Patent Application
20180366696
Operators of battery-powered communication devices, such as mobile telephones and two-way radios, often carry a spare battery in the event that the battery in use becomes discharged. It is common for an operator to carry a spare battery in an environment that contains dirt or debris, such as a clothes pocket. The battery contacts may become contaminated, potentially disrupting the electrical connection between the battery contacts and corresponding electrical contacts of the portable communication device. In addition, some batteries include a body which also acts as a door for the portable communication device. The door includes a seal that protects the internal components of the device from water. This seal may also become contaminated or damaged if the battery is carried in a dirty environment, which may compromise the battery's leak performance.
The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate views, together with the detailed description below, are incorporated in and form part of the specification, and serve to further illustrate embodiments of concepts that include the claimed invention, and explain various principles and advantages of those embodiments.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.
One embodiment provides a battery carrier that is configured to releasably support a battery of a portable communication device. The battery carrier includes a body having a carrier sealing surface that is sized and shaped to engage a battery seal. The body also includes a wiper that is configured to be aligned with and contact a plurality of electrical contacts of the battery when the battery is supported by the battery carrier.
Another embodiment provides a battery carrying system comprising a battery having a plurality of electrical contacts and a battery seal configured to at least partially seal a battery compartment of a portable communication device. The battery carrier is configured to releasably support the battery. The battery carrier includes: a body having a sealing surface that is sized and shaped to engage the battery seal; and a wiper interconnected with the body and configured to be aligned with and to contact the plurality of electrical contacts when the battery is supported by the body.
Yet another embodiment provides a method of supporting a battery for a portable communication device using a battery carrier, where the battery has a plurality of electrical contacts and a battery seal. The method includes engaging the battery with a body of the battery carrier; supporting the battery seal with a carrier sealing surface interconnected with the body; and wiping the plurality of electrical contacts with a wiper interconnected with the body while the battery is engaging the body of the battery carrier.
Referring again to
Wiper 28 wipes the plurality of electrical contacts 30 while the battery 20 is engaging or being inserted into body 12 of the battery carrier 11. The wiping action helps clean the electrical contacts 30 (for example, remove debris from the electrical contacts 30). If the wiper 28 is impregnated with a lubricant or solvent, the wiping action also applies the solvent or lubricant to the electrical contacts 30 (thereby lubricating them). The solvent may help remove dirt and debris. The lubricant may reduce friction and improve mechanical connections between the electrical contacts 30 of the battery and electrical contacts (not shown) of the portable communications device 17. Thus, the wiper 28 removes dirt and debris that may be disposed on electrical contacts 30, may apply a solvent or lubricant to the electrical contacts 30, and through one or both of these actions improve the electrical connection between battery 20 and the portable communication device.
As best shown in
It should be noted that only some portable communication devices have a battery 20 that includes a door attached to the battery, as shown in
The power requirements of some portable communication devices during use (for example, during a work shift of a first responder) may exceed the capacity of a single battery. In such cases, a user may carry an extra battery in the battery carrier 11 for his her portable communication device by affixing the assembly 10 to the user's belt with the belt clip 18.
In the foregoing specification, specific embodiments have been described. However, one of ordinary skill in the art appreciates that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims below. Accordingly, the specification and figures are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of present teachings.
The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essential features or elements of any or all the claims. The invention is defined solely by the appended claims including any amendments made during the pendency of this application and all equivalents of those claims as issued.
Moreover in this document, relational terms such as first and second, top and bottom, and the like may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “has”, “having,” “includes”, “including,” “contains”, “containing” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises, has, includes, contains a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element proceeded by “comprises . . . a”, “has . . . a”, “includes . . . a”, “contains . . . a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises, has, includes, contains the element. The terms “a” and “an” are defined as one or more unless explicitly stated otherwise herein. The terms “substantially”, “essentially”, “approximately”, “about” or any other version thereof, are defined as being close to as understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, and in one non-limiting embodiment the term is defined to be within 10%, in another embodiment within 5%, in another embodiment within 1% and in another embodiment within 0.5%. The term “coupled” as used herein is defined as connected, although not necessarily directly and not necessarily mechanically. A device or structure that is “configured” in a certain way is configured in at least that way, but may also be configured in ways that are not listed.
The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in various embodiments for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separately claimed subject matter.
