GB2297861A

GB2297861A - A battery charger

Info

Publication number: GB2297861A
Application number: GB9602596A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Walter Haehnel
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1995-02-08
Filing date: 1996-02-08
Publication date: 1996-08-14
Anticipated expiration: 2016-02-08
Also published as: IES950100A2; IES68328B2; GB9602596D0; GB2297861B

Abstract

A battery charger (1) has a housing (2) within which is mounted battery charging means. A battery receiver (4) on an upper face of the housing (2) has a stepped platform for mounting batteries of two different lengths on the housing (2). The stepped platform comprises an upper platform (20) and a lower platform (21). Each battery engages with a spring loaded movable catch (17) at one end of the lower platform (21) and with a fixed catch (18,19) at the opposite end of the upper platform (20) or lower platform (21) depending on whether it is a long battery or short battery respectively. A battery charger switch is operable in response to placement of a battery on the receiver (4) to select an appropriate charging voltage for the battery. Preferably the movable catch (17) carries a charging contact for connecting a battery to the charging means in the housing (2).

Description

"A Battery Charger" This invention relates to battery chargers It is known to provide a battery charger which will accept batteries of different voltage for charging A user selects a desired voltage by i.ani of an appropriate voltage Selector switch before mounting the battery on the battery charger. A disadvantage of this arrangement is that the battery charger is not user friendly in that they require manual setting by a user prior to mounting a battery on the charger. Ower-charging or damage of the battery can occur if the charge voltage is not clected correctly.

Battery chargers which are able to charge different battery sizes are readily available, however, typically the battery chargers require adapters to extend or reduce a battery receiving platform on the charger and this arrangement is not flier-friendly. Also, with the mounting of certain types of battery on the charger, due to the positioning of the battery on the charger the charger can become somewhat unstable to the extent that the charger will topple over if exposed to any slight touch or vibration.

The present invention is directed towards providing an improved battery charger which overcomes these robins.

According to the invention, there is provided a battery charger comprising a housing with battery charging means, the battery charging nans having charging contacts for engagement with the terminals of a battery to connect the battery to the battery charging means, and a battery receiver comprising a stepped platform on the housing having means for mounting two or more different types of battery on the housing with the battery terminals in engagement with the charging contacts. The stepped platform advantageously allows batteries of different length to be Mounted on the receiver.

In one embodiment of the invention the Mounting means has catch means for releasable inter.ngageiint with a battery when loading the battery on the receiver.

Preferably the catch means comprises a movable catch and the associated fixed catch mounted spaced-apart on the receiver.

In another e:iodiment of the invention, the mounting means comprises a movable catch and two or more associated spaced-apart fixed catches arranged in a stepped formation on the housing, a battery being engageable with the movable catch and one of the fixed catches to mount the battery in the housing. Conveniently a battery can be engaged with a fixed catch and then pivoted about the fixed catch into engagement with the movable catch.

In a further embodiment, the battery charging Deans has a charge selector switch operable to select a charging voltage appropriate for a particular battery when said battery is mounted on the receiver.

Conveniently, the charge selector switch is operable in response to the mounting of a battery on the receiver for selecting an associated charging voltage for the battery.

In a preferred embodiment, the charge selector switch is a spring-loaded switch which pro ectfi outwardly of the receiver, the switch being biased towards the extended poSition.

m another embodiment, the movable catch carries a charging contact.

In another embodiment, the movable catch is a spring loaded catch slidably mounted on the housing for movement between a released position and a battery engaging position, the lovable catch being biased towards the battery engaging position.

In a preferred embodiment, one or more adjustable charging contacts are provided on the housing, the or each adjustable charging contact being Movable on the housing to position the contact for alignient with associated battery terminals.

Preferably the adjustable charging contact is pivotally mounted on the housing.

