 includes a case 100 . The illustrated housing 100 includes an upper housing 110 and a lower housing 120 joined at a longitudinally extending divider line 125 . Alternatively, it should be appreciated that the housing 100 may comprise two halves joined at a transversely extending dividing line, or other various configurations comprising two or more housing sections. In an exemplary embodiment, the battery assembly housing 100 has an overall length of about 11 cm, an overall width of about 7.75 cm, and an overall height of about 3 cm.

Both upper housing portion 110 and lower housing portion 120 are integrally constructed of rigid plastic or other suitable material. The upper housing portion 110 and the lower housing portion 120 are held together by threaded fasteners 132 . Threaded fasteners 132 pass through cooperating holes 144 and/or through integrally formed holes 144 and threaded raised portions 146 on each side of upper housing portion 110 and lower housing portion 120 . When assembled, the fastener 132 is threaded into the threaded raised portion 146 of the housing 110,120. However, it should be understood that the housings 110, 120 may be joined together by means known in the art. In addition, the lower housing 120 is provided with a peripheral groove 152 (shown in FIG. 3 ) extending around an upper edge portion of the lower housing 120 for receiving a corresponding mating rib extending peripherally around the lower half of the upper housing 110. 193 (shown in Figure 2).

The upper housing 110 includes a slotted opening 161 through which the locking pin 155 extends. The lock pin 155 is a release mechanism for releasing the battery pack 10 from the electric tool 30 . The operator can release the battery pack 10 from the power tool 30 by pressing the lock release button 150 . Preferably, the latch release button 150 is provided in the rear area of the assembly 10 . By depressing the latch release button 150, the latch 155 is pushed from the "locked" position to the "released" position. In the "released" position, the locking pin 155 no longer blocks a recessed area (not shown) in the tool 30 . As a result, the battery pack 10 can be easily removed from the battery receiving portion of the power tool 30 by pressing the latch release button 150 provided on the rear area of the pack 10 .

The upper housing 110 includes a plurality of openings 164 for receiving threaded fasteners (not shown) for attachment in an encapsulation boat 190 (shown in FIG. 3 ), which will be described in detail hereinafter. describe.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an upper case 110 of a battery assembly according to an exemplary embodiment. Referring to FIG. 2 , the upper housing 110 includes an upper portion 175 and a lower portion 176 that slideably engage the cordless power tool 30 or the charger 50 . A battery pack terminal block 200 is disposed in the upper portion 175, which is further described below. The shape of upper housing 110 to include upper portion 175 provides an efficient alignment system between battery assembly 10 and cordless power tool 30 during insertion and removal. In other words, the upper portion 175 of the upper housing 110 is used to roughly align the battery assembly 10 with the tool housing or charger housing and reduce the allowable stacked components to only two parts. This differs from conventional wireless docking, which offer a large number of stacked components such as battery housings and a large number of rail systems.

Upper housing 110 includes recesses 180 formed on each side below rails 179 for slidably engaging rails (not shown) of cordless power tool 30 or charger 50 . The groove 180 can be aligned with a guide rail on the tool (or charger) housing (not shown), so that the tool terminal block 300 directly contacts the battery terminal bar 200 . Because the two terminal blocks 200, 300 are directly accessible for alignment purposes, the number of allowable stack-up components required for alignment can be reduced.

To facilitate insertion and releasable connection of the battery pack 10 to the cordless power tool 30 , the upper portion 175 of the upper housing 110 includes a pair of guide rails 179 each formed on one side of the upper housing 110 . Rail 179 is slidably received into cooperating grooves defined by ribs 612 , 614 (best shown in FIG. 8 ) formed in housing 600 of cordless power tool 30 . In particular, the bottom of the tool housing 600 is constructed and arranged to receive and secure the battery assembly 10 in the battery receiving portion 202 .

Rail 179 generally has an inverted "L-shaped" configuration and is formed as a vertical member 181 extending upwardly from the horizontal surface of upper housing 110, and a flange member 182 extending laterally from and substantially perpendicular to vertical member 181. , as shown in Figure 2. The laterally spaced guide rails 179 are mirror images of each other to slidably engage and cooperate with the first and second guide grooves 612, 614, respectively, of the cordless power tool 30. The flange member 182 of each rail 179 includes a chamfered or beveled guide edge 183 . The chamfered or beveled guide edge 183 allows for easier alignment and interconnection between the guide rail 179 and the guide grooves 612 , 614 . The opening 188 on each side is located under the beveled leading edge 183 of the flange member 182 to ensure the positioning of the battery terminal block 200 in the upper housing 110 . The ends of the battery terminal block 200 protrude or protrude slightly through the opening 188 .

