HK1096199B - Battery device used for loading on electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Battery device for mounting on electronic apparatus

This application is a divisional application of patent application 02802874.0 entitled "structure of terminal and component to be loaded" (PCT/JP02/07498) filed on 24/7/2002.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a battery device for mounting on an electronic apparatus.

Background

As a component to be mounted for making electrical contact with the main body apparatus, a battery pack to be mounted on the video camera is provided.

The battery pack may be mounted on a camera light, a battery charger, etc., other than a camera, and needs to make electrical contact with these devices, all of which have terminals of the same form, respectively.

In addition, there are various types of batteries according to different capacities, and as a component to be loaded having the same form of terminals similar to the battery pack, there are, for example, a dry battery pack, a DC board, and the like. Incidentally, the DC board is a member to be loaded, which has an outer shape similar to that of the battery pack to be loaded on the battery loading section, has an electric wire connected to a battery charger, and is driven by direct current to the main unit through the member to be loaded.

Then, in order to make electrical contact between the main body side apparatus and the component to be loaded, there is provided a terminal structure such as that described in japanese patent application laid-open No.10-312782 by the applicant of the present invention.

Briefly, a tubular sleeve terminal embedded in a battery case or a cylindrical pin terminal engaged with the sleeve terminal is used, respectively.

Then, these sleeve terminals and plug terminals are molded by being inserted into a battery case or a molding portion of a battery loading portion.

Since the terminals, particularly the sleeve terminals of the battery-side terminals are embedded in the battery case, the sleeve terminals are not exposed, and therefore, a malfunction in which a short circuit is caused by contact between the sleeve terminals by a key holder, a necklace, a chain, or the like can be prevented.

Such a battery pack is mounted on the main body side device by male and female engaging portions formed in the battery case and the battery mounting portion of the main body side device. Therefore, although the positioning is performed by increasing the positional accuracy and the dimensional accuracy of the two terminals themselves and engaging the terminals, the positioning of the two terminals is substantially performed by the male and female engaging portions.

Then, the battery pack is loaded by sliding the sleeve terminals or the plug terminals in the axial direction and inserting the body-side plug terminals into the battery-side sleeve terminals so as to make electrical connection between the terminals.

However, as described above, in the conventional terminal structure, since the sleeve terminal and the plug terminal are embedded in their respective portions by insert molding, the positional accuracy is not so high, and thus, since the positioning of these terminals depends on the engagement of these terminals, there is a problem that the contact of the two terminals is unstable.

That is, although the positional accuracy of one terminal with respect to the body (battery case, battery loading portion) can be increased to some extent, since there are at least two terminals (sometimes three terminals as described later) in the battery pack, the positional accuracy between the terminals will be lowered.

Further, in the conventional terminal structure, the battery pack needs to be loaded on the side of the main body by sliding in one direction with respect to the main body side device until engagement between the sleeve terminal and the plug terminal is completed. Thus, it is difficult to minimize the main body side device and/or the component to be loaded.

That is, the battery loading part for the battery pack is longer than the battery pack in the longitudinal direction, and therefore, the length thereof needs to be at least equal to or longer than the amount of sliding movement required for the above-described sleeve terminal and plug terminal to engage with each other. Therefore, the battery loading part of the main body side device must provide an additional space in consideration of the amount of slippage of both terminals, which hinders the miniaturization of the main body side device.

Also, since the above-described body side terminals (plug terminals) are exposed in the battery loading portion, there is a high possibility that they are deformed by some impacts. In this case, there is a problem that the contact stability at the time of connection of both terminals is further lowered.

In particular, when the battery pack is loaded in the battery loading part in a misdirected manner or when the battery pack is forcibly loaded in the battery loading part by a tilting movement, an improper force (external force) is applied to the main body side terminal (plug terminal), thereby causing a failure in which the main body side terminal is deformed.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention relates to a terminal structure for making electrical connection between a main body side device having a main body side terminal and a component to be loaded having a component-to-be-loaded side terminal for connection with the main body side terminal when the component to be loaded is mounted on the main body side device, wherein the terminal piece of the main body side terminal is insert-molded to a molded component with at least one guide integrally disposed on the molded component, the component to be loaded is insert-molded to the molded component, and a guide groove is formed on the molded component so as to correspond to the guide. Positioning of the main body side terminals and the terminals of the component to be loaded is achieved by engaging the above-described guides with guide grooves formed on the component to be loaded.

Further, the present invention relates to a component to be mounted having a component-to-be-mounted side terminal for making electrical connection with a main body side terminal of a main body side apparatus when the component to be mounted is mounted on the main body side apparatus, wherein the terminal component of the component-to-be-mounted side terminal is insert-molded and has a guide groove formed on the molded component corresponding to a guide on the main body side apparatus. Positioning of the main body side terminal and the terminal of the component to be loaded is achieved by engaging the guide groove with the guide of the main body side device.

In this invention, since the positioning of the main body-side terminals and the component-to-be-loaded-side terminals is achieved by engaging the terminal pieces and/or the terminal members insert-molded on the mold member with the guide pieces and the guide grooves formed on the mold member, the positional accuracy of the terminal pieces and the terminal members of the two terminals can be improved by improving the molding accuracy between the terminal pieces and the guide grooves of the two terminals, so that the connected state between the terminal pieces and the terminal members can be stably maintained when the two terminals are connected to each other.

Further, in the structure of the terminal of the present invention, the main body side terminal of the main body side device has a flat plate-like contact portion, and the component-to-be-loaded side terminal of the component-to-be-loaded has two contacts opposed to each other. Further, the main body side terminal and the component-to-be-loaded side terminal can be combined with each other in two directions with respect to the plane direction of the contact portion, so that the two contacts sandwich the contact portion when the main body side terminal and the component-to-be-loaded side terminal are connected to each other.

Further, the component-to-be-loaded of the present invention has two contacts opposed to each other, and the body-side terminal and the component-to-be-loaded-side terminal can be combined with each other in two directions with respect to the planar direction of the contact portion, so that the two contacts sandwich the contact portion when the body-side terminal and the component-to-be-loaded are connected to each other.

In this invention, since the two contacts of the component-side terminal to be mounted sandwich the flat plate-like contact portion, the insertion and extraction of the component-side terminal to be mounted into and from the main body side apparatus are performed in at least two directions, the direction at the time of mounting the component on the main body side apparatus may be different from the direction at the time of connecting the terminals to each other. Therefore, it is possible to increase the degree of freedom in design with respect to mounting of the component to be loaded on the main body side apparatus, regardless of the direction in connecting the terminals to each other, and to minimize the main body side apparatus and/or the component to be loaded.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a state just before a battery is assembled to a video camera according to the present invention;

fig. 2 is a front view of the battery loading part as viewed from the right side;

fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the battery loading part taken along the line III-III in fig. 2;

fig. 4 is a perspective view of an exploded battery pack;

fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the entire battery pack;

fig. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the entire battery pack when viewed from a direction different from that of fig. 5;

fig. 7 is an enlarged view of the battery pack as viewed from the upper side after disassembly;

fig. 8 is an enlarged view of the battery pack as viewed from the upper side;

fig. 9 is an enlarged view of the battery-side terminal portion in exploded view, with the parts switched in the up-down direction and viewed from the right side.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged perspective view of a battery loading part, in which (a) shows a state where a protection plate of a main body side terminal is rotated, and (b) shows a state where the protection plate of the main body side terminal is not rotated;

fig. 11 is an enlarged perspective view of the lock mechanism in a state of being detached from the battery loading part;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged perspective view of the locking mechanism after disassembly;

fig. 13 is an enlarged view of an appearance part when the battery is assembled to or disassembled from the battery loading part in the case of fig. 14 to 16, which is seen from the front direction and shows an initial loading stage;

fig. 14 is a view showing a state in which the battery pack is in a midway stage of loading;

fig. 15 is a view showing the end stage of the pack loading;

FIG. 16 is a view showing the battery pack disengaged and the battery pack portion in a state of being lifted by the kick-out prevention lever;

fig. 17 is an enlarged view of the battery-side terminal as viewed from the upper side;

fig. 18 is an enlarged view of the battery-side terminal as viewed from the left side;

fig. 19 is an enlarged view of the battery-side terminal as viewed from the rear side;

fig. 20 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the battery-side terminal along the line XX-XX in fig. 18;

fig. 21 is an enlarged sectional view of the battery side terminal taken along line XXI-XXI in fig. 19;

fig. 22 is an enlarged view of the main body side terminal as viewed from the left side;

fig. 23 is an enlarged view of the main body side terminal as viewed from the bottom side;

fig. 24 is an enlarged sectional view of the main body side terminal taken along line XXIV-XXIV in fig. 22;

fig. 25 is an enlarged sectional view of the main body side terminal taken along line XXV-XXV in fig. 22;

fig. 26 is an enlarged sectional view of the battery-side terminal and the main body-side terminal showing how they are connected to each other, and the view shows an initial connection stage in which the guide is in a state of being about to enter the guide groove;

fig. 27 is a view showing a state when the contact portion is to be brought into contact with the contact at a halfway stage of connection;

FIG. 28 is a view showing a final state of connection;

fig. 29 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line XXIX-XXIX in fig. 28;

FIG. 30 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line XXX-XXX in FIG. 28;

fig. 31 is a view showing a result table of contact resistance showing the results of material tests of the terminal member, and the coating metal, together with fig. 32 and 33;

FIG. 32 is a view showing a result table of the engagement force;

FIG. 33 is a graph showing a table of results of disengagement force;

fig. 34 is an enlarged sectional view of a state in which the contact portion is held between the contacts in a standard position;

fig. 35 is an enlarged sectional view of a state in which the contact portion is held between the contacts at a position shifted in one direction;

fig. 36 is a graph showing a relationship between the amount of movement of the contact and the contact pressure;

fig. 37 is a view for explaining the determination of whether or not loading is possible according to various combinations of identification marks and blocking parts, together with fig. 38 to 40, which show the relationship between the type I blocking parts and the corresponding identification marks;

FIG. 38 shows the relationship between a blocking portion of type II and the corresponding identifying mark;

FIG. 39 shows the relationship between a blocking portion of type III and a corresponding identification mark; and

fig. 40 shows the relationship between the blocking portion of type IV and the corresponding identification mark.

Detailed Description

The invention will be described in detail below on the basis of an embodiment shown in the drawings.

In addition, the embodiment shown in the drawings is such that the present invention is applied to a structure for assembling a battery into a video camera, wherein "video camera" corresponds to "main body side device" described in the claims, and "battery pack" corresponds to "component to be loaded" described in the claims. Further, "a camera lamp", "a battery charger" described later corresponds to "a main body side device", and "a dry battery pack" corresponds to "a component to be mounted" described in the claims.