The invention will be more clearly understood by the following description of an embodiment thereof, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which : rig. 1 is a plan view of a battery charger according to the invention; Fig. 2 is a side sectional elevational view of the battery charger; Pig. 3 is another side sectional elevational view of the battery charger; Fig. 4 is another plan view of the battery charger; Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view of a movable charging contact forming portion of the battery charger; Fig. 6 hows plan views of batteries which can be charged using the charger;; Pig. 7 is a further plan view of the charger shown in use with a battery mounted on the battery charger; and Pig. 8 shows plan views of various different types of battery which can be charged using the battery charger; Referring to the drawings, thor is illustrated a battery charger according to the invention indicated generally by the reference numeral 1. The battery charger 1 has a housing 2 within which is mounted battery charging means (not shown) of conventional type. A battery receiver 4 on an upper face of the housing has scans for mounting a number of different types of battery on the housing 2 for charging.The battery charging means has a nurciber of charging contacts 5,6,7,8,9,10,11 for engagement with the terminals of a battery when the battery is mounted on the receiver 4 to connect the battery to the battery charging means. A thermal contact T1 is also provided for use with some battery types as appropriate.

Referring to Fig. 8, it will be seen that various different battery types have their positive and negative terminals 13,14 located in different position. It will be noted that the arrangement of the charging contacts on the housing 2 is such as to accor-odate these various different arrangements. The batteries shown in Figs. 8(d) and 8(e) also have thermal contacts T2.

Preferring to Fig. 2, a battery 16 is shown mounted on the charger 1. The receiver 4 has mounting means comprising e spring-loaded lovable catch 17 and two spaced-apart fixed catches 18,19, a battery 16 being engageable with the movable catch 17 and on. of the fixed catches 18,19 to mount the battery 16 on the housing 2.It will be noted that the fixed catches 18,19 are arranged in a stepped formation on the housing, the receiver 4 conprising a stepped platform having an upper platform 20 associated with the fixed catch 19 for supporting a larger battery 16 on the receiver and a lower platform 21 associated with the fixed catch 19 for mounting smaller sized batteries on the receiver 4. Thus batteries of different length can be mounted on the receiver 4. It will be noted that each battery 16 has sockets 22,23 at each end which are engagable by the fixed catch 18,19 and movable catch 17.

With the socket 23 engaged with a fixed catch 18,19 the opposite end ot the battery is pivoted about the fixed catch l8, 19 for snap engagement of the socket 22 with the movable catch 17.

The battery charging means has a charge selector switch 25 mounted on the lower platform 21 and operable to select the charging voltage appropriato for a particular battery when the battery is mounted on the receiver. The switch 23 is a spring loaded switch which projects outwardly of the lower platform 21. When a large: six volt battery is mounted on the receiver as shown in Fig. 2, the switch 25 is in one position of use. When a smaller 4.8 volt battery 26 (see Fig. 3) is mounted on the receiver, the switch 25 is depressed to reduce the output voltage of the charger for charging the 4.9 volt battery.

It will be noted that the movable catch 17 carries the negative changing contact 6 of the charging contact pair 5,6 adapted for engagement with the battery shown in Fig.

Ba.

Referring to Pigs. 4 and 5, the charging contact 9 is movably mounted on the housing 2, being carried on a pivot arm 30 on the housing 2. In this way, advantageously as shown in Fig. 6, the arm 30 can be pivoted on the housing 2 to locate the positive charging contact 9 appropriately for engagement with either the battery shown in Fig. Sc or Fig. Sd or S.

so use, a front edge of a battery 16,26 is engaged with one of the fixed catches 19,19 and then a rear end of the battery 16,26 is swung downwardly and snapped into engagement with the movable catch 17. Before mounting the battery 16 on the housing, the contact switch 9 may be positioned as appropriate. It will be noted that when charging batteries of the type shown in Fig. 8a, the negative charging contact 6 which is carried on the movable catch 17 engages with the battery as it is snapped onto the receiver 4.The battery receiving platforms which is stepped at one end allows batteries of different length to be mounted on the receiver using a conFon movable catch 17 and one of the fixed catch 18,19.

Referring now to Pig. 7, the mounting of a battery of the type shown in Fig. 8b on the receiver 4 is shown. As can be seen, the battery is centrally mounted on the receiver and then slid in the direction of Arrow A to engage the charging contacts 7,5 with the terminals 13b,14b of the battery. This arrangement provides a table mounting of the battery on the housing 2.

Chargers which are able to charge different battery sizes (4.8V and 6V) are readily available, however, the system of other chargers require adapters to extend or reduce the battery receiving platform which is not user friendly.

