The invention relates to a battery terminal connector, a terminal module, a portable communicating device containing the battery terminal connector or the terminal module, and a method for connecting a battery to the battery terminal connector or the terminal module, more particularly to a battery terminal connector, a terminal module, a portable communicating device having the battery terminal connector or the terminal module, and a method for connecting a battery to the battery terminal connector or the terminal module that may protect terminals therein from being directly impacted by incoming batteries when the batteries are not inserted via normal methods.
It is common knowledge that to change batteries for cell phones, PDA, or other portable communicating devices, it is necessary to replace a used battery with a recharged battery from a battery slot of the portable communicating device, wherein the battery must be compatible with the specification of the battery slot. The battery slot usually has a single row or multiple rows of metal conductive terminals disposed therein, and each terminal is bent into a variety of shapes with a portion of its structure exposed. When the battery is inserted into the battery slot correctly, a conductive electrode of the battery is allowed to contact the exposed portion of the terminal, which subsequently induces electrical conduction.
However, users often insert the battery into the battery slot incorrectly due to carelessness or unfamiliarity with the portable communicating device during actual usage of the battery. Consequently, the exposed portion of the terminal is frequently bent and contorted from impacts and compression of the battery, which leads to short circuiting and compromises functions of the portable communicating device. Manufacturers of batteries have proposed many variations of the terminal in response to this problem, which includes changing the way the terminal is subjected to an external force, adjusting directions or mass of the external force, adjusting directions of the arms of force, or reducing height of the terminal, and two examples may be observed in
In light of the aforesaid problems, this invention discloses a battery terminal connector, a terminal module, and a portable communicating device having the battery terminal connector or the terminal module. Using the battery terminal connector as an example for elucidating characteristics of the disclosure, the battery terminal connector is disposed in a battery slot of an electronic device, which induces electrical conduction via contacting the battery, and a structure of fool-proof is formed around the battery slot so as to guide the battery to be inserted along a particular direction into the battery slot. The battery terminal connector comprises a basement of insulator body, a plurality of terminal sockets integrally extended from the basement of insulator body and protruded in parallel to each other, and a plurality of elastic terminals, and at least a portion of each of the elastic terminals extends out of each terminal socket. Moreover, the battery terminal connector is characterized in that at least an L-shaped buffering portion integrally molded with the basement of insulator body is formed between two neighboring terminal sockets, and the L-shaped buffering portion may be fixingly tilted under an external force and an end of the L-shaped buffering portion facing the battery is formed into a contact head protruding outwardly. When no battery is inserted into the battery slot, the length of the contact head of the L-shaped buffering portion protruding outwards is greater than that of each elastic terminal extending out of each terminal socket. When the battery impacts on the battery terminal connector, the contact head may ease the impacts from the battery, thus lessening impacts born upon each of the elastic terminals from the battery.
Furthermore, this invention also discloses a method for connecting a battery to the battery terminal connector or the terminal module. As described previously, the battery terminal connector is disposed in the battery slot of the electronic device and induces electrical conduction via contacting the battery, wherein the battery terminal connector comprises a basement of insulator body, a plurality of terminal sockets, and a plurality of elastic terminals, and at least an L-shaped buffering portion integrally molded with the basement of insulator body is formed two neighboring terminal sockets, and an end of the L-shaped buffering portion facing the battery is formed into a contact head protruding outwardly.
The method for connecting a battery to the battery terminal connector comprises the following steps:
Therefore, the primary objective of the invention is to propose a battery terminal connector that prevents the terminals from directly bearing impacts resulted from inserting the battery into the battery slot, thus protecting the terminals from being damaged.
Another objective of the invention is to propose a terminal module that prevents the terminals from directly bearing impacts resulted from inserting the battery into the battery slot, thus protecting the terminals from being damaged.
Still another objective of the invention is to propose a portable communicating device that prevents the terminals from directly bearing impacts resulted from inserting the battery into the battery slot, thus protecting the terminals from being damaged.
A further objective of the invention is to propose a method for connecting the battery to the battery terminal connector that prevents the terminals from directly bearing impacts resulted from inserting the battery into the battery slot, thus protecting the terminals from being damaged.
A further objective of the invention is to propose a method for connecting the battery to the terminal module that prevents the terminals from directly bearing impacts resulted from inserting the battery into the battery slot, thus protecting the terminals from being damaged.
A further objective of the invention is to propose a battery terminal connector that has a basement of insulator body for providing a fool-proof structure and buffering, so that the terminals are protected from direct compression and impacts of the battery when the battery is inserted into the battery slot incorrectly.
A further objective of the invention is to propose a terminal module that has a basement of insulator body for providing a fool-proof structure and buffering, so that the terminals are protected from direct compression and impacts of the battery when the battery is inserted into the battery slot incorrectly.
A further objective of the invention is to propose a portable communicating device that has a basement of insulator body for providing a fool-proof structure and buffering, so that the terminals are protected from direct compression and impacts of the battery when the battery is inserted into the battery slot incorrectly.
A further objective of the invention is to propose a method for connecting the battery to the battery terminal connector that has a basement of insulator body for providing a fool-proof structure and buffering, so that the terminals are protected from direct compression and impacts of the battery when the battery is inserted into the battery slot incorrectly.
A further objective of the invention is to propose a method for connecting the battery to the terminal module that has a basement of insulator body for providing a fool-proof structure and buffering, so that the terminals are protected from direct compression and impacts of the battery when the battery is inserted into the battery slot incorrectly.