Further, the camera described below is a type of camera having a lens body tube which is located at an upper portion of the camera body when in a normal use state, with a battery pack detachably attached to a right side surface. Therefore, the following description will take this direction as a standard, which means that the U-direction, D-direction, L-direction, R-direction, F-direction, and B-direction respectively indicated by arrow marks in the respective drawings mean an upward direction, a downward direction, a leftward direction, a rightward direction, a forward direction, and a rearward direction, respectively. Also, the orientation (directivity) of the battery packs is not exclusive, although in order to describe the case where the battery packs are to be mounted in the above-described video camera, battery packs having the same orientation (directivity) will be described.

The camera 1 includes: a rectangular solid-state camera body 2; a lens body tube 3, the lens body tube 3 being provided above the camera body 2; a display panel (not shown) on the left side surface of the camera main body 2, and the like.

In addition, on the right side surface of the camera main body 2, there is a battery loading portion 10 surrounded by four frame bodies (a front frame body, a rear frame body, an upper frame body, a lower frame body) (refer to fig. 1 and 2).

The battery loading part 10 is formed in a rectangular shape when viewed from the front, and is formed in a convex shape slightly larger than the front of the battery pack 100. Moreover, small ribs 16, 16 … extending in the left-right direction are arranged at positions biased toward the upper and bottom ends of the inner surface (rear surface) 11a of the front frame body 11 and the inner surface (front surface) 12a of the rear frame body 12, respectively, although the projecting amount of the small ribs 16 is small, and the ribs at positions close to the bottom surface 15 of the battery loading portion 10 are formed to project slightly more, that is, to be tapered. The interval between the small ribs 16, 16 opposed to each other at the bottom surface 15 is formed approximately equal to or slightly smaller than the front-rear (width) dimension of the battery pack (refer to fig. 3).

On an inner surface 13a of a front portion of the upper frame body 13 constituting the battery loading portion 10, terminals 30 (hereinafter referred to as "body-side terminals") for connection with terminals 120 (hereinafter referred to as "battery-side terminals") of the above-described battery pack 100 are provided, and a lock mechanism 40 for holding the battery pack 100 in the battery loading portion 10 is provided at the center of the bottom frame body 14 (refer to fig. 1).

First, a battery pack 100 to be used for the video camera 1 will be described.

The battery pack 100 includes: a rectangular solid battery case 101; batteries 102, the batteries 102, 102 to be housed in the battery case 101; a substrate 104 on which an IC chip 103 for calculating and storing the remaining amount of the battery pack and the like is mounted; and a battery side terminal 120, the battery side terminal 120 to be mounted on the substrate 104 for connection with the main body side terminal 30 (refer to fig. 4).

Among them, the battery pack 100 has various kinds of battery packs, and the battery packs shown in fig. 1, 3 to 9, and 13 to 16 belong to a standard type battery pack mainly because of their different capacities, and the external shape (thickness) of the battery pack is the smallest among the various battery packs 100.

At this time, the battery case 101 includes a front surface case 105 and a rear surface case 106 (refer to fig. 4), and in the plurality of types of battery packs 100, the sizes of the rear surface cases 106 are the same although the sizes (thicknesses) of the front surface cases 105 are not the same (refer to fig. 37 to 40).

At the front part of the upper surface of the rear surface case 106, there is formed a recessed part 107, the recessed part 107 being a groove lower than the other parts, and there is formed a rectangular cutout 108 at the recessed part 107, the rectangular cutout 108 being opened on the front surface side (right side direction) and the rear surface side (left side direction) while the above-mentioned battery side terminal is slid in from the front surface side (right side) so as to be mounted on the rectangular cutout 108. The height of the upper surface of the battery-side terminal 120 mounted on the rectangular cutout 108 is the same as that of the other portion than the concave portion 107 (refer to fig. 9).

Ribs (hereinafter referred to as "terminal positioning ribs") 109, 109 are formed at front and rear side edges of the rectangular cutout 108 of the rear surface case 106, respectively, the ribs 109, 109 are projected upward while extending in the left-right direction, the left ends of the terminal positioning ribs 109, 109 are formed at positions slightly to the right from the rear surface 106a of the rear surface case and do not extend to the rear surface 106a of the rear surface case 106, and the heights of the upper surfaces of the two terminal positioning ribs 109, 109 are the same as the heights of the other portions except for the upper surface of the battery side terminal and the recessed portion 107 of the rear surface case 106 (refer to fig. 9).

Also, the interval between the two terminal positioning ribs 109, 109 is formed to be approximately equal to the dimension of the above-described front-rear direction of the battery side terminal 120, the two terminal positioning ribs 109, 109 extend rightward from the right side edge portion of the mounted battery side terminal 120, and small projection bars 110, 110 extending in mutually opposite directions (forward and rearward directions), respectively, are formed integrally with the left end of the battery side terminal 120. The projecting portions such as the small projecting bars 110, 110 and the above-described terminal positioning ribs 109, 109 formed near the battery-side terminal 120 function as identification marks 111, 111 for identifying the kind of the battery pack 100, which will be described later (refer to fig. 7).

The right end 109a of the above-mentioned terminal positioning rib 109 protrudes from the rear surface case 106 when the front surface case 105 is combined with the rear surface case 106, and the right end portion 109a of the terminal positioning rib 109 becomes an upper side lock-requiring portion 112 when the battery pack 100 is mounted on the battery loading portion 10 of the camera main body 2, which will be described later (refer to fig. 8).

A relatively small concave portion 113 is provided at a rear side corner portion of the upper surface of the rear surface case 106, the concave portion 113 being open to the upper side and the rear side, the small concave portion 113 becoming an upper side locking portion 112 when the battery pack 100 is mounted on the battery loading portion 10 (refer to fig. 8).

Further, a concave strip-to-be-locked groove 114 is formed in the bottom surface 106b of the rear surface case 106, the concave strip-to-be-locked groove 114 extending in the front-rear direction, into which concave strip-to-be-locked groove 114 (described later) the locking claw of the locking mechanism 40 on the camera main body 2 side is to be locked, the to-be-locked groove 114 functioning as the bottom-side to-be-locked portion 112 of the battery pack 100 (refer to fig. 6).

In this way, by providing the to-be-locked portions 112 (the right end portions 109a of the terminal positioning ribs 109, the concave portions 113, and the to-be-locked grooves 114) at a plurality of portions (i.e., at a plurality of portions of one member) of the rear surface case 106 on the battery pack side, the positional accuracy of the battery pack 100 when mounted on the battery loading section 10 can be improved (refer to fig. 15).

That is, the battery pack 100 is mounted on the battery loading part 10 by bringing the rear surface 106a (left side surface) of the rear surface case 106 into contact with the bottom surface 15 (refer to fig. 15) while locking the portions to be locked 112 (the right end portions 109a of the terminal positioning ribs 109, the concave portions 113, and the locking grooves 114) at the plurality of portions on the battery pack side by the corresponding locking portions (the projecting portions 17, the small convex portions 20, the locking claws 41, which will be described later) on the battery loading part 10 side. If the plurality of portions to be locked 112, 112 … are arranged on different parts, for example, on the rear surface case 106 and the front surface case 105, when the rear surface case 106 and the front surface case 105 are not accurately fitted, play may be generated in the locked state and a problem of the connection state between the battery side terminal 120 and the main body side terminal 30 is caused.

At this time, by collectively arranging the aforementioned portions to be locked 112 on one member (the rear surface case 106) in the battery pack 100, the positional accuracy when the battery pack 100 is in the loaded state can be improved, which makes the connection accuracy between the rear surface case 106 and the front surface case 105 unnecessary to be very accurate.

Further, a notch portion 115 is formed in a region of the upper front portion of the front surface case 105 and corresponding to the above-described battery-side terminal 120, the notch portion 115 having approximately the same height as the concave portion 107 of the rear surface case 106, and a terminal-pushing rib 116 is formed at a left side edge of the notch portion 115 for pushing the battery-side terminal 120 from the right side (refer to fig. 7 to 9).

The length of the terminal pushing rib 116 in the front-rear direction is formed to be approximately the same as the interval between the two terminal positioning ribs 109, 109 of the above-described rear surface case 106, that is, almost the same as the size of the battery side terminal 120 in the front-rear direction, and therefore, when the front surface case 105 is fitted to the rear surface case 106, the terminal pushing rib 116 is positioned between the above-described terminal positioning ribs 109, 109 and pushes the battery side terminal 120 from the left side, and the two terminal positioning ribs 109, 109 of the rear surface case 106 are projected slightly more rightward than the terminal pushing rib 116 as the portions to be locked 112, 112 (refer to fig. 8).

With the battery pack 100 of the standard capacity type, two rectangular solid batteries 102, 102 are mounted in a battery case 101 in front-rear alignment, the above-mentioned substrate 104 is mounted on the upper part of the batteries, the above-mentioned battery-side terminal 120 is mounted on the front part of the substrate 104, and the above-mentioned IC chip 103 and the like are mounted on the rear part of the substrate 104 (refer to fig. 4).

In this way, since the battery-side terminal 120 is arranged at a position shifted in one direction with respect to the battery pack 100, a relatively large space can be provided at the opposite-side portion thereof, and an electronic part such as the IC chip 103 or the like can be arranged in the space, so as to improve space use efficiency. In particular, when the rectangular solid-state battery 102 is disposed in the battery case 101, there is no dead space, and therefore, the batteries 102, 102 can be efficiently disposed within the battery pack 100. Although it is difficult to secure the components of the battery-side terminal 120, the IC chip 103, and the like disposed on the substrate 104 protruding from the battery 102, by disposing the battery-side terminal 120 at a position offset with respect to the battery pack 100 as described above, it is possible to effectively utilize the space (refer to fig. 4 and 7).

In addition, since the battery-side terminal 120 is disposed at a position shifted with respect to the battery pack 100, erroneous mounting of the battery pack into the camera body 2 can be prevented.

The detailed shapes of the battery-side terminals 120 and the rectangular cutouts 108 that receive the battery-side terminals 120, and their assembly methods will be described later in detail.

The battery loading portion 10 of the camera body 2 will be described in detail below.

The battery loading portion 10 of the camera main body 2 is formed to have a size from the top to the bottom slightly larger than the thickness (thickness in the left-right direction) of the rear surface case 106 of the above-described battery case 101. Therefore, when the battery pack 100 is mounted on the battery loading section 10, the rear surface case 106 is disposed inside the battery loading section 10, and almost all of the front surface case 105 protrudes from the camera main body 2 (refer to fig. 3 and 15).

The main body side terminal 30 is disposed at a position opposite to the above-described battery side terminal 120, that is, at a corner portion between the inner surface (bottom side surface) of the upper frame body 13 and the bottom surface 15, or at a position on the obliquely upper front side (refer to fig. 10).