The battery pack terminal block 200 is thus disposed in the upper portion 175 of the upper housing 110 . The battery pack terminal block 200 generally includes a main body portion 210 (shown in FIG. 5 ) that primarily mates with the terminal block 300 of the cordless power tool 30 or charger 50 .

The upper portion 175 includes a plurality of tab-shaped terminal openings 191 for receiving corresponding terminals 512, 514, 516 of the tool/charger terminal block 300 (best shown in FIG. 9). The tab-shaped terminal openings 191 ensure that the terminals 512 , 514 , 516 of the tool/charger terminal block 300 are properly aligned therein and prevent any bent or damaged terminals 512 , 514 , 516 from entering the engaged battery pack terminal block 200 .

Rails 189 are located on the top front surface of lower portion 120 near tab terminal openings 191 to help facilitate insertion of cordless power tool 30 or terminal block 300 of charger 50 . In other words, the track 189 may roughly or roughly align the two terminal blocks 200,300. Also, during engagement of the two terminal blocks 200, 300, the track 189 serves to prevent displacement movement of the tool/charger terminal block 300 when the battery pack terminal block 200 is engaged. In other words, the track 189 allows for a slight deviation (±2 mm) in displacement movement of the attached tool/charger terminal block 300 .

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the battery assembly 10 without the upper casing 110 and exposing the interior of the battery assembly 10 . As shown in FIG. 3 , the assembly 10 includes a packaged boat 190 connected to a terminal block 200 . The packaging boat 190 and terminal block 200 may be connected together by a reed and groove connector 177 . It should be understood that other connections may be used. The connectors 177 will seal the interface between the packaging boat 190 and the terminal block 200 , allowing the electronic components to be populated inside the packaging boat 190 to be encapsulated with a packaging compound. The potting compound also helps to mechanically restrain the terminal block 200 in place within the battery assembly 10 . Moreover, compared with the case where the terminal block 200 is located at the top of the packaging boat 190, by connecting the terminal block 200 to the packaging boat 190, the terminal block 200 serves as the fourth wall of the packaging boat 190, thereby storing the packaged electronic components The encapsulation material of is accommodated in the boat-shaped part 190. This results in a more efficient and slimmer configuration of the assembly 10 .

Packaging boat 190 includes openings 192 on the top surface for receiving fasteners 132 to secure upper housing 110 to packaging boat 190 . In particular, the packaging boat 190 and terminal block 200 fit in a concave area (not shown) inside the upper portion 175 of the upper housing 110 . Still referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 , fasteners 132 extend through openings 164 in upper portion 175 and engage threaded openings 192 at corners of packaging boat 190 . This lifts the packaging boat 190 and the attached battery pack terminal strip 200 in the upper portion 175 . The potting boat 190 is inverted into the upper portion 175 so that the potting electronic components can be contained within the potting boat 190 by having the potting compound face down toward the lower housing 120 .

Referring to FIG. 4 , and referring also to FIG. 3 , the packaging boat 190 is spaced from an end cap 196 that houses a battery cell 195 therein. A gap is provided between the potting boat 190 in the upper housing 110 and the end cap 196 in the lower housing 120 by a plurality of raised protrusions 197 formed along the top side of the end cap 196 . These protrusions 197 provide for proper alignment between components in the upper housing 110 and lower housing 120 when the housings 110, 120 are clamped together.

The end cap 196 serves as the primary member supporting all battery internal components including the battery cells 195 . The internal structural arrangement between the upper housing and the lower housing in the battery assembly is described in detail in Phillips et al., filed October 25, 2006, entitled "Instrumentation in Battery Assemblies for Cordless Power Tool Systems" Co-pending U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 11/552,847 for "BATTERY PACKAND INTERNAL COMPONENT ARRANGEMENT WITHIN THE BATTERYPACK FOR CORDLESS POWER TOOL SYSTEM", the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

Although not shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 , the battery cells 195 are electrically connected to the packaged electronics in the packaged boat 190 through connectors connected to the packaged circuit of the packaged boat 190 . The connectors interface with a connector 198 integrated into each end cap 196 . Power terminal leads (not shown) from the battery cells 195 are also electrically connected to the battery pack terminal block 200, as is known.

