HK1091035B - Battery device - Google Patents

Description

Battery device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a battery device.

Background

In the past, a battery device provided with: a housing which is formed in a rectangular shape and has a width in a left-to-right direction, a thickness in an up-down direction, a length in a front-to-rear direction, an upper surface and a lower surface opposite to the upper surface in the up-down direction, and a front surface and a rear surface opposite to the front surface in the length direction; a charging unit disposed within the housing; a battery side contact connected to the charging unit and provided on the front surface of the housing (see, for example, japanese patent application laid-open No. 2002-110121).

In addition, an electronic apparatus having a battery receiving cavity for receiving a battery device is also commercially available.

The battery receiving cavity has a width corresponding to the width of the battery device, a height corresponding to the thickness of the housing, and a depth corresponding to the length of the housing, and is provided with a receiving cavity side contact capable of contacting the battery side contact when the battery device is aligned with and inserted into the cavity.

Disclosure of Invention

However, in the above battery device, since the height of the battery receiving cavity is set in a structural form that can fit a battery having a certain thickness in place, such a battery receiving cavity cannot receive two kinds of batteries having different thicknesses.

Thus, for example, it is difficult to apply battery devices having different capacities to different conditions or environments. Therefore, it is required to improve the convenience of the battery.

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation. The present invention aims to provide a battery device which can accommodate battery parts having different capacities and is advantageous in improving the versatility of the battery parts.

To achieve the above object, a battery device according to the present invention is a battery device in which a first or a second battery device is accommodated in a single battery accommodation cavity of the same electronic apparatus, characterized in that: the first and second battery devices each include a case provided with two side surfaces at both ends in a width direction, an upper surface and a lower surface at both ends in a thickness direction, and a front surface and a rear surface at both ends in a length direction; a charging unit disposed within the housing; a battery side contact provided on a front surface of the case and connected to the charging unit; wherein the housing of the first battery device and the housing of the second battery device have substantially the same width and length, and the thickness of the housing of the second battery device is greater than the thickness of the housing of the first battery device; the battery side contact provided on the first battery device and the battery side contact provided on the second battery device are provided at the same positions of the respective front surfaces with respect to the lower surface and the side surface; a concave engaging portion provided on the front surface of the case of the second battery device; the dimension from the lower surface of the case of the second battery device to a position on the wall of the case where the concave engaging portion is formed near the lower surface is set to be the same as the dimension from the lower surface of the case of the first battery device to the upper surface of the case of the first battery device.

Drawings

Fig. 1A and 1B are perspective views of first and second battery devices of embodiment 1, respectively;

fig. 2A to 2C are exemplary schematic diagrams of a battery device;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are exemplary schematic diagrams of membranes that can be coupled together with a battery device;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a battery receiving cavity of an electronic device shown in partial cutaway;

FIGS. 5A and 5B are exemplary schematic diagrams illustrating first and second battery devices received within a battery receiving cavity;

fig. 6 is an exemplary schematic view showing the structure of a battery housing cavity in embodiment 2;

FIGS. 7A to 7C are schematic explanatory views showing a case where a crease is generated when attaching a film;

fig. 8A and 8B are exemplary schematic views showing a structure in which an inclined portion is provided on a frame of a battery part;

fig. 9A and 9B are exemplary diagrams illustrating a state for preventing generation of a crease when attaching a film.

Detailed Description

An advantageous battery device, which allows the use of battery parts having different capacities and can improve the convenience of use, can be provided by providing a concave engaging portion on the front surface of a battery device having a large thickness.

Hereinafter, embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 1A and 1B are perspective views of first and second battery devices; fig. 2A to 2C are exemplary schematic diagrams of a battery device; FIGS. 3A and 3B are exemplary schematic diagrams of membranes coupled together with a battery device; FIG. 4 is a perspective view, partially in section, showing the structure of a battery receiving cavity of an electronic device; fig. 5A and 5B are schematic diagrams of first and second battery devices housed in one battery housing cavity.

In the present embodiment, two kinds of battery devices having different thicknesses, i.e., the first battery device 1 and the second battery device 2 shown in fig. 1A and 1B, are selectively mounted in a battery receiving cavity 50 as shown in fig. 4.

First, the battery device will be explained.

As shown in fig. 1A, the first battery device 1 includes a housing 10, a charging unit 12 (fig. 2B) provided in the housing 10, and a battery side contact 14 provided in the housing 10.