In a region corresponding to a position where the above-described main body side terminal 30 is arranged, a projecting portion 17 projecting downward is formed, which is an opening side edge (right side edge) of the inner surface 13a of the upper frame body 13, and a dimension between the projecting portion 17 and the bottom surface 15 of the battery loading portion 10 is formed to be the same as a dimension between the rear surface 106a of the above-described rear surface case 106 and a right end portion of the terminal positioning rib 109 (refer to fig. 15).

Therefore, when the battery pack 100 is mounted on the battery loading portion 10, the right end portion 109a of the terminal positioning rib 109 is locked by the projecting portion 17 without play therebetween. Therefore, the locking can be performed without play in the front side region of the upper portion of the battery pack 100 (refer to fig. 15).

A protruding strip (hereinafter referred to as a "blocking protruding strip") 18 is integrally formed from the rear of the protruding portion 17 toward the bottom surface 15 (left direction) of the battery loading portion 10, and the top end portion of the blocking protruding strip 18 extends to a position at a distance from the bottom surface 15 (refer to fig. 10) so that it does not interfere with the above-mentioned identification mark 111 of the rear surface case 106 of the above-mentioned battery pack 100.

Such a blocking projection bar 18 and a smaller projection portion 18a (described later) in the vicinity of the main body side terminal 30 function as a blocking portion 19 for judging whether or not the battery pack 100 is mounted. Meanwhile, since the above-described blocking portion 19 does not interfere with the identification mark 111 of the battery pack 100, it is possible to mount the battery pack 100 on the battery loading portion 10, although in a device for mounting the battery pack 10 such as a camera lamp (on which the battery pack 100 having a lower capacity cannot be mounted), there may be a case where the battery pack 100 is not allowed to be loaded due to the difference in capacity of the battery pack 100.

In this case, it is designed that the blocking part 19 extends to the vicinity of the bottom surface 15 of the battery loading part 10 so as to interfere with the identification mark 111, thereby preventing the loading of the battery pack 100. Whether or not the battery pack 100 is allowed to be loaded will depend on the shape and positional relationship between the above-described identification mark 111 on the battery pack 100 side and the above-described blocking portion 19, which will be described later.

A small convex portion 20 is formed at a position corresponding to the small concave portion 113 of the above-mentioned rear surface case 106, which is a corner portion between the rear side of the inner surface (bottom side surface) 13a of the upper frame body 13 of the battery loading portion 10 and the inner surface (front side surface) 12a of the rear frame body 12, the small convex portion 20 is just engaged with the small concave portion 113 (refer to fig. 10), and the position of the small convex portion 20 from the bottom surface 15 of the battery loading portion 10 coincides with the position of the above-mentioned small concave portion 113 from the rear surface 106a of the rear surface case 106. Therefore, when the battery pack 100 is loaded on the battery loading part 10, the locking of the battery pack 100 in the rear side region of the upper part is performed without any play.

A rectangular hole (hereinafter referred to as "push-up plate arrangement hole") 21 is formed at the bottom center of the bottom surface 15 of the battery loading part 10, and there is a cut-out portion (hereinafter referred to as "locking lever arrangement hole") 22 in the inner surface (upper side surface) of the bottom frame body 14, the cut-out portion 22 being continuous with the aforementioned push-up plate arrangement hole 21.

The lock mechanism 40 includes: a locking lever 42, the locking lever 42 having a locking claw 41, the locking claw 41 engaging with a locking groove 114 to be formed on a bottom surface of the battery pack 100; a push-up plate 43 for pushing the bottom surface 106a of the battery pack 100 in a direction to disengage the bottom surface 106 a; an anti-jump-out lever 44 for preventing the battery pack 100 from jumping out when the lock is released by the aforementioned lock lever 42, and these lock lever 42, push-up plate 43, and anti-jump-out lever 44 are rotatably supported on the same axis by a base plate 45 on the inside of a corner portion between the bottom frame body 14 and the bottom surface 15 (refer to fig. 11 and 12).

Then, the base plate 45 is mounted inside the bottom frame body 14 and fixed on the bottom frame body 14, and the above-mentioned locking lever 42 is disposed in the above-mentioned locking lever arrangement hole 22 of the bottom frame body 14, the push-up plate 43 is disposed in the push-up plate arrangement hole 21, and the anti-trip-out lever 44 is disposed in a rectangular cutout portion (hereinafter referred to as "anti-trip-out lever arrangement hole") 46 formed continuously with the hole 22.

Further, a coil portion 48a of a coil torsion spring 48 is mounted around a rotational shaft 47, the rotational shaft 47 rotatably supports the lock lever 42, the push-up plate 43 and the kick-out preventing lever 44, and one arm portion 48b of the spring 48 acts on the lock lever 42 and the other arm portion 48c acts on the push-up plate 43 to rotatably urge the lock lever 42 in the upward direction and the push-up plate 43 in the rightward direction (refer to fig. 12).

The profile of the locking lever 42 is such that the entire locking lever is L-shaped and laterally disposed and has: an upper surface member 49, the upper surface member 49 forming a part of an inner surface (upper side surface) of the bottom frame body 14; a locking claw 41 having a triangular cross section, formed in the front-rear direction, and extending to a position deviated from the rotational center of the upper surface member 49; and an operating portion 50, the operating portion 50 being formed at the bottom of the right side surface for operating the locking lever 42 (refer to fig. 11 and 12).

Then, the locking claw 41 is formed such that it is slightly shifted rightward (front side) from the bottom surface 15 of the battery loading part 10 by a distance from the bottom surface 15 equal to the distance from the to-be-locked groove 114 to the bottom surface 106a of the above-mentioned battery pack 100, so that the battery pack 100 will be pressed against the bottom surface 15 of the battery loading part 10 when the locking claw 41 is engaged with the to-be-locked groove 114 (refer to fig. 15).

Further, small projections 51, 51 are formed on both left and right side portions of the upper surface piece 49 of the lock lever 42, respectively, the small projections 51, 51 being in contact with the edge portion of the lock lever arranging hole 22 of the bottom frame body 14 while the projections 51, 51 collide with the edge portion of the above lock lever arranging hole 22 from the inside, thereby blocking the rotation caused by the above coil torsion spring 48. In this state, the upper surface of the upper surface member 49 is flush with the upper surface of the bottom frame body 14.

The push-up plate 43 has integrally formed smaller parts 52, the smaller parts 52, 52 projecting downward from the center of rotation, with the smaller parts 52, 52 being in contact with the base plate 45, thereby blocking the rotation caused by the coil torsion spring 48. In this state, the push-up plate 43 is in a state of protruding rightward from the push-up plate arrangement hole 21 (refer to fig. 12).

The anti-trip lever 44 has a coil compression spring 54, and the coil compression spring 54 is in a compressed shape between the bottom surface of the rotating end of the anti-trip lever and the projecting piece 53, and thus, rotationally urges the anti-trip lever 44 in the upward direction, as with the aforementioned locking lever 42 (refer to fig. 13 to 16). Incidentally, in fig. 13 to 16, the above-described battery-side terminal 120 and the main body-side terminal 30 are omitted.

The anti-jump-out lever 44 has a claw portion 55, the claw portion 55 being formed at a rotating end protruding upward, and the anti-jump-out lever 44 has a rotation stopper formed integrally at a bottom end portion thereof, the rotation stopper 56 protruding forward. The rotation of the helical compression spring 54 is stopped by the rotation stopper 56 colliding with the stopper 57 formed in the base plate. In this state, the above-described claw portion 55 protrudes upward from the upper surface of the base frame body 14 (refer to fig. 13 to 16).

Further, the claw portion 55 of the anti-bounce lever 44 is formed further to the right than the locking claw 41 of the locking lever 42 (refer to fig. 13 to 16).

In this way, when the battery pack 100 is not in a state of being mounted in the battery loading section 10, the locking claw 41 of the locking lever 42 and the claw portion of the anti-bounce lever 44 protrude upward from the upper side surface of the bottom frame body 14, and the push-up plate 43 is in a state of protruding rightward from the bottom surface of the battery loading section 10 (refer to fig. 13 to 16).

Therefore, when the battery pack 100 is mounted on the battery mounting part 10, the process is carried out in such a manner that the mounted battery pack 100 is maintained in the locked state in the battery mounting part 10 by the above-described locking mechanism.

First, the battery pack 100 is inserted into the battery loading part 10 with its upper part inclined, and the battery side terminals 120 (including the terminal positioning ribs 109 of the rear surface case 106 and the terminal pushing ribs 116 of the front surface case 105) are slid into the inside of the protruding part 17 of the battery loading part 10. Then, as described previously, since the identification mark 111 on the battery pack 100 side does not interfere with the member (the stopper portion 19) on the main body side, the battery-side terminal 120, the terminal positioning rib 109, and the terminal push-down rib 116 of the battery pack 100 can be slid deeply into the protruding portion 17 (refer to fig. 13).

At this time, although not shown in the drawings, the terminal members 122, 122 of the battery-side terminal 120 and the three terminal pieces 31, 31 of the main body-side terminal 30 are connected to each other, respectively.

Further, as described in detail later, when the identification mark 111 at the side of the battery pack 100 and the stopper portion 19 at the side of the battery loading part 10 are formed to interfere with each other, the above-mentioned battery side terminal 120 cannot be deeply slid into the protruding portion 17 of the battery loading part 10. Therefore, the terminal member 122 of the battery-side terminal 120 and the terminal piece 31 of the main body-side terminal 30 will not be able to be connected to each other.

Moreover, if the battery pack 100 is forcibly mounted on the battery loading part 10 even when the stopper part 19 of the loading part 10 and the identification mark 111 of the battery pack 100 interfere with each other, there is little possibility that the battery pack is mounted on the battery loading part 10 because the upper frame body 13 of the upper-end battery loading part 10 is bent when the deep identification mark 111 pushes the stopper part 19.

However, at this time, since the blocking portion 19 and the identification mark 111 are formed near the two terminals 120, 30, the main body side terminal 30 is withdrawn in its pressed direction, so that the two terminals cannot be connected to each other. Therefore, the terminal piece 31 and the terminal part 122 cannot contact each other, thereby avoiding electrical contact.

Then, by using the upper portion of the battery pack 100 (the battery-side terminal 120 portion, which is locked by the protruding portion 17) as a rotation fulcrum, the bottom portion of the battery pack 100 is rotated leftward, thereby mounting it on the battery loading portion 10 (refer to fig. 14 and 15).

At this time, when the claw portion 55 of the anti-kick-out lever 44 of the above-described lock mechanism 40 is pushed downward by the bottom left side of the battery pack 100, the claw portion 55 is engaged with the to-be-locked groove 114 (refer to fig. 14).

Further, when the bottom of the battery pack 100 is pressed against the battery loading part 10, the claw part 55 of the above-described anti-kick-out lever 44 is pushed away by the edge part of the to-be-locked groove 114, and at the same time, the locking claw 41 of the locking lever 42 is pushed away by the bottom left edge part (bottom surface side corner part), and then, the locking claw 41 is engaged with the to-be-locked groove 114, so that the loading of the battery pack 100 is completed (refer to fig. 15).