5 and 6 are schematic diagrams of the terminal block 200 of the battery pack. Referring to FIG. 5 , a battery pack terminal block 200 is disposed in the upper housing 110 and is constructed and arranged to engage with a terminal block 300 disposed inside the cordless power tool 30 or the charger 50 . Thus, electrical communication is provided between the battery pack terminal block 200 and the tool/charger terminal bar 300 .

The battery pack terminal block 200 includes a battery logic area portion 215 adapted to receive the logic terminals of the tool/charger terminal bar 300 . A plurality of contacts 211 are provided on the inner surface of the battery logic area portion 215 to engage with a plurality of contacts (not shown) on the tool/charger terminal block 300 . The plurality of contacts 211 may be formed on an upper surface and/or a lower surface of a battery logic area portion 215, as shown in FIG. 6 .

The battery pack terminal block 200 includes a plurality of reeds 212, 214 and 216 to conduct positive and negative charges. Tongue 212 engages and is adapted to receive the male tab-shaped terminal 512 of the tool/charger terminal block 300, reed 214 engages and is adapted to receive the male tab-shaped terminal 514 of the tool/charger terminal block 300, reed 216 engages and Male blade terminal 516 (shown in FIG. 9 ) adapted to receive tool/charger terminal block 300 . Furthermore, the tongues 212 , 214 , 216 can therefore be understood as female terminals of the terminal block 200 . Reeds 212, 214, and 216 may be made of a conductive metal, such as phosphor bronze and/or beryllium copper, so as to conduct positive and negative polarity charges. Tongues 212, 214 and 216 also ensure tight engagement with tab terminals 512, 514 and 516, respectively. In one embodiment, the reed 212 is the positive terminal and the reeds 214, 216 are the negative terminals.

The battery pack terminal block 200 includes apertures 220 for receiving logic terminal protectors 520 (best shown in FIG. 9 ) of the attached tool 50 or charger 30 . The hole 220 should be the same size as the logic terminal protector 520 to provide a tight fit. The holes 220 can also be used as centering and guiding means for the terminal strips 200 , 300 .

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 9 , the battery pack terminal block 200 includes a pair of laterally spaced protrusions 225 . The protrusion 225 is adapted to slidably engage the inside of a pair of laterally spaced grooves 530 in the tool/charger terminal block 300 . The laterally spaced protrusions 225 help establish a more precise alignment with the tool/charger terminal block 300 . The leading edges of the grooves 530 may be chamfered or angled to facilitate slidable engagement of the protrusions 225 with the laterally spaced grooves 530 .

The following description relating to the terminal blocks of the cordless power tool 30 or the charger 50 should refer to FIGS. 7-11 . FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a charger 50 having a terminal block 300 according to an exemplary embodiment. Referring to FIG. 7 , the charger 50 includes a charger housing 410 . The charger case 410 includes an upper case 413 and a lower case 415 joined on a longitudinally extending partition line 417 . The charger housing 410 includes an LED indicator 412 for indicating the state of charge in the connected battery pack. Although the exemplary embodiment illustrates the case of three (3) LED indicators, it should be understood that more than three (3) or less than three (3) indicators may be used depending on the desired functionality. Charger housing 410 includes an open recessed cavity 425 for vertically receiving a battery pack (not shown).

To facilitate releasable insertion of the battery pack 10 into the charger housing 410 , the open recess cavity 425 includes a pair of grooves 427 on lateral sides of the open recess cavity 425 . The pair of grooves 427 are adapted to receive cooperating guide rails 179 on the battery pack 10 . Therefore, insertion and removal of the battery pack 10 into and from the charger 30 may be facilitated by means of the groove-rail engagement.

The battery charger terminal block 300 is disposed inside the open recessed cavity 425 . The terminal block 300 provides logic terminal and power terminal connections between the charger 50 and the battery pack 10 , eg, electrical communication between the charger 50 and the battery pack 10 . Terminal block 300 includes power terminals 512, 514, and 516 and logic terminal 511 (best shown in FIG. 9). In this embodiment, the power terminals include one positive power terminal (male terminal 512) and two negative power terminals (male terminals 514, 516) each for charging and discharging operations.