As shown in fig. 1B, the second battery device 2 includes a housing 20, a charging unit 22 (fig. 2B) provided in the housing 20, and a battery side contact 24 provided on the housing 20.

In the present embodiment, the housings 10 and 20 are provided with side surfaces 10A and 20A on both ends in the width direction W, upper surfaces 10B, 20B and lower surfaces 10C, 20C on both ends in the thickness direction D, and front surfaces 10D, 20D and rear surfaces 10E, 20E on both ends in the length direction L.

The housing 10 of the first battery device 1 and the housing 20 of the second battery device 2 have the same or substantially the same width and length, while the thickness of the housing 20 of the second battery device is processed to a structural form larger than the thickness of the housing 10 of the first battery device 1.

The battery-side contacts 14 and 24 provided on the first and second battery devices 1 and 2 are located at the same positions on the front surfaces 10D and 20D as the lower surfaces 10C and 20C and the side surfaces 10A and 20A, respectively, and are connected to the charging unit 22.

Fig. 2A to 2C show a left side view, a plan view, and a right side view of the housing 20 of the second battery device 2.

An exemplary structure of the case 10 of the first battery device 1 will be described below with reference to fig. 2A to 2C, in conjunction with the case 20 of the second battery device 2.

The housings 10 and 20 each have a frame 100, and the frame 100 includes a quadrangular frame-like member 101 and a front cap 102 fitted on the front portion of the frame-like member 101.

Further, the front surfaces 10D and 20D are also provided with the front surface of the front cap 102, and the rear surfaces 10E and 20E are provided with the rear surface of the rear portion 104 of the frame-like member 101.

In addition, the side walls 106 of the frame-like member 101 are exposed between the front cap 102 and the rear portion 104, and the charging unit 12 is connected to the front cap 102 and accommodated in a space formed by the front cap 102, the rear portion 104, and the two side walls 106.

Further, as shown in fig. 1A and 1B, between a portion near the front surface 10D or 20D and a portion near the rear surface 10E or 20E of the housing 10, 20, a film 202 is wound around and joined to the entire peripheries of the front cap 102, the rear portion 104, and the two side walls 106.

Specifically, the film 202 has an insulating property and includes an upper film 204 and a lower film 206.

As shown in fig. 3A and 3B, the upper film 204 is first bonded so as to cover the upwardly exposed charging unit portion between the front cap portion 102 and the rear portion 104 and the side walls 106, and then bonded together with those portions on both sides of the lower surface of the charging unit 12. Then, the lower film 206 is bonded so as to cover the portions of the upper film 204 bonded to both sides of the lower surface of the charging unit 12(22) and the lower surface of the charging unit 12(22) exposed downward between the front cap 102 and the rear portion 104.

In this way, the housings 10 and 20 of the first and second battery devices 1 and 2 having different sizes and shapes are provided with the frame 100 and the film 202, respectively.

On the front surface 20D of the case 20 of the second battery device 2, concave engaging portions 26 and 28 are provided with a certain interval in the width direction W.

One concave engaging portion 26 is processed to open on one side surface 20A, the front surface 20D, and the upper surface 20B of the two side surfaces 20A.

The other concave engaging portion 28 is processed to open on the other side surface 20A, the front surface 20D, and the upper surface 20B of the two side surfaces 20A.

The front cap 202 is formed into planar surfaces 2402 and 2602 parallel to the upper surface 20B and the lower surface 20C at a plurality of positions near the lower surface 20C on the wall forming each of the recessed engaging portions 26 and 28.

The size from the lower surface of the housing 20 to the planar surfaces 2402 and 2602 and the size from the lower surface 10C to the upper surface 10B of the housing 10 of the first battery device 1 are designed to be equal.

Next, a battery housing chamber of an electronic device will be explained.

As shown in fig. 4, the battery receiving cavity 50 is provided in the housing 5102 of the electronic device 51.

The battery housing cavity 50 is provided with an insertion/removal port 52 which is provided on the rear surface of the case 5102 and can be opened and closed by an openable/closable cover 5104.

The battery receiving cavity 50 includes: side walls 54 which can abut on the side faces 10A and 20A at both ends in the width direction W of the cases 10 and 20 of the first and second battery devices 1, 2; an abutment wall 56, the abutment wall 56 being abuttable against the lower surface 10C, 20C of the housing 10, 20; a rear wall 58 disposed at a depth corresponding to the length of the housings 10 and 20; and an upper wall 60 provided at a height position corresponding to the thickness of the case 20 of the second battery device 2.