In addition, the bottom surface 106a of the battery pack 100 rotates the push-up plate 43 leftward before the locking claws 41 are engaged with the to-be-locked grooves 114, so that the bottom surface 106a of the battery pack 100 is brought into approximately face-to-face contact with the bottom surface 15 of the battery loading part 10 (refer to fig. 15).

Then, the lock lever 42, the anti-escape lever 44, and the push-up plate 43 are rotated against the spring forces of the above-described coil torsion spring 48 and the coil compression spring 54.

At this time, the terminal member 122 of the battery-side terminal 120 is connected to the terminal piece 31 of the main body-side terminal 30, while the right end portion 109a (to-be-locked portion 112) of the terminal positioning rib 109 at the upper portion of the battery pack 100 is engaged with the protruding portion 17, while the concave portion 113 (to-be-locked portion 112) of the battery pack 100 is engaged with the small convex portion 20 of the battery loading portion 10.

Therefore, in the upper portion of the battery pack 100, the right end portion 109a (to-be-locked portion 112) and the projecting portion 17 of the terminal positioning rib 109 and the small concave portion 113 (to-be-locked portion 112) and the small convex portion 20 are engaged with each other, respectively, and at the same time, the locking claw 41 and the to-be-locked groove 114 are engaged with each other at the bottom portion of the battery pack 100, so that the battery pack 100 is held in the battery loading portion 10 (refer to fig. 15).

The locking claws 41 of the locking lever 42 and the claw portions 55 of the anti-jumping lever 44 push up the battery pack 100 to press the battery pack 100 against the upper frame body 13, so that their positioning in the up-down direction is performed (refer to fig. 15).

Therefore, the battery-side terminals 120 are pressed against the main body-side terminals 30, and thus, a stable connection state will be maintained between the terminal members 122 and the terminal pieces 31. In particular, the battery side terminal 120 and the main body side terminal 30 are at positions shifted forward relative to the battery pack 100, and because the anti-bounce lever 44 is at a position shifted forward from the middle of the front-rear direction, that is, the anti-bounce lever 44 is at a position opposing both terminals 120, 30, the battery pack 100 is pushed up by the claw portion 55, so that a stable connection state can be maintained between the terminal member 122 and the terminal piece 31 (refer to fig. 2).

Also, since the bottom of the battery pack 100 is pushed upward by the push-up plate 43, and the push-up plate 43 is stopped by the engagement between the locking claws 41 and the to-be-locked grooves 114, positioning in the loading direction (left-right direction) of the battery pack 100 is performed, and since the battery pack 100 is adjusted by the small ribs 16, 16 formed on the inner surface (rear side surface) 11a of the front frame body 11 and the inner surface (front side surface) 12a of the rear frame body 12, positioning in the front-rear direction is performed (refer to fig. 3).

The battery pack 100 that has been mounted on the battery loading section 10 of the camera body 2 in this manner will be disassembled in the following manner.

That is, first, the locking of the locking mechanism is released by pressing the operating portion 50 with a hand or a finger (refer to fig. 16).

When the locking lever 42 is operated, it is rotated downward against the spring force of the coil torsion spring 48 to be disengaged from the to-be-locked groove 114 of the battery pack 100.

When the locking claws 41 are disengaged from the battery pack 100, the bottom of the battery pack 100 is pushed leftward by the push-up plate 43 and is lifted from the bottom surface 15 of the battery loading section 10 (refer to fig. 16).

At this time, when the bottom of the battery pack 100 is slightly raised from the bottom surface 15, the claw portion 55 of the anti-trip bar 44 is engaged with the to-be-locked groove 114. Therefore, although the battery pack 100 is lifted from the battery loading part 10, the battery pack 100 does not unintentionally escape because the claw portions 55 of the escape prevention lever 44 catch the engagement grooves 114. In particular, when the camera 1 is positioned in the above-described direction (the direction in which image pickup is initially performed), even if the lock of the battery pack 100 is released, the claw portion 55 of the anti-trip lever 44 will catch the to-be-locked groove 114, so that the battery pack 100 will not be pulled out of the battery loading portion 10, and therefore, the battery pack 100 can be prevented from falling therefrom.

Then, the battery pack 100 is easily detached from the battery loading part 10 by grasping the battery pack 100, the bottom of which has been raised, by hand and pulling out the battery pack 100 in a direction (to the right) in which the battery pack is detached, because of the disengagement between the claw part 55 of the anti-trip bar 44 and the to-be-locked groove 114.

The battery-side terminal 120 and how it is assembled to the battery pack 100 will be described in detail below.

As described above, the battery-side terminal 120 includes the terminal housing 121 and the terminal members 122, the terminal member 122 being disposed in the terminal housing 121 by insert molding, and the terminal housing 121 itself being in the shape of a flat solid cube and having five grooves 123, 124, which are formed so as to be open upward and leftward (refer to fig. 17 to 19).

Of the above five grooves, two grooves 123, 123 on the front and rear sides have a width larger than the other three grooves 124, and are formed longer and deeper than the other three grooves 124, 124 in length and depth, and serve as guide grooves for positioning with respect to the main body side terminals 30 (refer to fig. 17 to 19), as will be described later.

In addition, three slots 124, 124 in the middle of the five slots are made as terminal arranging slots 124, there are a pair of contacts 125, the pair of contacts 125 are arranged to be opposed to each other in the respective slots 124, and a receiving space 126 for receiving the contacts 125, 125 is formed inside the terminal arranging slots 124, 124 (refer to fig. 17 and 18). Here, only one terminal member 122 is indicated by a broken line in fig. 17 and 18, and the other two terminal members 122, 122 are omitted.

Further, the opening side edges of these guide grooves 123, 123 and terminal arranging grooves 124, 124 are subjected to chamfering processing, such as R corners, oblique corners, and the like. Therefore, as will be described later, the guides 32, 32 and the terminal pieces 31, 31 of the main body side terminals 30 are easily inserted into the respective grooves 123, 124 (refer to fig. 26 to 28).

Each terminal member 122 of the battery-side terminals 120 is integrally formed by the contacts 125, 125 opposed to each other, a base member 127 connecting one contact 125 with the other contact 125, and a lead-out member 128, the lead-out member 128 being soldered to the base sheet 104 arranged in the battery case 101 and protruding from the base member 127 in the direction opposite to the contacts 125, 125 (refer to fig. 21, 22).

The contacts 125, 125 have base portions embedded in the above-mentioned terminal housing 121, semicircular contact convex portions 125a, 125a are formed at the tip end portions thereof, the contact convex portions 125a, 125a are convex in the direction approaching each other, and the two contact convex portions 125a, 125a are in a state of being in contact with each other with no pressure therebetween (so-called zero-contact state). When looking at the terminal arranging grooves 124, 124 of the battery-side terminal 120, only two contact convex portions 125a, 125a (refer to fig. 20, 21) can be seen.

Therefore, when the contact portion 35 is inserted into the terminal arranging groove 124, it is in contact with only the contact projecting portions 125a, 125 a. The contact portion 35 can be inserted into the terminal arrangement groove 124 in either of two directions (left-right direction and top-down direction), and since the spring characteristics of the contacts 125, 125 are the same, the contact stability between the terminals 120 and 30 can be ensured. Of course, this effect is limited to the case where only the terminal structure is noted, and in the above-described embodiment, the battery pack 100 can be actually inserted only from the left-right direction in order to be mounted on the video camera.

The base member 127 is exposed at a position where it is mounted on the right side surface of the terminal housing 121, and the lead-out member 128 is bent at a right angle and extends rightward from the bottom edge of the base member 127 so as to be approximately flush with the bottom surface 121a of the terminal housing 121 (refer to fig. 20, 21).

Sliding convex portions 129, 129 extending in the left-right direction are formed on both the front and rear side surfaces of the terminal housing 121, and the sliding convex portions 129, 129 are the front and rear side edges of the rectangular cutout portion 108 of the above-mentioned rear surface housing 106 and are slidably engaged with the sliding grooves 117, 117 formed on the bottom side of the terminal positioning rib 109, so that the battery side terminal 120 is supported on the rear surface housing 106 (refer to fig. 9).

The left ends of the slide grooves 117, 117 of the rear surface case 106 are blocked, so that the battery side terminal 120 is positioned leftward when the battery side terminal is slidably engaged with the slide grooves. That is, the position from the rear surface 106a of the rear surface case 106 to the battery side terminal is adjusted.

Cut grooves 130, 130 are also formed, the cut grooves 130, 130 being respectively a corner portion between the right side surface and the front side surface and a corner portion between the right side surface and the rear side avoidance, and continuing from the upper side of the above-mentioned sliding convex portions 129, and the cut grooves 130, 130 are to be engaged with projections 118, 118 disposed leftward from the front end and the rear end portions of the above-mentioned terminal pushing rib 116 (refer to fig. 9).

The battery-side terminal 120 has three lead-out members 128, 128 which are brazed at predetermined positions (front left corner portions) of the above-mentioned substrate 104 and mounted on the front corner portions of the substrate 104 (refer to fig. 4 and 7). In addition, an electronic component such as the IC chip 103 and the like is mounted on a predetermined rear side position of the substrate 104, at which the battery side terminal 120 is not mounted (refer to fig. 7).

Therefore, the assembly of the battery pack 100 is as follows.

That is, the batteries 102, 102 are combined with each other in a state of being aligned in front and rear, the above-mentioned substrate 104 is mounted on the upper portions of the batteries 102, and the above-mentioned battery-side terminal 120, the IC chip 103, and the like are mounted on the substrate 104 (refer to fig. 4).

Then, the batteries 102, 102 to which the substrate 104 has been mounted are inserted into the rear surface case 106 from the right side. At this time, the battery-side terminal 120 is slidably inserted into the rectangular cutout portion 108 of the rear surface case 106 from the right side (refer to fig. 7).

Then, as described above, the sliding convex portions 129, 129 of the battery-side terminals 120 are inserted into the sliding grooves 117, 117 of the rear surface case 106. (refer to fig. 7).

Finally, the front surface case 105 and the rear surface case 106 are combined with each other so as to cover the battery 102 (refer to fig. 8).

At this time, the projections 118, 118 of the front surface housing 105 are engaged with the cut grooves 130, 130 of the rear surface housing 106, and at the same time, the terminal-pushing rib 116 pushes the right side surface of the terminal housing 121 so as to cover the base pieces 127, 127 of the terminal member 122 exposed from the right side surface thereof. Then, the battery terminals 120 are positioned in the left-right direction while the battery terminals 120 are held between the rear surface case 106 and the front surface case 105.

