Chemistry: electrical current producing apparatus – product – and – Cell support for removable cell
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-26
2001-05-08
Kalafut, Stephen (Department: 1745)
Chemistry: electrical current producing apparatus, product, and
Cell support for removable cell
C429S097000, C429S099000, C429S100000, C429S065000, C429S001000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06228526
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a battery pack used, for example, in conjunction with a camcorder or other portable video camera device and, more particularly, to a rechargeable battery pack having a pin terminal providing improved durability and longevity to the battery pack.
2. Description of the Related Art
Battery packs used, for example, with portable electronic devices such as portable video cameras, have found increasing utility in recent years due to the burgeoning popularity and proliferation of diverse portable electronic devices and the need to provide power to such devices on an ongoing basis whenever and wherever the user wishes to employ them. Generally, such battery packs comprise an insulated housing, at least one rechargeable battery permanently encased in the housing, and a structural mechanism for attaching the battery pack to an electronic device in such a manner that electrical energy may be continuously supplied from the battery to the electronic device.
One such known and commercially available battery pack for a portable video camera is illustrated in
FIGS. 1A and B
. As shown in
FIG. 1A
, battery pack
10
comprises an insulated casing
11
and rechargeable batteries
12
and
13
connected in series and encased in side-by-side relation within casing
11
. Open-ended anode and cathode pin terminals
14
and
15
are provided within opposed corner sections of casing
11
and have open outer ends extending to an end of the casing
11
and are open to receive connecting pins of an electronic device. A slot or groove may be provided on an outer surface of insulated casing
11
to guide the battery pack
10
into appropriate engagement with a portable video camera (not shown) during insertion. Pin terminals
14
and
15
comprise open-ended hollow metal cylindrical contact elements arranged in open-ended cylindrical holes formed in the molded plastic body of housing or casing
11
. Metal contact elements within the terminals
14
and
15
maintain electrical contact with batteries
12
and
13
.
In use, battery pack
10
is inserted into a battery chamber provided in a video camera (not shown). The battery chamber has substantially the same size and cross-sectional shape as the battery pack
10
. Upon insertion of the battery pack into the battery chamber of the video camera, the slots or grooves in the battery housing are received by and slide along a complimentary ridge formed on an inner wall of the video camera chamber. At the inner end of the video camera chamber, terminals
14
and
15
of the battery pack engage and receive therein cylindrical metal pins arranged on an inner end wall of the chamber. Electrical energy is thus provided to the video camera from batteries
12
and
13
, through the metal contact elements within terminals
14
and
15
, and finally to and through the metal pins formed on the inner end wall of the hollow video camera chamber.
There are problems associated with this commercially available battery pack. Most importantly, the diameter of the cylindrical metal contact elements within the terminals is slightly larger than the diameter of the video camera pins that they receive, so that the pins may be successfully inserted into terminals
14
and
15
. However, wear and tear on the video camera pins and metal contacts of the terminals, resulting from continued engagement and disengagement of the battery pack with the video camera, loosens the fit of the pins in terminals
14
and
15
, resulting in deterioration of the desired electrical connection. Moreover, dirt and lint accumulate over time in the interior of terminals
14
and
15
, adversely affecting the interconnection of the battery pack and the video camera and further deteriorating the desired electrical connection.
Another known and commercially available battery pack for a portable video camera is illustrated in
FIGS. 2A and B
. The battery pack of
FIGS. 2A and B
has a similar housing and battery arrangement as the battery pack shown in FIG.
1
. Moreover, as shown in
FIG. 2A
, open-ended anode and cathode pin terminals
24
and
25
are formed at opposed corner sections of casing
21
and have open ends. However, terminals
24
and
25
are not formed as cylindrical holes within casing
21
, but rather are formed as open-sided U-shaped terminals with open-sided U-shaped metal contact elements
27
and
28
arranged therein. The open sides of terminals
24
and
25
and metal contact elements
27
and
28
allow accumulated lint and dirt to be easily removed from the terminals. The separation between the U-shaped metal contact elements
27
and
28
is, at its closest, slightly smaller than the diameter of the pins of the video camera that it is adapted to engage. The upper and lower faces of the metal contact elements
27
and
28
are flexible and curved slightly inwardly to create an inward spring bias. Accordingly, as a video camera pin is inserted, for example, into terminal
24
, the cylindrical surface of the pin pushes against the flexible biased upper and lower faces of metal contact element
27
. The inward spring bias of the upper and lower faces against the cylindrical surface of the pin creates a snug fit between the pin and the terminal
24
into which it is inserted.
The
FIG. 2
battery pack improves upon the deficiencies of the
FIG. 1
battery pack by providing terminals that can easily be cleaned of debris and by providing a fit between terminal and pin that is less subject to wear and deterioration. However, the battery pack shown in
FIG. 2
is itself problematic. Specifically, the open-ended and open-sided terminal configuration results in a battery pack having a fragile bottom wall
30
that is easily broken. Rechargeable battery packs are frequently mishandled during use, by either being accidentally banged or dropped. The terminal wall
30
of the battery pack illustrated in
FIG. 2
is easily subject to breakage during such mishandling, destroying the utility of the battery pack.
Accordingly, the need currently exists for a battery pack for electronic devices, such as a rechargeable battery pack for a portable video camera device, which not only achieves its intended function of providing electrical energy to the electronic device, but which is also characterized by durability and longevity of reliable optimum performance.
SUMMARY OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved battery pack for use in electronic devices such as portable video camera devices and the like.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a rechargeable battery pack for use in electronic devices such as portable video camera devices and the like that maximizes the durability and useful life of the rechargeable battery pack vis-a-vis the electronic device in which the rechargeable battery pack is used.
These and other objects are achieved, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, by providing a rechargeable battery pack for a video camera device or other portable electronic device comprising an insulated housing, rechargeable battery means permanently encased in the housing, and terminal means adapted to electrically engage the portable electronic device, wherein the terminal means includes open-ended anode and cathode pin terminals formed within opposed corner sections of the housing, each pin terminal including an open-ended metal contact arranged within the pin terminal in electrical contact with the rechargeable battery means, and slit means formed through a corresponding outer side wall of both the pin terminal and the metal contact, the slit means extending from an open end of the pin terminal along the outer side wall of the pin terminal and the metal contact.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, each pin terminal of the terminal means has a relatively smaller diameter or cross-sectional area than a relatively larger diameter or cross-sectional area of a terminal pin of an electronic device that is a
Ozer Yaacov
Sales Levi
Hogan & Hartson L.L.P.
Kalafut Stephen
Martin Angela J.
Rosslare Enterprises, Ltd.
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