JP2005293879A - Charger - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a charger pressing a charging terminal on an electrode of a battery with enough pressing force and biasing force. <P>SOLUTION: The charger 1 mounting a chargeable battery 4 in free detachment on a battery mounting part 3 is provided with a battery 4 having an electrode part 4M at one end, a charging terminal 7 getting in touch with the electrode part 4M of the battery 4 from outside with biasing force, and a cover body 10 covering at least a part of the battery mounting part 3 with the battery in a mounted state and equipped with a pressing body 10C pivotally supported to the charger 1 in free opening and closing for pressing the charging terminal 7 from outside. When the cover body 10 is rotated to be closed with the battery 4 in a mounted state, the pressing body 10C comes closer to the electrode part 4M of the battery 4 than its position when the cover body 10 is opened to increase biasing force of the charging terminal 7. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a charger for charging a rechargeable battery.

Conventional chargers are disclosed in the following patent documents. This charger is a charger in which a cylindrical rechargeable battery is detachably attached to the battery mounting portion, and one of the charging terminals is constituted by an elastic metal wire or an elastic metal plate, and the battery is mounted. Thus, the charging terminal is pressed against the electrode of the battery to obtain an electrical connection.
JP 2002-42757 A

  However, in the above conventional structure, the charging terminal is merely pressed against the electrode of the battery by the elastic force of the elastic metal plate or the like. When the force is reduced, there is a problem that the contact resistance at this portion increases. As a recent technical trend, in order to shorten the charging time, a large current is applied to the rechargeable battery. Therefore, it is particularly important to reduce the contact resistance in this portion.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a charger that presses a charging terminal against a battery electrode with sufficient pressing force and biasing force. To do.

  The present invention is a battery charger in which a rechargeable battery extending in both end directions is detachably mounted on a battery mounting portion, wherein the battery includes electrode portions at both ends, and the both electrode portions of the battery are Both charging terminals abutting from the outside in the extending direction, and covering at least a part of the battery mounting portion in a state where the battery is mounted, are pivotally supported by an axis perpendicular to the extending direction of the battery and can be opened and closed. A cover body having a pressing body that presses one of the charging terminals from the outside in the extending direction, and at least one of the charging terminals abuts against one electrode portion of the battery with a biasing force. When the cover body is rotated and closed while the battery is mounted, the pressing body is positioned between the charging terminals in the extending direction from the position of the pressing body when the cover body is opened. Move in the direction of narrowing One of the charging terminal is characterized in that the biasing force is increased.

  Further, the battery is attached to and detached from the battery mounting portion while being held by the cover body.

  Furthermore, the present invention is a battery charger in which a rechargeable battery is detachably attached to a battery attachment part, and the battery having an electrode part at one end is brought into contact with an urging force from the outside of the electrode part of the battery. A cover body including a charging terminal and a pressing body that covers at least a part of the battery mounting portion in a state where the battery is mounted, is pivotally supported by the charger, and is openable and closable, and presses the charging terminal from the outside. When the cover body is rotated and closed with the battery attached, the pressing body approaches the electrode portion of the battery from the position of the pressing body when the cover body is opened. Then, the urging force of the charging terminal is increased.

  In the present invention, when the cover body is rotated and closed in a state where the battery is mounted, the pressing body has a direction in which the distance between the charging terminals becomes narrower in the extending direction than the position of the pressing body when the cover body is opened. Or one of the charging terminals increases in urging force. Therefore, sufficient electrical contact can be obtained. In other words, since the cover body has a pressing body, the charging terminal is automatically pressed and pressed by the battery electrode portion by the opening and closing operation by rotating the cover body when charging the battery. Since it becomes large, such a pressing force can be increased without separate operation.

  For example, if it is not a structure for holding the battery in the cover body but a structure in which the user installs the battery between the charging terminals in advance, the battery will be taken out with the cover body open. Since the interval between the charging terminals is large or the pressing body is located in a direction away from the battery, the pressing force with which the charging terminal presses the battery is small, and the battery can be easily taken out.

  In addition, when the battery is structured to be held by the cover body, the battery can be attached to the battery mounting portion by the operation of closing the cover body, and the battery can be easily taken out between the charging terminals by the operation of opening the cover body. be able to.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. Further, unless otherwise described, in this embodiment, the right side of the charger 1 is one end side and the left side is the other end side in the paper surface of FIGS. 3 (a) and 4 (a). The up and down direction at 1 is the up and down direction of the charger 1, and the left and right direction of the paper is the horizontal or plane direction. Moreover, let the right and left sides of the charger 1 be both sides in the paper surface state of FIG. 1 (a) and FIG. 2 (a).