The combination between the front surface case 105 and the rear surface case 106 is performed in a state where the opening peripheries of the front surface case 105 and the rear surface case 106 are connected to each other by ultrasonic welding. In addition, the two may be bonded to each other by an adhesive instead of ultrasonic welding.

As described above, the battery pack 100 may be composed of three parts such that the rear surface case 106, the battery 102 (including the battery side terminal 120, the substrate 104, and the like), and the front surface case 105 are assembled in one direction.

The combination of the main body side terminal 30 and the above-described battery side terminal 120 will be described in detail below.

First, the main body side terminal 30 is arranged at the above-described position (front rear surface side corner), and includes: three terminal pieces 31, the three terminal pieces 31, 31 being arranged to project from the bottom surface 15 and the inner surface 13a of the upper frame body 13; two guides 32, the two guides 32, 32 being arranged to sandwich the terminal pieces 31, 31 from the front-rear direction; and a protective plate 33, the protective plate 33 being rotatably disposed on the upper frame body 13 so as to cover an upper space of each terminal piece 31, 31 (refer to fig. 22 and 23).

The terminal piece 31 is a rectangular flat plate in which its upper and left side edges are embedded in the upper frame body 13 as viewed from the front-rear direction, the lead-out portion 34 is arranged to project from the upper frame body 13 (refer to fig. 24), the portions exposed from the upper frame body 13 (the bottom edge and the right side edge) are held as contact portions 35 between the contacts 125, 125 of the above-described battery-side terminal 120, and its end side edges are chamfered.

The three terminal pieces 31, 31 are formed with the same pitch as the terminal arrangement grooves 124, 125 of the above-described battery-side terminal 120, and the thickness of each terminal piece 31 is formed approximately equal to half the width of the terminal arrangement groove 124 formed in the above-described battery-side terminal 120 (refer to fig. 22 and 23).

The guide 32 is rectangular in shape when viewed from the front-rear direction, is similar to the shape of the terminal piece 31 described above, and is integrated with the upper frame body 13 and the bottom surface 15 of the battery loading portion (refer to fig. 24).

Further, the lead terminals 32, 32 are larger than the contact portion 35 of the terminal piece 31 when viewed from the front-rear direction, and the plate thickness thereof is formed thicker than the terminal piece 31. Further, the lead terminals 32, 32 are formed at the same pitch as that between the lead grooves 123, 123 formed in the battery terminal 120, and the plate thickness of each lead 32, 32 is formed to be slightly smaller than the width of the lead grooves 123, 123 of the terminal housing 121 of the battery side terminal 120, and the end side edges thereof are chamfered (refer to fig. 23).

As described above, since the guide 32 is formed larger than the contact portion 35 of the terminal piece 31, when the main body side terminal 30 is to be combined with the battery side terminal 120, the guide 32 enters the guide groove 123 earlier than the contact portion 35 enters the terminal groove 124 (refer to fig. 26).

The protection plate 33 is supported at a position close to an opening side edge (right side edge) of the front end portion of the inner surface (bottom side surface) of the upper frame body 13 so as to freely rotate in the up-down direction (refer to fig. 24 and 25). Specifically, a convex protection frame body 13b is formed at a front end portion of an inner surface (bottom side surface) of the upper frame body 13, support shaft projecting portions 36, 36 for rotatably engaging with right end both side portions of the above protection plate housing portion 13b are integrally formed at front and rear side edges of the protection plate 33, and a coil spring 37 is disposed around a front side of the support shaft projecting portion 36. The protection plate 33 will be pushed in the counterclockwise direction when viewed from the rearward direction (refer to fig. 24, 25).

Rotation blocking portions 38, 38 (only one of which is shown in the drawing) are provided at the rotation fulcrum portion of the protection plate 33, the rotation blocking portions 38, 38 are in contact with the upper frame body 13 so as to block the above-mentioned counterclockwise direction rotation, and when the rotation end of the protection plate 33 is oriented in a leftward diagonally downward direction (approximately 45 degrees), the protection plate 33 becomes a rotation end on the counterclockwise direction side (refer to fig. 10a, 24 and 29). Further, the clockwise direction side rotation end of the protection plate 33 is at a position where it is fitted in the protection plate housing portion 13b of the upper frame body 13, or approximately in a horizontal position (refer to fig. 10 b).

The dimension of the protection plate 33 in the front-rear direction is slightly smaller than the distance between the above-described guides 32, and always rotates between the two guides 32, 32. At positions corresponding to the above-described terminal pieces 31, slits 39, 39 are formed which open at the rotation end side edges. Therefore, when the protection plate 33 is rotated upward, the respective terminal pieces 31, 31 are inserted into these slots 39, 39 so as to allow the protection plate 33 to be rotated while the terminal pieces 31, 31 are exposed upon rotation (refer to fig. 10, 22 and 23). Here, fig. 10(a) shows a state when the protection plate has rotated, and fig. 10(b) shows a state when the protection plate has not rotated.

Then, when an external force is not applied to the protection plate 33, at the rotation end of the protection plate 33 in the counterclockwise direction, corner portions between the two guides 32, 32 are in a state of covering both side ends of the rotation end edge of the protection plate 33 (refer to fig. 24). Further, in this state, the corners of the contact portions 35, 35 of the respective terminals 31, 31 are in a state of being engaged with the slots 39, 39 (refer to fig. 25).

Then, as described in detail below, when the battery pack 100 is mounted on the battery loading part 10, the terminal housing 121 of the battery-side terminal 120 pushes the protection plate 33 described above to rotate the protection plate 33 clockwise against the spring force of the coil torsion spring 37 and terminate at a position in the protection plate housing part 13b of the upper frame body 13 (refer to fig. 29).

Accordingly, the contact portions 35, 35 of the body terminal 30 are exposed and relatively entered into the terminal arranging grooves 124, 124 of the terminal housing 121 so as to be held between the pair of contacts 125, 125 and make electrical contact (refer to fig. 28).

Thus, when the protection plate 33 is in a state of not receiving an external force, since the protection plate 33 is in a state of covering the contact portions 35, the contact portions 35, 35 are not exposed, thereby preventing an external material from being stuck on the contact portions (refer to fig. 25).

Further, when any kind of collision occurs on a portion of the body terminal 30, for example, when the battery pack 100 is loaded in the wrong direction (wrong loading), a component other than the battery terminal 120 may collide with the body-side terminal 30.

Even in this case, since the guides 32, 32 are formed larger than the contact portions 35, the external force mainly acts on the guides 32, not on the contact portions 35, thereby preventing the contact portions 35, 35 from being deformed.

Also, when a relatively small external material collides with the main body side terminals 30, since the above-mentioned protection plates 33 are present, they collide with the protection plates 33 before colliding with the terminal pieces 31 (contact portions 35), and therefore, an external force is relieved, so that the contact portions 35 are not directly subjected to a large external force.

Further, as described above, since the protection plate is in a state of being held between the two guides 32, when an external force having a component in the front-rear direction is applied to the protection plate 33, since the guides 32, 32 are used to support the protection plate 33, and since the three corresponding contact portions 35, 35 are inserted into the slots 39, 39 as described above, the external force acts on the contact portions 35, 35 through the corresponding slots 39, 39 to prevent the protection plate 33 from moving in the front-rear direction. Since an external force is not applied to one of the contact portions 35, 35 can be prevented from being deformed.

In the above-described embodiment, such main body side terminals 30 may have the guides 32, 32 formed integrally at the portion of the upper frame body 13 and the terminal pieces 31, 31 formed integrally by insert molding, or may be further provided with the rotatable protection plate 33, or the main body side terminals may have the corresponding portions molded or formed as another part in the base member of a predetermined shape so as to be mounted on the upper frame body 13 as the terminals.

How to connect the battery side terminals 120 to the main body side terminals 30 when the battery pack 100 is loaded on the battery loading section 10 will be described below.

First, the battery pack 100 has the battery-side terminals 120 (including the terminal positioning ribs 109, the terminal pushing ribs 116) arranged obliquely so as to be arranged below the protruding portion 17 of the upper frame body 13, so that the main body-side terminals 30 and the battery-side terminals 120 are opposed to each other.

Then, when the battery side terminal 120 is disposed below the above-described protruding portion 17 (refer to fig. 13), the guides 32, 32 of the main body side terminal 30 are relatively inserted into the guide grooves 123, 123 of the battery side terminal 120 (refer to fig. 26). In this case, since the guide grooves 123, 123 have chamfered opening side edges and chamfered end side edges of the guide, they can be easily attached.

In this condition, the guides 32, 32 are in a state of being slightly inserted into the guide grooves 123, and thus the battery terminal 120 is positioned with respect to the main body terminal 30. As described above, before the contacts 125, 125 are brought into contact with the contact portions 35, since the guide members 32, 32 composed of the molded member guide the grooves 125, 125 to be engaged, positioning can be performed by forming the member accurately. Therefore, before the contact pieces 125, 125 and the contact portions 35 of the two terminals 120, 30 are brought into contact with each other, the two terminals 120, 30 can be accurately positioned, and therefore, the subsequent contact between the contact pieces 125, 125 and the contact portions 35 can be performed with high accuracy.

From this state, the bottom of the battery pack 100 is rotated and then mounted on the battery loading part 10. The rotation of the battery pack 100 is performed by causing the portion to be locked of the rear surface case 106 to be caught by the above-described protruding portion 17, which region serves as a rotation fulcrum (refer to fig. 14).

Then, the contact portion 35 of the main body side terminal 30 relatively enters the terminal arrangement groove 124 of the battery side terminal 120 (refer to fig. 27), and comes into contact with the two contact convex portions 125a, 125a and pushes them apart, so that the contact members 125, 125 are elastically bent and sandwich the contact portion 35. Thus, electrical connection is established between the battery-side terminal 120 and the main body-side terminal 30 (refer to fig. 28).

Further, the relationship between the contact portion 35 and the contacts 125, 125 is such that the contact portion 35 relatively moves in the surface direction, and since the two contacts 125, 125 are elastically bent in such a manner that the tip end portions thereof (the contact convex portions 125a, 125a) are pushed away from each other, an improper force does not act therebetween, and therefore, the contact portion 35 and the contacts 125, 125 are not deformed.

Moreover, since the relationship between the battery side terminal 120 and the main body side terminal 30 is such that: the terminal arranging grooves 124, 124 of the battery side terminal 120, which are open in two directions, are in contact with the flat plate-like contact portions 35, the flat plate-like contact portions 35, 35 having approximately right-angled corners, and the battery side terminal 120 may be combined with the main body side terminal 30 from a direction ranging from 90 degrees, which includes a left-right direction and an up-down direction.

That is, when only the structures of the battery side terminal 120 and the body side terminal 30 are considered, the battery side terminal 120 may be combined with the body side terminal 30 from the left side or the bottom side or the left oblique lower side including the aforementioned direction, which means that the battery side terminal 120 may be combined with the body side terminal 30 from any direction within the range of about 90 degrees, and in any combination made in this direction, an improper force does not act on the contact portion 35 and the contacts 125, and thus neither the contact portion 35 nor the contacts 125, 125 are deformed.