The rear wall 58 is provided with housing body side contacts 62 which come into contact with the battery side contacts 14 and 24 when the first battery pack 1 or the second battery pack 2 is aligned parallel to the longitudinal direction L and inserted from the insertion/removal port 52 in the depth direction.

At a plurality of positions spaced apart in the width direction on the rear wall 58, a plurality of protruding engaging portions 64, 66 are provided, which are formed so as to protrude toward the insertion/removal port 52.

These protruding engaging portions 64 and 66 are configured to be able to hold the lower surface 10C of the casing 10 of the first battery device 1 against the abutting wall 56 by engaging with the front edge of the upper surface 10B of the casing 10 of the first battery device 1; the lower surface 20C of the case 20 of the second battery device 2 is held in a structural form abutting against the abutting wall 56 by engaging with the concave engaging portions 26, 28 of the case 20 of the second battery device 2.

Specifically, the apparatus is constructed in the following manner: the first battery device 1 is held in an abutting state against the abutting wall 56 by engaging the front edge of the upper surface 10B of the casing 10 of the first battery device 1 with the lower surfaces 64A and 66A, with each of the convex engaging portions 64 and 66 facing the abutting wall 56; the second battery device 2 is held in abutment against the abutment wall 56 by the planar surfaces 2602 and 2802 of the concave engagement portions 26 and 28 of the housing 20 of the second battery device 2 engaging the lower surfaces 64A and 66A of the convex engagement portions 64 and 66.

Further, the apparatus has the following configuration: the holding member 68 is provided on the portion of the upper wall 60 constituting the insertion/extraction port 52; an engaging portion 6802 of the end of the holding member 68 engages with the upper edges of the rear surfaces 10E and 20E of the housings 10 and 20 of the first battery device 1 and the second battery device 2 to forcibly accommodate the first battery device 1 and the second battery device 2 in the battery accommodation cavity in the direction toward the rear wall 58, thereby holding the battery side contacts 14 and 24 in a state of contact with the accommodation cavity side contact 62. In this embodiment, the holding member 68 is provided with an elastic member having flexibility so that the holding member 68 can be lifted by a finger during insertion or removal of the battery device.

Further, as a structure for forcing the first and second battery devices 1, 2 to move in the direction of the rear wall 58 and holding the battery side contacts 14 and 24 in a state of being in contact with the housing cavity side contact 62, various structures have been known, and such a structure may be provided on the housing cavity side or on the openable/closable cover 5104 as in the present embodiment.

Next, an operation of mounting the first and second battery devices 1, 2 into the battery housing cavity 50 or taking them out of the battery housing cavity 50 will be described.

When the first battery pack 1 is mounted in the battery housing cavity 50, as shown in fig. 5A, the engaging portion 6802 of the holding member 68 is moved upward from the insertion/removal port 52 by a finger, the battery side contact 14 of the first battery pack 1 is forced to face the insertion/removal port 52 of the battery housing cavity 50, and the longitudinal direction L thereof is forced to be parallel to the depth direction of the battery housing cavity 50, so that it can be inserted. This guides the lower face 10C of the first battery device 1 to the abutment wall 56 of the battery housing cavity 50 and the two lateral faces 10A of the first battery device 1 to the two lateral walls 54 of the battery housing cavity 50, so that insertion into the battery housing cavity 50 can begin.

When the finger is removed from the holding member 68, the engaging portion 6802 is in a state of being in contact with the upper surface 10B of the first battery device 1. Further insertion of the first battery device 1 brings the two convex engaging portions 64 and 66 of the battery receiving cavity 50 into engagement at a position close to the front surface 10D of the upper surface 10B of the first battery device 1, and the lower surface 10C of the housing 10 of the first battery device 1 is in a state of abutting against the abutting wall 56.

Further insertion of the first battery pack 1 brings the battery side contact 14 into contact with the housing chamber side contact 62, and in this state, the engaging portion 6802 of the holding member 68 is engaged with the rear edge of the upper surface 10B, and the first battery pack 1 is housed in the battery housing chamber 50 with the battery side contact 14 held in contact with the housing chamber side contact 62.

On the other hand, when the first battery device 1 is taken out of the battery housing cavity 50, the engaging portion 6802 of the holding member 68 is moved upward from the insertion/extraction port 52 by a finger, and the first battery device 1 is held by the finger and taken out to the rear, whereby the first battery device 1 can be taken out of the battery housing cavity 50.