  The charger 1 of the present embodiment has a substantially flat box shape, and a battery mounting portion 3 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape that detachably accommodates four cylindrical rechargeable batteries 4 on one end side of the charger 1. It has. Such a battery 4 is elongated in one direction, which is a cylindrical axial direction, and an AA or AAA battery can be used. The battery 4 includes a negative electrode portion 4M on one end surface, and a positive cylindrical electrode portion 4P on the other end surface. In the figure, the battery 4 is shown only by a two-dot chain line outline. In FIG. 1, the battery 4 is actually transparent in order to make the structure of the charger 1 located below the battery 4 clear. Not shown as transparent.

  However, the present invention is not limited to a battery having such a shape, and any battery having an electrode portion on one end surface in one direction in which the battery extends can be used. For example, a square battery can be used.

  The charger 1 includes a substantially box-shaped main body 2. The main body 2 has an upper case 2U made of a resin material and a lower case 2D, and holds a printed circuit board 5 inside the main body 2. The upper case 2U has a corrugated portion 2UW so that the four batteries 4 are along, as confirmed by the cross section taken along the line B-B in FIG. 1B. The battery mounting part 3 is formed by setting it as the recessed part 2UC so that it can confirm with a wire cross section.

  In addition, the charger 1 includes a resin cover body 10 that is closed with the battery 4 attached, covers the battery attachment portion 3, and is pivotally supported by the main body 2. In FIG. 1, since the cover body 10 is transparent, the shape of the main body 2 located below it also appears.

  Such a cover body 10 can form a plate-shaped upper surface body 10U that covers the upper surface 3U of the battery mounting portion 3 when closed and a battery holding portion 10H that is four cavities through which the cylindrical body of each battery 4 passes. The arranged cross-sectional view includes a corrugated back surface portion 10R. In the present embodiment, the cover body 10 covers substantially half of the upper surface 3U of the battery mounting portion 3, but may have a structure that covers substantially the entire upper surface 3U. Such a cover body also has an object of preventing foreign matter from entering the battery mounting portion 3 if the battery 2 is prevented from jumping out.

  Next, a structure in which the cover body 10 is pivotally supported by the main body 2 of the charger 1 will be described. Cylindrical columnar protrusions 2H and 2H are formed on the side surfaces of both corners on one end side of the main body 2, and the side bodies 10S and 10S extending from both sides of the upper surface body 10U of the cover body 10 to the side surfaces thereof Cylindrical cavities 10P and 10P are formed on one end side, and the projection 2H is fitted and pivotally supported in the cavity 10P, so that the cover body 10 is pivotally supported by the main body 2 of the charger 1 so as to be opened and closed. Become free. In such a shaft-supporting structure, the cover body 10 is pivotally supported on a horizontal (= planar) axis in a direction perpendicular to the extending direction of the battery 2 and can be opened and closed.

  Furthermore, the cover body 10 has four pressing bodies 10 </ b> C that press the respective charging terminals 6 as will be described later. The pressing body 10C has a cylindrical structure that extends in the axial direction in which the cover body 10 is pivotally supported, and the axis of the cylindrical body is arranged to be shifted inward and upward in parallel with the pivotal axis. (See FIGS. 3 (b) and 4 (b)).

  In the main body 2, a rectangular printed board 5 having a size slightly smaller than the outer periphery of the main body 2 in the plan view of the main body 2 is held. Various electronic components (not shown) are arranged on the other end side on the printed circuit board 5, and four metal plate-shaped positive-side charging terminals 6 are supported on the central portion in both end directions. The back surface 6R side of the positive charging terminal 6 is also supported by the surface of the central wall 2C of the upper case 2U that forms the battery mounting portion 3. Four negative charging terminals 7 are disposed on one end side of the printed circuit board 5. The minus-side charging terminal 7 is formed by bending a long and narrow metal piece, and a restoring force and an urging force are generated when it is moved and deformed from a normal time when no force is applied like a spring. The charging terminal 7 includes a fixing portion 7F fixed to the printed circuit board 5 on the main body 2 on the lower side and an electrode pressing portion 7P pressed on the electrode portion 4M of the battery 4 on the upper side. The electrode pressing portion 7P includes an upright portion 7PS that extends upward from the fixed portion 7F, an electrode contact portion 7PC that is bent from the extending direction of the upright portion 7PS and that is pressed against and contacts the electrode portion 4M of the battery 4 Consists of. Thus, the charging terminal 7 is a so-called metal piece terminal having a U-shaped cross section.