Of course, in the above-described relationship between the battery pack 100 and the battery mounting portion 10 of the camera main body 2, since the battery side terminals 120 are to be combined with the main body side terminals 30 from approximately the left side, it can be said that the structures of the battery side terminals 120 and the main body side terminals 30 are not fully utilized.

However, since the above-described assembly of the battery pack 100 on the battery loading part 10 is performed by rotation, the combination of the terminals 120 and 30 does not have a directional component in only one direction, and by adopting the terminal structure, the contact parts 35 and the contact pieces 125, 125 of the terminals 120 and 30 do not receive an undue force when contacting each other, and thus are not deformed.

Further, since the contact convex portions 125a, 125a are provided at the tip end portions of the contacts 125, 125 so as to be brought into contact with the contact portions 35, the two terminals can also be combined with each other within a range of 90 degrees including the above-described two directions.

That is, although the contact portion 35 enters and pushes away the contacts 125, 125 to move the contacts away from each other, since the contact portion 35 is in contact with only the contact convex portions 125a, the battery loading portion 10 can receive the battery pack 100 in the same manner in any combination of the two terminals 120, 30 from any direction within a range of 90 degrees including the above two directions.

Moreover, since the contact convex portions 125a, 125a are at the tip end portions of the contacts 125, even when the positions of the contacts 125, 125 and the contact portion 35 in the front-rear direction are slightly shifted, a stable connection state can be maintained between the two terminals (the contacts 125, 125 and the contact portion 35).

The material quality and width of the terminal member 122 will be described below, which will affect the contact state between the contact pieces 125, 125 and the contact portion 35 when the two terminals 120 and 30 are combined.

The terminal piece 31 is made of brass (thickness: t ═ 0.35mm), and its contact portion is plated with gold 0.76 μm thick. Moreover, brass is selected as the material of the terminal member 31 because brass, phosphor bronze, beryllium copper are generally used as the contact point from the viewpoint of cost and workability.

Further, with a view to increasing safety, for gold plating, a nickel layer may be used as the base layer, and a thickness of 0.75 is set to be visible to the eye because the battery pack is frequently repeatedly inserted and extracted in consideration of the use of the battery pack 100 and the video camera 1.

Therefore, when the terminal structure is used for the video camera 1 and the battery pack 100, the contact convex portions 125a, 125a may not be plated with gold at all to avoid waste as in usual use.

Further, a gold plating thickness of 0.76 μm is mainly used for the contact portion, that is, the contact portion 35, but for the lead-out portion 34, a gold plating layer thickness of not more than 0.1 μm is recommended. This serves to ensure stable electrical contact between the two.

Then, with respect to the terminal member 122, the four examples were tested to select one from them. For the material of this test, three materials (brass, phosphor bronze, beryllium copper) were considered as described above, but phosphor bronze and beryllium copper were tested in consideration of the spring force of the contacts 125, 125 because their characteristics are favorable.

The sample (1) was made of phosphor bronze (thickness: t ═ 0.2mm) and the contact portion was plated with 0.76 μm gold; the sample (2) was made of phosphor bronze (thickness: t 0.15mm) and the contact portion was plated with 0.76 μm gold; the sample (3) was made of beryllium copper (thickness: t ═ 0.2mm) and the contact portion was plated with 0.76 μm gold; the sample (4) was made of beryllium copper (thickness: t 0.15mm), and the contact portion was plated with 0.76 μm gold. Also, for gold plating, a nickel layer is used as a base layer, as is the above-described terminal member 122. The same applies to the reason for selecting a layer thickness of 0.76 μm. Further, 0.76 μm gold plating on the contacts 125, 125 is the same as the thickness on the contact portions, that is, on the contact convex portions 125, and it is recommended that the gold plating on the lead 128 is not more than 0.1 μm thick.

For the test method, a durability test was performed in which the terminal piece 31 was inserted into the terminal member 122 and extracted from the terminal member 122 7000 times.

Items such as contact resistance, total engagement force, total disengagement force, and appearance inspection were tested, the first three test items representing respective values from 1 to 7000 times at predetermined times, and further, appearance inspection was performed by visual observation after 7000 times of durability tests.

Also, the contact resistance was measured by using a four-terminal method in which the open-circuit voltage was set to not more than 20mV, the short-circuit current was set to not more than 100mA, and the specified value was 20m Ω at maximum.

The total engagement force is measured by engaging (combining) the terminals 120 and the terminals 30, and then the engagement force is measured, which is set to 10N (newton) at maximum.

For the total disengagement force, the disengagement force is measured when the engagement (combination) between the terminal 120 and the terminal 30 is released, and is set to a minimum of 0.3N (newton).

The test results of the aforementioned three test items are shown in fig. 31 to 33.

With the sample (1), the contact resistance showed small divergence and was stable (refer to fig. 31), and the insertion and extraction forces also stably obtained good values (refer to fig. 32 and 33). Further, the appearance inspection showed that the contact convex portions 125a, 125a of the contacts 125, 125 were worn by an appropriate amount, and no problem was found.

For sample (2), the contact resistance showed a large divergence in the 7000 times durability samples, and the total meshing force was small (refer to fig. 32). In addition, visual inspection showed several scratches. It was also observed that the total engagement force was weak, resulting in a small contact pressure, which caused a problem of contact resistance.

With sample (3), although there was no problem in contact resistance and total engagement force, the disengagement force varied greatly in the 7000 times durability sample, and there was a so-called jerky feeling at the time of disengagement. Moreover, the appearance inspection shows that there is a larger variation in the engaging force, a larger abrasion scratch is generated on the terminal piece 31, and the contact convex portions 125a, 125a of the terminal piece 31 are more worn.

For sample (4), the total engagement force was weak and the contact resistance was relatively stable, although this hidden a problem that the contact resistance value might appear. In addition, visual inspection showed that a low total engagement force with almost no wear scratches could be achieved.

Therefore, the sample (1) is considered to be the most suitable sample for four samples.

Furthermore, for beryllium copper, when gold plating is performed on beryllium copper, only so-called post plating (plating is performed after forming a predetermined shape) is performed, and therefore, the sample (1) is selected.

That is, beryllium copper is generally difficult to be formed (press-worked, such as bending and forging) after gold plating, and therefore, in the form of the above-described terminal member 22, it is shaped after forming such that the contact convex portions 125a, 125a are in contact with each other, and therefore, when any article having such contact portions is subjected to gold plating, the contact portions cannot be subjected to gold plating by post-plating because they are in contact with each other.

Meanwhile, with respect to the above four samples, they all satisfied the above specified values (contact resistance: 20 m.OMEGA.max; engagement force: 10 Nmax; disengagement force: 0.3Nmin), so there was no problem in selecting any one of the examples. However, when considering worse conditions, the sample (1) is preferably selected because good results can be obtained.

Further, when the contact pressure of the spring force of the contacts 125, 125 is taken into consideration, the sample (1) is selected as the material of the terminal member 122 (refer to fig. 34 to 36).

Before the following description, the dimensions and the like of the terminal member 122 and the terminal arranging groove 124 in which the terminal member 122 is arranged will be clearly described (refer to fig. 34, 35).

As described above, the contact members 125, 125 of the terminal member 122 have a thickness of 0.2mm, a width of 1.2mm, and a length of a portion exposed from the embedded portion of 3.9mm, and the contact convex portions 125a, 125a are formed so that r becomes 0.3 at a position offset by 0.45mm from the edges thereof toward the center base member 127 side (refer to fig. 34 and 35). Further, the contacts 125, 125 are protruded from the buried portion such that they approach each other and are bent substantially at the center in the longitudinal direction to be parallel to each other, while a space between them is formed to be 0.6mm from the bent portion to the edge portion. Therefore, the contact convex portions 125a, 125a make zero contact with each other (refer to fig. 21).

The opening width of the terminal arranging groove 124 is formed to be 0.45mm, and the plate thickness t of the above-mentioned contact portion 35 is 0.35, and therefore, when the contact portion 35 enters the terminal arranging groove 124 at the standard position (middle portion), the interval between the inner edge of the terminal arranging groove 124 and the contact portion 35 is ((0.45-0.35)/2 ═ 0.05mm) (refer to fig. 34 and 35).

At this time, the two contacts 125, 125 have approximately the same curvature, and the moving amount is 0.175 mm. Further, the contact pressure at this time was 1.0091N (refer to fig. 36).

Then, when the contact portion 35 enters the terminal arranging groove 124 by being shifted in one direction, the maximum amount of movement is generated for one contact 125 and the minimum amount of movement is generated for the other contact 125, and therefore, the contact pressures at this time are 1.4416N and 0.4609N, respectively (refer to fig. 36).

Therefore, in the case of using the above material (phosphor bronze) of the above test sample (1), when the contact portion 35 is brought into contact with the contact convex portion 125a, it can be found that the contact pressure is 1.4416N at the maximum and 0.4609N at the minimum, which is sufficient as the contact pressure.

When gold plating is used, 0.09812N-0.1961N is usually sufficient as a contact pressure, whereas in the above-mentioned sample (1), the contact pressure applied is larger than that, which seems to be too large.

However, since the terminal structure is based on the precondition of making electrical contact between the battery pack 100 and the video camera 1, the number of insertion and extraction times is easily expected to be large, and the gold plating may be worn out.

Therefore, even when the nickel layer as the base layer is exposed in the case where the gold plating is worn, it is necessary to ensure that the contact resistance value is lower than a prescribed value.

At this time, since it is considered that the contact resistance can be secured to the prescribed value even when the contact pressure of nickel is approximately 0.5884N, by securing the maximum value 1.4416N of one contact 125 and the above-mentioned minimum value 0.4609N of the other contact 125, the prescribed value can be satisfied even when the gold plating is worn (refer to fig. 36).

Further, the insulation resistance and the withstand voltage were also examined as items different from the above items, and as a result, the four samples were all within the predetermined values, and no particular difference was found.

Furthermore, as the external environment resistance, the electrical and mechanical property tests were also conducted for the case of wet resistance, temperature cycle and salt water spraying, and no particular difference was found in the results.

In the above-described embodiment, the battery pack 100 (component to be mounted) having the battery side terminal 120 and the video camera (main body side apparatus) having the main body side terminal 30 are cited and explained as examples thereof, but it may be a dry battery pack 140 (component to be mounted) having the same battery side terminal 120 as the battery pack 100 and a camera lamp 150 and a battery charger 160 (refer to fig. 37 to 40) having the same main body terminal 30 as the video camera 1.

In addition, with respect to the battery pack 100, there may be various types according to the difference in capacity; as for the video camera 1, a chargeable type 1A with a charging function and a non-chargeable type 1B without a charging function are included (refer to fig. 37 to 40).