When the second battery pack 2 is mounted in the battery housing cavity 50, as shown in fig. 5B, the engaging portion 6802 of the holding member 68 is moved upward from the insertion/removal port 52 so that the battery side contact 24 of the second battery pack 2 faces the insertion/removal port 52 of the battery housing cavity 50 and the longitudinal direction L thereof is parallel to the depth direction of the battery housing cavity 50, whereby it can be inserted. This guides the lower face 20C of the second battery device 2 to the abutment wall 56 of the battery housing cavity 50, the upper face 20B of the second battery device 2 to the upper wall 60 of the battery housing cavity 50, and the two side walls 20A of the second battery device 2 to the two side walls 54 of the battery housing cavity 50, to start inserting it into the battery housing cavity 50.

When a finger is removed from the holding member 68, the engaging portion 6802 is in a state of contact with the upper surface 20B of the second battery device 2, and further insertion of the second battery device 2 causes the lower surfaces 64A, 66A of the two convex engaging portions 64, 66 of the battery housing cavity 50 to engage with the planar surfaces 2602, 2802 of the respective concave engaging portions 26, 28 of the second battery device 2, so that the lower surface 20C of the housing 20 of the second battery device 2 is held in a state of abutment against the abutment wall 56.

Further insertion of the second battery pack 2 brings the battery side contact 24 into contact with the housing chamber side contact 62, in which state the engaging portion 6802 of the holding member 68 is brought into contact with the rear edge of the upper surface 20B, and the battery side contact 14 is held in contact with the housing chamber side contact 62, the second battery pack 2 is housed in the battery housing chamber 50.

On the other hand, when the second battery device 2 is taken out of the battery housing cavity 50, the engaging portion 6802 of the holding member 68 is moved upward from the insertion/extraction port 52 with the fingers, and the second battery device 2 can be taken out of the battery housing cavity 50 by holding the second battery device 2 with the fingers and taking it out in the backward direction.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, two kinds of battery devices such as the first and second battery devices 1, 2 having different thicknesses can be selectively accommodated in the battery accommodation cavity 50. For example, battery devices having different capacities may be used according to different application conditions and uses, which may facilitate use.

Further, in this embodiment, since the plurality of (two) convex engaging portions 64, 66 and the concave engaging portions 24, 26 are provided at a certain interval in the width direction W, it is advantageous in terms of maintaining the stability of the first and second battery devices 1, 2 that have been inserted into the battery receiving cavity 50.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the upper wall 60 that can provide support for the upper surface 20B of the second battery device 2 is provided in the battery housing cavity 50, it is very advantageous in terms of stability to hold the second battery device 2 that has been inserted into the battery housing cavity 50.

Example 2 will be explained below.

Example 2 differs from example 1 in that: the holding member 78 is slidably provided in the up-down direction.

Fig. 6 is an exemplary schematic view showing the structure of a battery housing cavity in embodiment 2.

As shown in fig. 6, the holding member 78 linearly extends in the up-down direction, and a concave engaging portion 7802 that engages with the rear surfaces 10E, 20E of the housings 10, 20 is provided on the lower end thereof.

The holding member 78 is provided on a portion of the housing 5102 facing the insertion/extraction port 52.

The holding member 78 is slidably provided in the up-down direction, the pin 5110 is provided to project from the housing 5102 and engage with the guide groove 7810 provided to the holding member 78, while the recessed engaging portion 7802 on the lower end is always forced in the direction toward the abutting wall 56 by a pressing member 7804, and the recessed engaging portion 7892 can be withdrawn from the insertion/extraction port 52 by moving the holding member 78 upward by the hand.

Therefore, when the first battery device 1 and the second battery device 2 are inserted or removed in the same manner as in embodiment 1, the holding member 78 can be retracted from the insertion/removal port 52 with the use of a finger.

Further, as shown by the two-dot chain line in fig. 6, when the first battery pack 1 is inserted into the battery accommodation chamber 50, the recessed engagement portion 7802 of the holding member 78 is engaged with the upper edge of the upper surface 10B of the housing 10 of the first battery pack 1, so that the battery side contact 14 and the accommodation chamber side contact 62 of the first battery pack 1 can be held in a state of contact with each other.

Further, as shown by solid lines in fig. 6, when the second battery pack 2 is inserted into the battery receiving cavity 50, the recessed engaging portion 7802 of the holding member 78 engages with the upper edge of the upper surface 20B of the housing 20 of the second battery pack 2, so that the battery side contact 24 of the second battery pack 2 and the receiving cavity side contact 62 can be held in a state of contact with each other.