  In the charging terminal 7 having such a structure, particularly in the electrode pressing portion 7P, when the distance between the standing portion 7PS and the electrode contact portion 7PC is smaller than that in the normal state, a biasing force as a restoring force is generated, and the electrode contact portion The urging force by which 7PC is pressed by the electrode part 4M of the battery 4 will increase.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the side on one end side of the main body 2 (the lower side in the drawing of FIG. 1A) has an outer peripheral wall 2 </ b> W. The battery mounting portion 3 has a side wall surface 2WI and an outer peripheral wall surface 2WO with a space therebetween. On the outer peripheral wall 2W on the extension in the direction in which each battery 4 extends, there are four notch portions 2WIC for the negative charging terminal 7 on the battery mounting portion 3 side. A battery pressing portion 7P is arranged at each notch 2WIC. Furthermore, on the outer peripheral wall 2W on the extension in the direction in which each battery 4 extends, four notches 2WOC are provided on the outer peripheral side so that the pressing body 10C of the cover body 10 can move.

In the present embodiment, the structure is as described above. By closing the cover body 10 from the opened state, the battery 4 is mounted on the battery mounting portion 3, and the battery 4 is sufficiently pressed between the charging terminals 6 and 7. Held in. That is, the charging terminals 6 and 7 come into contact with both electrode portions 4M and 4P of the battery 4 with an urging force from the outside in the extending direction.
This will be described in detail below.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when the cover body 10 is opened, the pressing body 10 </ b> C of the cover body 10 is located at the notch 2 </ b> WOC of the outer peripheral wall 2 </ b> W of the main body 2 and exerts almost a force on the battery pressing section 7 </ b> P. It contacts with the battery pressing part 7P in a state where it is not added. Here, in a state where almost no force is applied in this way, the standing portion 7PS of the battery pressing portion 7P is inclined to one end side. In this state, the battery 4 is inserted and held in the battery holding portion 10H of the cover body 10 (in the figure, the battery 4 is indicated by a two-dot chain line).

  Next, for example, when the user presses the other end side of the cover body 10 downward and the cover body 10 rotates, the cover body 10 is closed (see FIG. 4). At this time, when the cover body 10 rotates, the pressing body 10C rotates around the rotation axis. The pressing body 10C moves in a direction approaching the battery in which the distance between the charging terminals 6 and 7 is narrowed in the extending direction of the battery 4 while pressing one end side of the rising part 7PS of the battery pressing part 7P. Further, with respect to such movement of the pressing body 10C, when compared with the position of the battery 4 that has been mounted, the pressing body 10C is rotated by one end of the upright portion 7PS of the battery pressing portion 7P. The electrode 4M on the negative side of the battery 4 is approached while pressing the side (the upright portion 7PS moves from the position of FIG. 3 in the direction of the arrow on the upper side of FIG. 4B). In a state where the battery 4 is mounted between the charging terminals 6 and 7, in the electrode pressing portion 7P, the distance between the standing portion 7PS and the electrode contact portion 7PC becomes smaller than normal, so that the electrode contact portion 7PC is restored. A force is generated, and the urging force by which the electrode contact portion 7PC presses the electrode portion 4M of the battery 4 becomes stronger (the electrode contact portion 7PC moves from the position of the two-dot chain line in the lower arrow direction in FIG. 4B). .

  Further, when the user opens the cover body 10 from the state in which the cover body 10 is closed, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), the upright portion 7PS tries to return to the original state and moves toward the one end direction indicated by the arrow. The restoring force is shown, and the pressing body 10C is pushed toward one end of the upper portion of the upright portion 7PS (the direction of the acting force is indicated by an arrow), so that the cover body 10 can be easily opened.

  Here, in place of the above-described embodiment, the charging terminal 6 may be a U-shaped metal piece terminal having an urging force in the same manner as the charging terminal 7 described above.

  Further, in place of the above-described embodiment, the charging terminal 6 may be a metal piece terminal having a U-shaped cross section having an urging force, and only the electrode contact portion 7PC in the charging terminal 7 may be omitted. Also in this structure, the pressing body 10C of the cover body 10 presses the one end side of the upright portion 7PS of the battery pressing portion 7P when closed, and the distance between the charging terminals 6 and 7 in the extending direction of the battery 4 is. Move in a direction approaching the battery. Therefore, the urging force of the charging terminal 6 is increased.