In FIG. 7 , arrows 305 are shown to represent the relative lateral movement of the terminal block 300 . Terminal block 300 may float (from left to right) to align the terminals of charger 50 when battery pack 10 is inserted into charger 50 . In an example, displacement movement of ±2 mm is possible in each direction. It should be understood that the terminal block 300 may move with more or less lateral displacement depending on the tool/charger design.

The displacement movement enables precise alignment prior to any mating of any terminals (power or logic) of the terminal blocks 200, 300. Also, displacement movement of the tool/charger terminal blocks 200, 300 reduces the tightening tolerances required to align the logic and power terminals, since alignment occurs prior to mating of any terminals. As discussed above, the track 189 on the upper housing 110 of the assembly 100 determines the amount of displacement movement when the two terminal blocks 200, 300 are connected.

FIG. 8 is a bottom schematic view of an electrically cordless power tool 30 according to an exemplary embodiment. For purposes of illustration, power tool 30 is a power drill/screwdriver; however it should be understood that other tools may be used as discussed above. The cordless power tool 30 has a housing 602 which may be molded from a suitable plastic material such as polyethylene, polypropylene and/or polyurethane. In one embodiment, the power tool housing 602 is injection molded to have two equal sections 602A, 602B. The two halves 602A, 602B are fastened together in a conventional manner using mechanical fasteners (not shown), such as screws.

A first rail 612 is formed along the right edge of the housing 602 and a second rail 614 is formed along the left edge of the housing 602 at the bottom of the cordless power tool 30 . The first rail 612 and the second rail 614 are designed to cooperate with the grooves of the battery pack. For example, battery assembly 10 , particularly in FIG. 2 , includes cooperating grooves 180 to slidably engage and interlock first rail 612 and second rail 614 , as previously discussed.

A chamfered or beveled edge 617 is formed on the leading edge of the rails 612 , 614 to facilitate alignment and interlocking between the groove 180 on the battery assembly 10 and the rails 612 , 614 of the tool housing 602 .

Arrow 305 in FIG. 8 is intended to represent the relative lateral movement of the tool strip 300 . The tool terminal block 300 can be floated sideways to align the terminals of the cordless power tool 300 with the battery pack 10 before the battery pack 10 is inserted into the cordless power tool 30 . Depending on the design of the tool 30, displacement movement of ±2mm in one or the appropriate direction is possible. The displaceable movement enables more precise alignment between the assembly and the tool terminal strips 200,300.

To further facilitate the connection of the battery pack 10 to the cordless power tool 30 , a concave portion 619 is provided at the end of the cordless power tool 30 . The female portion 619 is conventional in structure and operation and engages a corresponding latch (not shown) of the battery pack 10 when inserted. Movement of the battery assembly 10 may thus be prevented until the spring bias of the latch pin is overcome in a conventional manner, within the contemplation of the exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a detailed schematic diagram of a terminal block 300 according to an exemplary embodiment. The terminal block 300 may be used with an electronic device such as the cordless power tool 30 or charger 50 discussed above. Terminal block 300 may be molded from any suitable plastic material, such as glass-reinforced PBT, glass-filled nylon, polyethylene, polypropylene, and/or polyurethane. However, other materials may be used to make terminal block 300 . Terminal block 300 engages battery terminal block 200 (best shown in FIG. 11 ).

Referring to FIG. 9 , the main body 501 of the terminal block 300 includes a top plate 502 and a back plate 505 . Top plate 502 is suitably attached to the surface of an electronic device such as cordless power tool 30 or charger 50 . Top plate 502 may be attached to cordless power tool 30 or charger 50 by, for example, a groove-and-guide arrangement, adhesive, fasteners, or any other suitable means. The backplane 505 includes electrical connections of logic terminals and power terminals by wires (not shown).

Terminal block 300 includes a logic terminal portion 510 and power terminals (male terminals 512, 514, and 516). The logic terminal portion 510 is configured to be inserted into the battery logic area portion 215 of the battery pack terminal block 200 . Logic terminal portion 510 includes a plurality of contacts 511 that engage contacts 211 on battery pack terminal block 200 (shown in FIG. 5 ) in electrical communication. In one embodiment, contacts 511 are disposed on one or both surfaces of logic terminal portion 510, as shown in FIG. 5 . The electrical communication function of logic terminal portion 510 is generally known and will not be discussed in detail here. Seven contacts 511 are shown on logic terminal 510 in FIG. 9; however, it should be understood that a different number of contacts 511 may be used depending on functional requirements.