When all of these various devices (various battery packs 100, dry battery packs 140, etc.) having the side terminals 120 can be mounted on the devices (the video camera 1n (the chargeable type 1A and the non-chargeable type 1B), the image pickup lamp 150, and the battery charger 160) having the main body terminals 30, a problem may occur.

For example, the dry battery pack 140 can be mounted on the video camera 1B (non-chargeable type), but the dry battery pack 140 cannot be mounted on the video camera 1A (chargeable type) and the battery charger 160, and, as for the image pickup lamp 150, the high-capacity type image pickup lamp 150A allows only the high-capacity battery pack 100H mounted on the battery pack 100 and cannot be mounted on the other low-capacity battery pack 100L, the standard-capacity battery pack 100S, and the dry battery pack 140.

Here, the rechargeable type camera 1A is equipped with a DC input socket terminal, and when a DC input socket is connected thereto, the camera main body 2 can be driven by the battery pack 100 being charged, which is mounted on the battery loading part 10, while the non-rechargeable type camera 1B is a device without such a charging function, the camera 1 exemplified in the above embodiment is of the rechargeable type 1A, to which the above-mentioned dry battery pack 140 cannot be mounted.

At this time, it is necessary to judge whether or not the battery pack 100 having such a battery side terminal 120 can be mounted on the device having the main body side terminal 30, thereby preventing the mounting thereof when it is judged that the mounting is not permitted.

At this time, the identification mark 111 is disposed near the above-mentioned battery-side terminal 120, and the above-mentioned blocking portion 19 for blocking the battery pack 100 and the like from being loaded is at the corresponding region near the main body-side terminal 30.

Specific examples of the identification mark 111 of the battery-side terminal 120 and the blocking portion 19 of the main body-side terminal 30 are shown below.

As for the kinds of the identification mark 111 of the battery side terminal 120, there are four kinds, for example, L-type, H-type, D-type, and S-type, the L-type identification mark 111L is used for the low-capacity type of battery pack L, the S-type identification mark 111S is used for the standard type of battery pack 100S, the H-type identification mark 111H is used for the high-capacity type of battery pack 100H, and the D-type identification mark 111D is used for the dry battery pack 140 (refer to fig. 37 to 40).

Further, as for the kinds of the blocking portions 19 of the main body side terminal 30, there are four kinds, for example, I type, II type, III type, and IV type, the I type blocking portion is used for the chargeable type camera 1A (same as the battery charger 160), the II type blocking portion is used for the non-chargeable type camera 1B, the III type blocking portion is used for the high capacity dedicated camera lamp 150A, and the IV type blocking portion is used for the non-low capacity camera lamp 150B (refer to fig. 37 to 40).

The S-shaped identification mark 111S for the standard capacity battery pack 100S is constituted as described above, and has the small projecting strip 110, the projecting strip 110 projecting from the left end of the terminal positioning rib 109 in directions opposite to each other (front-rear direction). The identification mark S is formed at a position shifted substantially to the right from the rear surface 106a of the rear surface case 106 (refer to fig. 37 to 40).

The L-shaped identification mark 111L for the low-capacity battery pack 100L is formed such that: the small projection bar 110 formed at the left end of the terminal positioning rib 109 of the above-described S-shaped identification mark 111S extends onto the rear surface 106a of the rear surface case 106, and therefore, the small projection bar 110L of the L-shaped identification mark 111L is formed to be continuous with the rear surface 106a of the rear surface case 106 (refer to fig. 37 to 40).

The H-type identification mark 111H for the high-capacity battery pack 100H is formed such that: the small projecting strips 110, 110L extending in the opposite directions (front-rear direction) to each other in the above-described S-type identification mark 111S and L-type identification mark 111L are not formed.

The D-type identification mark 111D for the dry battery pack 100D is formed such that: small projecting strips 110, 110L projecting from the left end of the terminal positioning rib 109 are not formed like the above-described H-shaped identification mark 111H, but an identification rib 141 projecting rightward from the middle of the terminal pushing rib 116 is integrally formed in the front surface case 105 (refer to fig. 37 to 40).

The structure of the respective blocking portion 19 and how the blocking portion 19 is combined with the above-described respective identification mark 111 will be described below.

First, in the above-described embodiment, the I-type blocking portion of the main body side terminal 30 is used for the video camera 1A (chargeable type 1A), and includes the protruding portion 17 formed in the upper frame body 13 of the main body side terminal 30 and the above-described blocking projection bar 18 formed to protrude leftward from the rear end of the protruding portion 17 (refer to fig. 37).

In the I-type blocking portion, since the central portion of the projecting portion 17 interferes with the identification rib 141 of the D-type identification mark 111, it is not allowed to be loaded, however, for the other L, S and H-type identification marks, it is allowed to be loaded since the central portion of the projecting portion 17 does not interfere with the identification mark 111.

Therefore, the dry battery pack 140 cannot be mounted on the chargeable type camera 1A employing the I-type barrier portion, and therefore, the problem of erroneous charging of the dry battery pack 140 can be prevented. On the other hand, the battery packs 100L, 100S, 100H employing other types of identification marks 111L, 111S, 111H can be mounted on the battery loading portion 10 regardless of whether its capacity is high or low (refer to fig. 37).

In the type II blocking portion, a cut-away portion 17a is formed at the center portion of the protruding portion 17, and therefore, since the protruding portion 17 does not interfere with the identification mark 141, it can be loaded, and at the same time, there is no portion that interferes with the other types of identification marks 111S, 111L, 111H, and therefore, all types of identification marks 111L, 111S, 111H allow loading (refer to fig. 38).

Therefore, the low-capacity battery pack 100L, the standard-capacity battery pack 100S, the high-capacity battery pack 100H, and the dry battery pack 140 can be mounted on the non-chargeable type video camera 1B (refer to fig. 38) employing the type II barrier portion.

In the type III blocking portion, one end portion of the blocking projection bar 18 formed toward the bottom surface 15 (leftward) reaches the bottom surface 15 of the battery loading portion 10, and the other blocking projection bar 18 is formed integrally with the above bottom surface 15 in front of the blocking projection bar 18. The pitch between the two barrier projection bars 18 is formed to be approximately equal to the pitch between the two terminal positioning ribs 109, and the two terminal positioning ribs 109, 109 are formed to sandwich the above-described battery-side terminal 120 from the front-rear direction (refer to fig. 39).

In this type III blocking portion, since the central portion of the projecting portion 17 interferes with the identification mark 141 of the D-type identification mark 111D, it is not allowed to be loaded, and in the L-type identification mark 111L and the S-type identification mark 111S, since the small projection bars 110, 110L projecting in the mutually opposite directions (front-rear direction) from the left end of the terminal positioning rib 109 interfere with the above-described blocking projection bars 18, they are not allowed to be loaded. On the other hand, in the H-type identification mark 111H, there is no portion interfering with the III-type blocking portion, so that it can be loaded (see fig. 39).

Therefore, the low-capacity battery pack 100L, the standard-capacity battery pack 100S, and the dry battery pack 140 cannot be mounted on the high-capacity exclusive camera lamp 150A using the type III barrier portion, and only the high-capacity battery pack 100H can be mounted on the high-capacity exclusive camera lamp 150A (refer to fig. 39).

In the IV-shaped stopper portion, the same stopper projection 18 as the above-mentioned I-shaped stopper portion formed from the rear end of the projection 17 toward the bottom surface 15 (leftward) does not reach the bottom surface 15 of the battery loading portion 10, a smaller projection 18a is formed in an extended region thereof, the smaller projection 18a is in contact with the bottom surface 15 of the battery loading portion 10, and another smaller projection 18a is integrally formed from the above-mentioned bottom surface 15 in front of the smaller projection 18 a. Then, the pitch between the two smaller convex portions 18a, 18a is formed to be approximately equal to the pitch between the two terminal positioning ribs 109, and the two terminal positioning ribs 109, 109 are formed to sandwich the above-described battery-side terminal 120 from the front-rear direction (refer to fig. 40).

In this IV-type barrier portion, since the central portion of the projecting portion 17 interferes with the identification rib 141 of the D-type identification mark 111D, it is not allowed to be loaded, and in the L-type identification mark 111L, since the small projecting bars 110L, 110L projecting in the mutually opposite directions (front-rear directions) from the left ends of the terminal positioning ribs 109, 109 interfere with the above-described small projecting portions 18a, it is also not allowed to be loaded. In the S-shaped identification mark 111S, since the small projection bars 110, 110 projecting from the terminal positioning ribs 109, 109 in the opposite directions to each other (front-rear direction) are formed at positions slightly apart from the bottom surface 106a of the battery pack 100, there is no portion interfering with the IV-shaped blocking portion, and therefore it can be assembled. Further, with the H-type identification mark 111H, since there is no portion interfering with the IV-type blocking portion, it can also be assembled (refer to fig. 40).

Therefore, the low-capacity battery pack 100L and the dry battery pack 140 cannot be mounted on the non-low-capacity camera lamp 150B, and the standard-capacity battery pack 100S and the high-capacity battery pack 100H can be mounted thereon (refer to fig. 40).

Meanwhile, although not shown in the drawings, a detection switch for detecting the presence of the small projecting strip 110 of the S-shaped identification mark 11S so as to judge whether it is the S-shaped identification mark 111S or the L-shaped identification mark 111L is arranged in the vicinity of the small projecting portion 18a of the IV-type blocking portion.

In this case, the non-low-capacity camera lamp 150B has two light bulbs, and both light bulbs are turned on when the high-capacity battery pack 100H is loaded, and one light bulb is turned on when the standard-capacity battery pack 100S is loaded. In this way, by providing the identification mark 111 and the locking portion 19 in the vicinity of the battery side terminal 120 and the main body side terminal 30, respectively, it is possible to judge that the battery side terminal 120 and the main body side terminal 30 can be released for loading before connecting them, so that it is possible to surely avoid connecting both terminals when the case is "NO". That is, in the case of erroneous loading, since the above-described identification mark and the blocking portion are provided in the vicinity of the terminals 120 and 30, the terminals 120 and 30 can be prevented from being connected, and therefore, contact between the terminal member 122 and the terminal piece 31 can be prevented.

Further, the above description of the shapes of the identification mark 111 and the blocking portion 19 and their positions is given as an example. The identification mark 111 and the blocking portion 19 may be in the vicinity of the battery-side terminal 120 and the main body-side terminal 30, which is not a limitation of the description. Further, it should be understood that these shapes and positions are not limited to the battery pack 100, the dry battery pack 140, the video camera 1(1A, 1B), the camera lamp 150, and the battery charger 160, but various types are conceivable.