  In the present embodiment, a metal piece terminal having a U-shaped cross section is used to give the charging terminal 7 an urging force. Instead, the battery contact portion 7PC is cut off at the upper end of the upright portion 7PS. A spring spring may be installed between the upright portion 7PS and the battery contact portion 7PC to apply an urging force.

  In addition, the cover body 10 is pivotally supported on one end side of the charger 1, but instead, near the other end side in the battery mounting portion 3, that is, near the center in the both end direction of the charger 1. It may be supported in a horizontal (= planar) direction perpendicular to the direction. In this case, the cover body 10 shown in FIG. 3 is opposite to the left and right states.

  In the above embodiment, the battery 4 moves together with the cover body 10 while being held by the battery holding section 10H of the cover body 10, but instead of this, the battery holding section 10H of the cover body 10 is eliminated. The cover body 10 may be closed with the battery 2 mounted between the charging terminals 6 and 7 in advance. In this case, when the cover body 10 is open, the charging terminals are spaced apart and the pressing body is positioned away from the battery, so that the pressing force and urging force with which the charging terminal presses the battery are small. The battery can be easily taken out.

  In the said Example, although the battery which has an electrode part in the both ends of the extension direction is utilized, it can utilize also in the battery which has an electrode part in one end. A charger in which such a battery is mounted employs a charging terminal (for example, a metal piece terminal having a U-shaped cross section such as the charging terminal 7) that abuts against an electrode portion at one end of the battery with an urging force.

It is a figure which shows the main body of the charger of one Example of this invention, (a) is a top view, (b) is the BB sectional drawing in (a), (c) is CC in (a). It is line sectional drawing. It is a figure which shows the cover body of the charger of one Example of this invention, (a) is a top view, (b) is the DD sectional view taken on the line in (a). It is sectional drawing of the both ends direction in the state which opened the cover body of this invention, (a) is a whole cross section, (b) is an expanded sectional view of the principal part shown with the dashed-two dotted line circle in (a). It is sectional drawing of the both ends direction in the state which closed the cover body of this invention, (a) is a whole section, (b) is an expanded sectional view of the principal part shown by the dashed-two dotted line circle in (a). It is a top view which shows the main body of the charger of one Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Charger 2 Main body 3 Battery mounting part 4 Battery 4M Negative electrode part 5 Printed circuit board 6 Charging terminal 7 Charging terminal 7F Fixing part 7P Electrode pressing part 7PS Standing part 7PC Electrode contact part 10 Cover body

Claims (5)

A charger for detachably attaching a rechargeable battery extending in both directions to the battery mounting portion,
The battery comprising electrode portions at both ends;
Both charging terminals that contact the both electrode portions of the battery from the outside in the extending direction;
Covers at least a part of the battery mounting portion in a state where the battery is mounted, is pivotally supported by an axis perpendicular to the extending direction of the battery, and can be opened and closed. One charging terminal extends in the extending direction. A cover body having a pressing body that is pressed from the outside of
At least one of the charging terminals is in contact with one electrode portion of the battery with an urging force,
When the cover body is rotated and closed in a state where the battery is mounted, the distance between the charging terminals in the extending direction is greater than the position of the pressure body when the cover body is opened. The battery charger is characterized in that the urging force of one of the charging terminals is increased by moving in a direction in which the battery becomes narrower. One of the charging terminals has a fixed portion fixed to the charger main body side at the lower side thereof, and an electrode pressing portion pressed against the electrode portion of the battery above the fixed portion. The charger according to claim 1. One of the charging terminals is formed by bending an elongated metal piece, and the electrode pressing portion is bent from an extending portion extending upward from the fixing portion, and an extending direction of the rising portion, An electrode contact portion pressed against the electrode portion of the battery,
The charger according to claim 2, wherein a biasing force is increased by reducing a distance between the standing part and the electrode part. The charger according to claim 1, wherein the battery is attached to and detached from the battery mounting portion while being held by the cover body. A charger for detachably attaching a rechargeable battery to a battery mounting portion,
The battery comprising an electrode at one end;
A charging terminal abutting with an urging force from the outside of the electrode portion of the battery;
A cover body that covers at least a part of the battery mounting portion in a state in which the battery is mounted, is pivotally supported by the charger and can be opened and closed, and has a pressing body that presses the charging terminal from the outside;
When the cover body is rotated and closed with the battery mounted, the pressing body is closer to the electrode portion of the battery than the position of the pressing body when the cover body is opened. A charger characterized in that the biasing force of the charging terminal is increased.

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