With the present invention, adoantagoously, the stepped format allow fitting of different sized batteries without the requirement of an adapter or altering the length of the platform 20,21.

Further, due to the design and arrangement of the stepped platform 20,21, it is also possible to identify the battery type (battery voltage 4.8V or 6V) and the appropriate changing voltage is activated automatically by switch 25 when a battery is fitted. This is only possible due to the step formation. Other known prior art chargers need manual setting by a user of voltage which is not user friendly and can cause overcharging or damage of a battery if charge voltage is not selected correctly.

Also, due to the arrangement of the stepped platform it is possible to position the fitting of the battery type shown in Fig. eb centrally which keeps the centre of gravity of the fitted battery and charger centrally on the housing making it more stable. Other known prior art chargers available on the market have to fit a battery from the outside edge of the housing due to a different platform construction. This causes the centre of gravity of the known prior art chargers to move to the outside edge when battery is fitted which in turn causes the charger to be unstable and topple over if exposed to any alight touch or vibration.

Advantageously, due to the step arrang-unt design of platforms the charger can use the same contacts 9,10,11 for different battery sizes Sc,Sd,Se and also allows the same release catch 17 to be used for different battery sizes. Further, the release catch 17 which has a buLlt- in contact 6 is unique.

Another important novel feature of the present invention is the movable charging contact 9. In the prior art, a charger with two fixed plus contacts in position 1 and 2 (Fig. 6(a) and 6(b)) and thermal contact T1 are rerdily available. The disadvantages of this type of prior art type of design is that if a battery Panasonic 4.8V or 6V (Fig. 6, 14d, 13d) is fitted to charger fixed contact position 2 (positive contact) will Make contact with battery thermal contact T2 and thereby give a battery voltage to thermal charger contact T1. This gives the charger a false signal and the thermal contact detection may fail. With the present invention, the adjustable contact 9 eliminates this problem due to the fact that if Panasonic battery 6V or 4.8V is used, contact 9 is moved to position 1 (9 eliminating the possibility of positive charger contact making contact with the battery contact T2.

The invention is not lisited to the embodiments hereinbef ore described which may be varied in both construction and detail

Claims

CLAn-S 1. A battery charger comprising a housing with battery charging means, the battery charging means having charging contacts for engagement with the terminals of a battery to connect the battery to the battery charging means, and a battery receiver comprising a stepped platform on the housing having means for mounting two or more different types of battery on the housing with the battery terminals in engagement with the charging contacts.
2. A battery charger as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mounting means has catch means for releasable interengagement with a battery when loading the battery on the receiver.
3. A battery charger as claimed in claim 2 wherein the catch means comprises a movable catch and an associated fixed catch mounted spaced-apart on the receiver.
4. A battery charger as claimed in claim 2 or 3 wherein the mounting means comprise. g movable catch and two or more associated spaced-apart fixed catches arranged in a stepped formation on the housing, a battery being engageable with the movable catch and one of the fixed catches to mount the battery in the housing.
5. A battery charger as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the battery charging means has a charge selector switch operable to select a charging voltage appropriate for a particular battery when said battery is mounted on the receiver.
6. A battery charger as claimed in claim S, wherein the charge selector switch is operable in response to the mounting of a battery on the receiver for selecting an associated charging voltage for the battery.
7. A battery charger as claimed in claim 5 or 6, wherein the charge selector switch is a spring- loaded switch which projects outwardly of the receiver, the switch being biased towards the extended position.
8. A battery charger as claimed in any of claims 3 to 7 wherein the movable catch carries a charging contact.
9. A battery charger as claimed in any of claims 3 to 8 wherein the movable catch is a spring-loaded catch slidably mounted on the housing for movement between a released position and a battery engaging position, the movable catch being biassed towards the battery engaging position.
10. A battery charger as claizied in any preceding claim wherein one or more adjustable charging contacts are provided on the housing, the or each adjustable charging contact being movable on the housing to position the contact for alignment with associated battery terminal.
11. A battery charger as claimed in claim 10 wherein the adjustable charging contact is pivotally mounted on the housing.
12. A battery charger substantially as heretnbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.