The power terminal 512 is specifically a positive male terminal tab and is adapted to engage with the contact tongue 212 (female terminal) in the battery terminal block 200 . Power terminals 514 and 516 are negative male terminal tabs and are adapted to engage contact tongues 214 and 216 (female tabs) in battery terminal block 200 , respectively. The power terminal 514 is used for the charging function and the power terminal 516 is used for the discharging function. It should be understood that the charging/discharging functions in these two terminals 514, 516 could be reversed.

Referring to FIG. 10 , the power terminal 516 is slightly offset (or longer) than the power terminal 514 and the power terminal 512 , so the terminal 516 first contacts the reed 216 on the battery assembly 10 (first matches with the reed 216 ). In other words, the charge negative (ground) power terminal 516 is offset or extended forward relative to the other terminals 512 , 514 so as to be mated first and prior to the other power terminals 512 , 514 . Offset negative terminal 516 establishes a ground connection, thereby acting as a shock safety mechanism and/or avoiding electrostatic shock in cordless power tool 30 or charger 50 and/or battery pack 10 . Also, a longer or offset negative power terminal 516 may use the same geometry as the discharge negative and positive terminals while enabling the negative terminal tab to be mated first before the other terminals. This establishes a solid ground before connecting other circuits.

Referring to FIG. 9 , the terminal block 300 includes a logic terminal protector 520 under the logic terminal 510 . The logic terminal protector 520 engages the hole 220 (shown in FIG. 5 ) in the battery pack terminal block 200 . The logic terminal protector 520 may be embodied as a longitudinally elongated flat plate located under the logic terminal 510 so as to serve as a guide for insertion into the battery pack terminal block 200 . Logic terminal protector 520 is generally the same width as logic terminal 510 and may shield logic terminal 510 from debris and contaminants. Additionally, logic terminal protector 520 may protect logic terminals 510 from damage during a crash with tool 30 (or charger 50) and/or serve as a "lockout" design to prevent interaction with other non-standard or inappropriate Matching combination between battery components.

The main body 501 includes a plurality of ribs 507 for reinforcing the structure of the terminal block 300 . The plurality of ribs 507 may also serve as a "stop" feature when the terminal block 300 is interconnected with the battery pack terminal block 200 . Ribs 507 may be provided under the top plate 505 , formed on the surface of the logic terminal protector 520 , or both, as shown in FIG. 9 .

Terminal block 300 includes a pair of laterally spaced grooves 530 . The laterally spaced grooves 530 fit to constrain the terminal block 300 within the cordless power tool 30 or charger 50 . The terminal block 300 includes an extension 519 on the surface of the terminal block. Extension 519 is a structural component that acts as a “stop” component of terminal block 300 .

Terminal block 300 includes a pair of holes 540 . Each hole accommodates a coil spring 545 therein. The spring 545 can engage the surface of the flange member track 182 on the battery pack 10 to absorb the shock force when the cordless power tool 30 (or the charger 50 ) engages the battery pack 10 . In other words, the spring 545 can act as a shock absorber that reduces shock. The spring 245 can also provide resistance when the tool and battery are connected (eg, the spring 245 not only affects mechanical engagement/disengagement, but also causes the electrical connection between the battery pack and the tool to be safely disconnected). Also, a spring 245 may assist in ejecting the battery pack. When the user presses the detent button, the spring 245 effectively pushes the battery pack out of the terminals and makes it easier for the user to remove the battery pack from the tool.

Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of interconnected terminal blocks 200, 300 according to an exemplary embodiment. Referring to FIG. 11 , battery terminal block 200 and terminal block 300 are interconnected to illustrate mechanical and electrical connections. The terminal block 300 may be part of the housing of the power tool 300 or the charger 50 . Accordingly, the terminal block 300 typically forms part of an electronic device to be engaged with a battery pack, such as pack 10 .

The battery assembly terminal block 200 includes a female positive terminal (reed 212 ), a first female negative terminal (reed 214 ), and a second female negative terminal (reed 216 ). The female positive terminal 212 is adapted to engage the male blade terminal 512 of the terminal block 300 . The first female negative terminal 214 is adapted to engage the male terminal 514 of the terminal block 300 and the second female negative terminal 216 is adapted to engage the male terminal 516 of the tool/charger terminal block 300 .