Therefore, in embodiment 2, the same advantages as in embodiment 1 can be produced, of course.

The attachment of the film 202 will be described below.

In this embodiment, as shown in fig. 2A and 2B, when the first and second battery devices 1, 2 are viewed from the side, a height difference is provided between the front cap 102 and the upper edge of each of the side walls 106, respectively, and the front cap 102 is higher and the upper edge of each of the side walls 106 is lower; a height difference D is provided between the rear portion 104 and the upper edge of each side wall 106, respectively, while the rear portion 104 is higher and the upper edge of each side wall 106 is lower.

As described above, since there are four height differences D, as shown in fig. 7A and 7B, the upper film 204 is attached to cover the front cap 102, the rear portion 104, and the two side walls 106 between the portion near the front surface 10D or 20D and the portion near the rear surface 10E or 20E. When a downward tensile force (in the direction indicated by the arrow F) is applied to both sides of the upper film 204 in the width direction, as shown in fig. 7C, the stresses F1 and F2 are concentrated on the portions supported by the respective height differences D, which may cause creases in the upper film 204, thereby deteriorating the appearance of the device.

To prevent such creases from occurring, as shown in fig. 8A and 8B, an inclined portion 108 that protrudes upward to eliminate the height difference D is provided on the upper edge portion of the side wall 106 facing the front cap 102, while an inclined portion 110 that protrudes upward and can eliminate the height difference D is provided on the upper edge portion of the side wall 106 facing the rear portion 104. In other words, the inclined portion 110 is provided as follows: the inclined portion 110 is extended from the middle portion of the frame 100 in the length direction to the front cap 102 or the rear portion 104, and the amount of the extension with respect to the frame 100 is gradually increased, so that it can be continuously connected with the front cap 102 or the rear portion 104.

According to the structure shown in fig. 9A and 9B, the upper film 204 is connected to the front cap 102, the rear portion 104, and the two side walls 106 between the portions near the front surfaces 10D, 20D and the portions near the rear surfaces 10E, 20E, so that even if a downward tensile force (in the direction indicated by the arrow F) acts on both sides of the upper film 204 in the width direction, since the upper film abuts on the respective inclined portions 110, the stresses F1 and F2 generated at the abutting portions are dispersed, thereby preventing the formation of a crease in the upper film 104 and improving the appearance of the device.

Industrial applicability

According to the battery device of the present invention, by using the concave engaging portions, it is possible to selectively mount the first or second battery devices having different thicknesses in the same battery housing cavity and to allow the battery devices having different capacities to be applied to different environments or conditions and to improve the ease of use.

Claims (3)

1. A battery device, namely a first or a second battery device, accommodated in a single battery accommodation cavity of the same electronic apparatus, characterized in that:

the first and second battery devices each include:

a housing provided with two side surfaces at both ends in a width direction, an upper surface and a lower surface at both ends in a thickness direction, and a front surface and a rear surface at both ends in a length direction;

a charging unit disposed within the housing;

a battery side contact provided on a front surface of the case and connected to the charging unit;

wherein the housing of the first battery device and the housing of the second battery device have the same width and length, and the thickness of the housing of the second battery device is greater than that of the housing of the first battery device;

the battery side contact provided on the first battery device and the battery side contact provided on the second battery device are provided at the same positions of the respective front surfaces with respect to the lower surface and the side surface;

a concave engaging portion provided on the front surface of the case of the second battery device;

the dimension from the lower surface of the case of the second battery device to a position on the wall of the case where the concave engaging portion is formed near the lower surface is set to be the same as the dimension from the lower surface of the case of the first battery device to the upper surface of the case of the first battery device;

the first and second battery devices include a frame and a film connected to portions of the frame except for front and rear portions thereof, respectively;

the film is connected with the frame in the following way: winding the film around the entire periphery except for the front and rear side portions of the frame;

the battery device further includes inclined portions provided on sides of the frame, wherein the sides of the frame correspond to sides of the case, each of the inclined portions faces a front side or a rear side of the frame, an amount of protrusion from the frame becomes gradually larger from a middle portion in a length direction of the frame to the front side or the rear side portion of the frame, and the inclined portions are continuously connected with the front side and the rear side portion.

2. The battery device according to claim 1, characterized in that: a plurality of concave engaging portions are provided in the width direction with a space between the engaging portions.

3. The battery device according to claim 1, characterized in that: two concave engaging portions provided at two corners of an upper portion of the front surface of the case of the second battery device; one of the concave engaging portions has two stepped surfaces in the length direction.