Also, in the above-described embodiment, the terminal housing 121 of the battery-side terminal 120 corresponds to the "molded component of the part-side terminal to be loaded" described in the claims, and the upper frame body 13 or the like of the main body-side terminal 30 corresponds to the "molded component of the main body-side terminal" described in the claims. Also, the main body side terminal 30 may include any member in place of the above-described frame body as described above, and other such members may be molded as a molded member by inserting a terminal piece therein, and at the same time, a guide may be formed integrally therewith. In addition, the battery-side terminal may have a battery case as the battery component described above, and the terminal component may be formed by insert molding together with the formed guide groove.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, two guides are provided, and three terminal pieces are arranged between the two guides. However, without being limited thereto, the present invention may also provide an additional guide member between the terminal pieces arranged in a line when there are a plurality of terminal pieces.

Further, the specific shapes and structures of the respective portions shown in the above-described embodiments are merely examples of implementing the present invention, and therefore, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to them.

As can be seen from the above, the terminal structure of the present invention is characterized in that in order to make electrical connection between a main body side device and a component to be loaded when the component to be loaded is mounted on the main body side device, wherein the main body side device has a main body side terminal, and the component to be loaded has a component side terminal to be loaded for connection with the main body side terminal, the terminal piece of the main body side device is formed on a molded part by insert molding while at least one guide is integrally arranged on the molded part, and the terminal component on the side of the component to be loaded is insert molded on the molded part while a guide groove is formed on the molded part so as to correspond to the guide, positioning of the main body side terminal and the terminal of the component to be loaded is achieved by engaging the guide with the guide groove formed on the component to be loaded.

Further, the present invention relates to a component to be mounted having a component-to-be-mounted side terminal for making electrical connection with a main body side terminal of a main body side apparatus when the component to be mounted is mounted on the main body side apparatus, characterized in that: the terminal member of the component-side terminal to be loaded is insert-molded into the mold member, and has guide grooves formed in the mold member so as to correspond to the guides of the main body-side device, and positioning of the main body-side terminal and the terminal of the component to be loaded is achieved by engaging the guide grooves with the guides of the main body-side device.

Therefore, in this invention, since the positioning of the main body-side terminals and the component-to-be-loaded-side terminals is achieved by engaging the terminal pieces and/or the terminal members insert-molded on the mold member with the guide pieces and the guide grooves formed on the mold member, the positional accuracy of the terminal pieces and the terminal members of the two terminals can be improved by improving the molding accuracy between the terminal pieces and the guide grooves of the two terminals, so that the connected state between the terminal pieces and the terminal members can be stably maintained when the two terminals are connected to each other.

In the present invention, in the direction in which the main body side terminal and the member to be loaded are connected to each other, since the above-mentioned guide is formed to have a size larger than that of the terminal piece of the main body side terminal, the guide and the terminal piece are engaged with each other before the terminal piece and the terminal piece are brought into contact with each other. Thus, when the terminal positioning is completed, the terminal member and the terminal piece start to contact each other, and therefore, an improper force is not applied to the terminal member and the terminal piece, and therefore, the terminals are not deformed. Therefore, the state in which the terminal pieces and the terminal members are connected to each other can be stably maintained.

In the present invention, since the above-described guide is in the vicinity of the terminal piece, the collision terminal piece first collides with the guide, so that an external force does not directly act on the terminal piece, and therefore, the terminal piece is not deformed. Therefore, the state in which the terminal pieces and the terminal members are connected to each other can be stably maintained.

In the present invention, since the two guides are used to sandwich the terminal pieces of the main body-side terminals from the direction in which the terminal pieces are aligned, the guides can also prevent an external force from acting thereon, and therefore, the terminal pieces are not deformed. Therefore, the state in which the terminal pieces and the terminal members are connected to each other can be stably maintained.

In the present invention, since the protection plates, which are respectively formed with the slits at the positions corresponding to the respective terminal pieces, are used to cover the terminal pieces of the main body side terminals and the protection plates can be shifted so that the terminals can be connected to each other when the main body side terminals and the part-to-be-loaded side terminals are connected to each other, the terminal pieces are not exposed, and therefore, it is possible to prevent the external material from adhering to the terminal pieces while protecting and reinforcing the terminal pieces.

Further, a terminal structure of the present invention is directed to an electrical connection between a main body side device and a component to be mounted, in which a main body side terminal of the main body side device has a flat plate-like contact portion, a component to be mounted side terminal of the component to be mounted has two contacts opposed to each other, and the main body side terminal and the component to be mounted side terminal can be connected to each other in at least two directions with respect to a planar direction of the contact portion so that the two contacts sandwich the contact portion when the main body side terminal and the component to be mounted side terminal are connected to each other.

Further, the component-to-be-loaded of the present invention has a component-to-be-loaded side terminal for connection with a main body side terminal of a main body side apparatus, the main body side terminal having a flat plate-like contact portion, and the component-to-be-loaded side terminal having two contacts opposed to each other, and the main body side terminal and the component-to-be-loaded side terminal being connectable to each other in at least two directions with respect to a planar direction of the contact portion, so that the two contacts sandwich the contact portion when the main body side terminal and the component-to-be-loaded are connected to each other.

Therefore, in the present invention, since the two contacts of the component side terminal to be mounted sandwich the flat plate-like contact portion, the insertion and extraction of the component side terminal into and from the main body side apparatus are performed in at least two directions, the direction at the time of mounting the component on the main body side apparatus can be different from the direction at the time of connecting the terminals to each other. Therefore, it is possible to increase the degree of freedom in design with respect to mounting of the component to be loaded on the main body side apparatus, regardless of the direction in connecting the terminals to each other, and to minimize the main body side apparatus and/or the component to be loaded.

Further, since the two contact pieces to which the component side terminals are to be loaded sandwich the flat plate-like contact portion, a stable contact state of the terminals can be ensured regardless of the direction in connecting the terminals to each other.

Further, in the present invention, since the main body side terminals are arranged at the inside corner portions of the concave portion of the main body side device on which the component to be loaded is mounted and the component-to-be-loaded side terminals are arranged at the outside corner portions of the housing of the component to be loaded or at positions corresponding to the above-mentioned main body side terminals, and since the contact portions of the above-mentioned main body side terminals are arranged to project in such a manner that the directions are approximately perpendicular to the planes constituting the above-mentioned inside corner portions, respectively, the contacts of the component-to-be-loaded side terminals are arranged in the terminal arranging grooves which are opened in the two planes constituting the above-mentioned outside corner portions, the positioning of the terminals can be performed in two directions with the engagement of the inside and outside corner portions, the terminals being combined in the remaining one direction. Therefore, the two terminals can be positioned in three directions, and the direction when the component to be loaded is loaded in the main body side device can be approximately perpendicular to the loading surface forming the loading portion of the main body side device. Therefore, a space for only mounting the component to be loaded on the main body side apparatus is not required, and the main body side apparatus and/or the component to be loaded can be minimized.

In the present invention, since the hemispherical contact convex portion is formed at the portion where the two contacts contact each other, the contact portion is held between the two contact convex portions, and therefore, a stable contact state can be ensured regardless of the direction in which the two terminals are connected to each other.

In the present invention, since the above-mentioned two contact convex portions are formed in zero contact with each other, when the contact is brought into contact with the contact portion, an improper force does not act thereon, and thus the contact portion and the contact are not deformed, and therefore a stable contact state can be ensured.

In the present invention, since only the above-described contact convex portion can be seen from the direction of the terminal arranging groove of the component-side terminal to be loaded, when the flat plate-like contact portion is inserted into the terminal arranging groove, only the contact between the contact convex portion and the contact portion can be achieved, and the spring characteristics of the contact with respect to the contact portion are the same regardless of the direction in which the terminals are combined with each other, and therefore, the contact stability of the two terminals can be ensured.

In the present invention, since the above-mentioned contact is made of phosphor bronze of 0.2mm thickness and a gold plating of 0.5 μm or more is applied to at least the above-mentioned contact convex portion, even if the number of times of insertion and extraction of the two terminals is relatively large, the gold plating is not worn out, although the gold plating is consumed in a normal use state. Therefore, contact stability can be ensured also for the terminal which is inserted and extracted relatively many times.

In the present invention, in the case where the contact portion is inserted approximately from the middle (standard position) of the terminal arranging groove, since the contact pressure of the above-described contact convex portion against the contact portion is approximately 1N (newton), even if the gold plating portion of the contact convex portion is worn out due to an excessive number of times of insertion and extraction, the contact resistance value can be kept lower than the standard value of the base layer. Therefore, contact stability between the terminals can be ensured.

Claims (11)

1. A battery pack for loading on an electronic device, comprising:

a front surface case and a rear surface case combined to form a rectangular solid battery case for two battery cells, the case having a front side surface and a rear side surface at both ends in a width direction, upper side surfaces and lower side surfaces at both ends in a length direction, and left side surfaces and right side surfaces at both ends in a thickness direction;

a substrate on which an IC chip for calculating and storing a residual amount of the battery pack is mounted;

a plurality of terminal members mounted on the substrate for connection with the body-side terminals;

three terminal grooves in which the plurality of terminal members are respectively disposed;

first and second guide grooves provided at laterally opposite ends of the three terminal grooves, respectively; and

a terminal housing in which the three terminal grooves are provided;

wherein a concave portion and rectangular cutouts formed in the concave portion and opened in upper and left side directions of the rear surface case are formed in a front portion of an upper surface of the rear surface case;

a pair of terminal positioning ribs formed on a surface of the rear surface case in the vicinity of the terminal case, projecting upward, and extending in the thickness direction, the interval between the terminal positioning ribs being equal to the dimension of the terminal case in the width direction;

the terminal housing is disposed in the rectangular cutout, and a position of an upper surface of the terminal housing in the length direction is the same as a height of an upper surface of the terminal positioning rib.

2. The battery pack according to claim 1, further comprising: a terminal push rib formed at a left side edge of the notch portion.

3. The battery pack according to claim 2, wherein a length of the terminal-pushing rib in the width direction is the same as an interval between the pair of terminal-positioning ribs.

4. The battery pack of claim 1, further comprising a substrate disposed within the housing, the substrate being mounted on an upper portion of the battery.

5. The battery pack according to claim 2 or 3, wherein small projection bars are formed near the terminal housing, the small projection bars extending in the width direction from the corresponding terminal positioning ribs, the terminal positioning ribs and the small projection bars functioning as identification marks for identifying the kind of battery.

6. The battery pack according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of terminal members are insert-molded on the terminal housing.

7. The battery pack according to claim 1, wherein the guide groove has a length, a width and a depth larger than those of the plurality of terminal grooves.

8. The battery pack according to claim 1, wherein two opposing contacts are provided in each of the plurality of terminal slots.

9. The battery pack according to claim 8, wherein each contact is provided with a hemispherical contact convex portion.

10. The battery pack according to claim 9, wherein the two contact projections are in contact with each other when no pressure is applied thereto.

11. The battery pack according to claim 9, wherein substantially only the contact convex portion is visible from the terminal groove.