Chemistry: electrical current producing apparatus – product – and – Current producing cell – elements – subcombinations and... – Cell enclosure structure – e.g. – housing – casing – container,...
Reexamination Certificate
1998-11-20
2001-01-23
Maples, John S. (Department: 1745)
Chemistry: electrical current producing apparatus, product, and
Current producing cell, elements, subcombinations and...
Cell enclosure structure, e.g., housing, casing, container,...
C429S176000, C016SDIG001
Reexamination Certificate
active
06177211
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to handles for carrying batteries, and more particularly to a rope type battery carrying handle that is removably attached to the battery container via standard battery structures.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Starting, lighting, and ignition (SLI) batteries are typically used in automotive, recreational, and other applications, are heavy, cumbersome, and usually require two hands for carrying. The desirability of providing such batteries with attachable/detachable handles for facilitating carrying, placement, and retrieval of such batteries has long been known. Such handles are a particular convenience in batteries designed for use in boats or in uninterrupted power supply (UPS) applications which must be frequently moved for storage, service, or recharging.
Bail-type handles, which are known in the art, typically comprise a U- or C-shaped member attached to opposing sides of a battery casing, either on its container or cover. With such handles, the battery may be carried in much the same fashion as a picnic basket or bail.
Substantially rigid bail-type handles are known in the art. A variety of such handle designs have been proposed for carrying batteries. Detachable, substantially rigid bail handles are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,093,515 to Rector, U.S. Pat. No. 3,956,022 to Fox, U.S. Pat. No. 4,029,248 to Lee, U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,625 to McCartney et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,232,796 to Baumgartner, U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,769 to Cole et al., and U.S. Pat. Des. 292,696 to Sahli.
Rope-type handles are likewise known in the art. Rope-type handles typically have one or more injection molded plastic parts coupled by flexible rope sections and, accordingly, are physically highly flexible. The rope sections are generally a braided synthetic material such as polypropylene.
According to one type of rope handle design, the ends of the rope handle are manually fed into two holes and coupled to the battery container. In the battery disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,092,520 to Buskirk et al. the rope handle is coupled to the battery container by cementing the ends of the rope in recesses in projections on the sides of the battery container. Alternately, the ends of the rope handle may include an enlarged molded plastic portion and may be pressed into slots underneath the handle bracket area as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,797876 to Gummelt and U.S. Pat. No. 4,013,819 to Grabb. According to other designs, the ends of the rope may be enlarged as shown for example in British Patent 869,329, or the ends coupled or welded together as shown for example in British Patent 869,329 and British Patent 1,453,977.
Rope handle designs have also included looped rope portions extending from the ends of a molded plastic grip portion as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 971,876 to Apple, U.S. Pat. No. 4,791,702 to McVey, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,769 to Cole et al. The looped rope portions are then coupled to the battery container via dedicated protrusions extending from the walls of the battery by looping the rope around the protrusion and then securing it into a recess or the like.
Installation of these rope handle designs, however, may be labor intensive. Threading the ends of the rope through openings and properly securing the ends to the battery container, or securing the loop ends around a protrusion and into a recess can be quite time consuming. Moreover installation of rope handles generally requires the operator or user to have full access to walls of the battery to manipulate the flexible rope.
Additionally, these designs generally require specialized handle brackets to be molded into specific containers. This can result in increased costs in the form of mold and tooling costs, as well as increased labor and downtime costs during changeover. Further, storage and floor space costs increase, as the battery manufacturer must maintain larger inventories.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is a primary object of the invention to provide a rope handle design that contributes to the production of an economical battery. A related object of the invention is to provide a rope handle design that minimizes manufacturing and inventory costs.
It is a more specific object of the invention to provide a rope handle design that may be utilized with an existing, conventional battery container design, and requires no specialized tooling for molding of the battery container.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a rope handle that may be readily and quickly assembled onto a battery container.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following summary and detailed description and upon reference to the drawings.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accomplishing these and other objects of the invention, there is provided a rope handle having specific mating end portions which engage conventional structure on an existing battery container and couple the handle to the battery. The end portions are coupled, either mechanically or by molding, to the rope portion of the handle, and include two downwardly depending legs having two outwardly extending arms. The standard battery container design includes an elongated channel, extending substantially downwardly through a portion of the container end wall. During assembly, each handle end portion is inserted into the elongated channel in the battery container wall such that the downwardly depending legs are elastically deformed by drawing the legs toward one another to minimize the overall width of the end portion at the outwardly extending arms. This allows the end portion to advance into the channel. As the arms emerge from the channel, the legs, which are biased toward the outward position, return toward their original position, securing the end portion and the handle to the container.
Inasmuch as the end portions may be molded to the rope portion of the handle, the handle may be economically fabricated. Further, the handle requires no specialized tooling to be associated with the container mold. Rather, a standard container is utilized, minimizing both fabrication and inventory costs. Additionally, as the handle may be easily assembled into the container wall, assembly costs are likewise minimized, yielding a battery that is economical to fabricate and assemble.
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GNB Technologies, Inc.
Leydig , Voit & Mayer, Ltd.
Maples John S.
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