When the battery pack 10 is inserted into the cordless power tool 30 or the charger 50, the alignment of the battery pack terminals and the tool/charger terminals occurs in two stages. In the first stage, the rails 179 of the battery assembly 10 are loosely or roughly engaged with the mating rails 612 , 614 in the tool housing 602 . To facilitate cooperating engagement of the rails, the leading edges of the rails 179 are chamfered or angled 183 (best shown in FIG. 2 ). Also, the leading edges of the rails 612, 614 are chamfered or angled (617 shown in FIG. 8).

In the second stage, which occurs after the battery assembly 10 has entered the electronic device housing (i.e., the tool housing 602 or the charger opening 425) for a relative distance, includes laterally spaced grooves 530 (shown in FIG. 9 ) The tool terminal bar 300 of the battery assembly 10 engages with the guide rail 189 on the upper surface of the lower portion 176 on the upper housing 110 of the battery pack 10 (FIG. 2). Rail 189 ensures proper alignment with groove 530 (see FIGS. 9 and 11 ) for centering terminal block 300 with terminal block 200 and provides a displaceable distance for terminal block 300 .

Exemplary embodiments thus being described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the exemplary embodiments, and all such variations would readily occur to one skilled in the art to be included within the scope of the claims.

Claims (16)

1. a battery component is characterized in that, described battery component comprises:

The package shell that comprises upper case part and lower case part;

At a plurality of battery units of lower case partial interior between a pair of end cap;

Be positioned at the encapsulation ship shape parts of upper case partial interior, these encapsulation ship shape parts hold with end cap between the encapsulating electronic components that is electrically connected of battery unit; And

Is connected and is positioned at the line bank of upper case partial interior with encapsulation ship shape parts, be used for meshing with the line bank of Wireless Power Tools that are connected or charger.

2. according to the battery component of claim 1, it is characterized in that upper case and lower case part all have integrally formed thread protrusion part respectively, and be aligned with each other when these two parts put together.

3. according to the battery component of claim 1, it is characterized in that upper case partly comprises a plurality of openings, be used for receiving the threaded securing member of formation so that encapsulation ship shape parts are connected the recessed zone of upper case part.

4. according to the battery component of claim 1, it is characterized in that upper case partly comprises pair of guide rails, each guide rail is formed on the side of upper case part, is used for receiving slidably the Wireless Power Tools that connected or the co-operation guide rail of charger.

5. according to the battery component of claim 4, it is characterized in that each guide rail is for falling L shaped parts, and constitute by upwardly extending vertical part and from vertical part horizontal expansion and the vibrating part that is substantially perpendicular to vertical part.

6. according to the battery component of claim 5, it is characterized in that vibrating part comprises the guide margin with inclined-plane, be used for the engagement of guide rail.

7. according to the battery component of claim 1, it is characterized in that line bank is electrically connected and/or physical connection with encapsulation ship shape parts.

8. according to the battery component of claim 7, it is characterized in that line bank is connected with encapsulation ship shape component physical by tongue and groove.

9. according to the battery component of claim 1, it is characterized in that line bank also comprises:

Battery logic region part is suitable for receive logic link on the instrument that connected or the charger; And

A plurality of tongues, it constitutes the contact pin shape terminal that holds line bank in Wireless Power Tools or the charger, makes from assembly to the electric tool power supply that is connected or receive charging current from the charger that is connected.

10. according to the battery component of claim 9, it is characterized in that the battery logic region partly comprises a plurality of terminal contact of the portion of setting within it.

11. the battery component according to claim 10 is characterized in that, a plurality of terminal contact are arranged on the upper surface of battery logic region part.

12. the battery component according to claim 11 is characterized in that, a plurality of terminal contact are arranged on the lower surface of battery logic region part.

13. the battery component according to claim 9 is characterized in that, a plurality of tongues are power terminal.

14. the battery component according to claim 9 is characterized in that, a plurality of tongues are specially three negative power terminals, anodal power terminal, negative pole charging terminal and negative discharge terminal.

15. the battery component according to claim 9 is characterized in that, line bank also comprises the hole that is used for receive logic terminal protecting device on the instrument that connected or the charger.

16. the battery component according to claim 9 is characterized in that, line bank also comprises a pair of laterally spaced projection guide rail, be used for instrument that is connected or charger on corresponding a pair of laterally spaced track slidably mesh.

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