The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objectives can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying diagrams, wherein:
The present invention discloses a battery terminal connector, a terminal module, a portable communicating device having the battery terminal connector or the terminal module, which may protect terminals from being directly impacted by incoming batteries when the batteries are not inserted via normal methods, as well as a method for connecting a battery to the battery terminal connector or the terminal module.
The principles of mechanics and the basic structures of conductive terminals may be easily comprehended by those of ordinary skill in the relevant prior arts, and thus will not be further described hereafter. Meanwhile, it should be noted that the drawings referred to in the following paragraphs only serve the purpose of illustrating structures related to the characteristics of the disclosure, and are not necessarily drawn according to the actual sizes of the object of the disclosure.
Referring to
The L-shaped buffering portion 2 and the basement of insulator body 13 are often integrally formed via the method of injection molding. Still referring to
Because the vertical part 21 of the L-shaped buffering portion 2 is made from stiff materials that are slightly flexible, when the L-shaped buffering portion 2 is impacted by a battery, the L-shaped buffering portion 2 tilts according to directions of the impact force with the fulcrum 130 as its pivot point. When no battery is inserted into the battery slot 10, the length of the contact head 20 of the L-shaped buffering portion 2 protruding outwards is greater than that of the elastic terminal 15 extending out of the terminal socket 14. Therefore, when impacts are born upon the battery terminal connector 1, the contact head 20 may bear and ease the direct impacts from the battery, thus lessening impacts born upon each of the elastic terminals 15, and protecting the elastic terminals 15 from being damaged.
Moreover, to enhance contacts between conductive parts of the battery and exposed terminals of the battery terminal connector, a variation of the first preferred embodiment of the invention is also disclosed here. Referring to
A terminal module is disclosed in the second preferred embodiment of the invention, and the terminal module may complement the batteries of digital and electronic products in order to induce electrical conduction. The components and overall structure of the terminal module are mostly similar to the subject of the first preferred embodiment, and thus details that have been mentioned in the previous embodiment will not be further described hereafter, and only characteristics of this embodiment that are different from that of the previous embodiment are emphasized below.
Referring to
A portable communicating device 1″ having the aforesaid battery terminal connector or the aforesaid terminal module is disclosed in the third preferred embodiment of the invention, the portable communicating device 1″ may be a cell phone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), an MP3 player, a BlackBerry smartphone, or a handheld computer. The components and overall structures of the battery terminal connector 1 and the terminal module 1′ are mostly similar to the subject of the first preferred embodiment, and thus details that have been mentioned in the previous embodiment will not be further described hereafter, and only characteristics of this embodiment that are different from that of the previous embodiments are emphasized below.
The portable communicating device 1″ comprises a processor, a circuit board, and a housing (all of which are of prior arts and not shown here). The portable communicating device 1″ has a battery slot 10 for receiving a battery formed on the housing, and a structure of fool-proof 12 is formed around the battery slot 10 for guiding the battery to be inserted along a particular direction into the battery slot 10, and the battery slot 10 has at least a row of terminal module 1′ formed therein so as to induce electrical conduction from contacting the battery. As indicated in
A method for connecting a battery to the battery terminal connector or the terminal module is also disclosed in this invention. The method is related to a process of inserting the battery into the battery slot, in which the battery firstly impacts on the L-shaped buffering portion and the elastic terminals subsequently, and then makes the L-shaped buffering portion tilt on the same spot. The components and overall structures of the battery terminal connector and the terminal module are mostly similar to the subject of the first preferred embodiment, and thus details that have been mentioned in the previous embodiment will not be further described hereafter.
The connecting of the battery to the battery terminal connector or the terminal module is achieved via controlling a distance in the contact between the battery and the battery terminal connector or the terminal module, as well as via controlling impacts on the terminals resulted from the battery. Referring to
Referring to
Because the vertical part 21 of the L-shaped buffering portion 2 is made from stiff materials that are slightly flexible. When it is impacted by the battery 11, the L-shaped buffering portion 2 tilts forwards or backwards according to directions of the impact force with the fulcrum 130 as its pivot point. When no battery is inserted in the battery slot 10, the length of the contact head 20 of the L-shaped buffering portion 2 protruding outwards is greater than that of the elastic terminal 15 extending out of the terminal socket 14. Therefore, when impacts are born upon the battery terminal connector 1, the contact head 20 may bear and ease direct impacts from the battery 11, thus lessening impacts born upon each of the elastic terminals 15 and protecting the elastic terminals 15 from being damaged.
Furthermore, real-life situations for inserting the battery is also considered in the invention, in which the battery may not only be inserted from the upper right hand side towards a side below, but also from an upper left hand side to towards a side below. As a result, a fifth preferred embodiment of the invention is also proposed, in order to describe a method for connecting the battery to the battery terminal connector or the terminal module from the upper left hand side towards a side below into the battery slot.
Referring to
Because the vertical part 21 of the L-shaped buffering portion 2 is made from stiff materials that are slightly flexible, when it is impacted by the battery 11, the L-shaped buffering portion 2 tilts forwards or backwards according to directions of the impact force with the fulcrum 130 as its pivot point. When no battery is inserted in the battery slot 10, the length of the contact head 20 of the L-shaped buffering portion 2 protruding outwards is greater than that of the elastic terminal 15 extending out of the terminal socket 14. Therefore, when impacts are born upon the battery terminal connector 1, the contact head 20 may bear and ease direct impacts from the battery 11, thus lessening impacts born upon each of the elastic terminals 15 and protecting the elastic terminals 15 from being damaged.
Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described for purposes of illustration, it is understood that various changes and modifications to the described embodiment can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention as disclosed in the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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096125517 | Jul 2007 | TW | national |