A watch battery or button cell is a small single cell battery shaped as a squat cylinder (or puck) typically 5 to 25 mm in diameter and 1 to 6 mm high, and are used to power mall portable electronics devices such as wrist watches, pocket calculators, artificial pacemakers, hearing aids, and the like. Thinner variants are usually called coin cells. Coin cell batteries are used to power or provide backup power to computers, microprocessors, and other electronic components and systems. Typically, these batteries are disk-shaped and relatively small, for example, having a diameter of about 0.268 inches and a thickness of about 0.083 inches.
Some examples of the present application are described with respect to the following figures:
Examples described herein relate to a device for housing a coin cell battery. As the size of electronic devices continues to shrink in size, the demand for small thin-sized batteries increases. Accordingly, there is a need for coin cell battery holders (or housing) that meet the increasing space constraints of electronic boards onto which the coin cell batteries are mounted. It is desirable that a coin cell battery housing takes up a minimum footprint on the electronic board, be easy to mount, and be readily accessible for replacing the coin cell. Existing coin cell battery holders that mount horizontally take up too much room on the electronic board, and holders that mount vertically require too much height and may increase an overall height of the electronic device onto which it is installed.
Examples described herein address the above challenges by providing a rotating coin cell receptacle that can rotate to a vertical position and a horizontal position and take up a minimal or least amount of space on the electronic board. In the horizontal position, a gap is maintained such that components can be mounted on the electronic board at the space underneath the receptacle. Further, the receptacle can rotate to the vertical position, taking up minimal vertical space, and providing access to the components and test pads under the receptacle.
In one example, a device for housing a coin cell battery includes a receptacle to receive the coin cell battery, a connector to couple the device to an electronic board, and a hinge to couple the receptacle to the connector. The hinge is to allow rotation of the receptacle in a horizontal position and a vertical position, where in the horizontal position, a gap is maintained between the receptacle and the board such that a component can be mounted on the board under the receptacle.
In another example, an electronic board includes a plurality of components mounted on the board and a device to house a coin cell battery. The device includes a receptacle portion to receive the coin cell battery, a connector portion to couple the device to the board, a hinge portion to facilitate positioning of the receptacle portion in: a substantially horizontal position such that a gap is maintained between the receptacle portion and the board, the gap sufficient to fix at least a component of the plurality of components on the board at a location under the receptacle portion; and a substantially vertical position.
Receptacle 110 can include a base plate (not shown) and at least one sidewall 112 extending upwards from the base plate such that the base plate and the at least one sidewall 112 define a cavity for receiving the coin cell battery 120. In some examples, coin cell battery 120 is a lithium-ion or lithium polymer single cell battery shaped like a disk or puck that can be used to provide power or backup power in low drain rate applications (e.g., memory backup), or thin devices. However, examples are not limited to lithium-based materials. The size of the coin cell battery 120 is indicated by convention using a 4-digit designation where the first two digits represent a diameter in millimeters (mm) and the last two digits represent a height/thickness times 10 in mm. For example, a 2320 coin cell is 23 mm in diameter and 2.0 mm in height or thickness. In some instances, the 4-digits may be prefixed by two letters representing a manufacturer of the coin cell battery 120. The base plate of the receptacle 110 can include an electrical contact to engage with the coin cell battery 120 when the coin cell battery 120 is inserted into the receptacle 110.
The connector 130 can include a plurality of pins 132 to electrically couple the device 100 to an electronic board (not shown). Pins 132 can include a positive terminal and a negative terminal. In some examples, connector 130 can include a single pin to electrically couple the device 100 to the electronic board. The electrical contact of the base plate of the receptacle 110 is thereby electrically coupled to the electronic board via the connector 130 (i.e., through the pins 132 of the connector 130). Accordingly, electrical contact, and transfer of power from the coin cell battery 120, is made from the electrical contacts of the receptacle 110 through the pins 132 of the connector 130 onto the board.
Hinge 140 provides a mechanism for the receptacle 110 to rotate between the horizontal position and the vertical position. In other words, the receptacle 110 can rotate about the connector 130 via the hinge 140. In the horizontal position, a gap is maintained between the receptacle 110 and the electronic board such that one or more components, or portions of the one or more components, can be mounted onto the electronic board at a location under the receptacle 110 (i.e., under the coin cell battery 120). The components can be accessible from under the receptacle 110 by rotating the receptacle 110 to the vertical position.
In certain examples, the device 100 is configured such that a height/thickness of the receptacle 110 is less than a height/thickness of the connector 130. Moreover, the receptacle 110 is coupled to the connector 130 via the hinge 140 such that the gap is maintained between the base of the receptacle 110 and the electronic board. Further, the receptacle 110 may not rotate past a certain degree such that the receptacle 110 does not touch a surface of the electronic board, or such that the gap is not reduced. As described herein, the gap represents a threshold height of the base of the receptacle from a surface of the electronic board when the receptacle 110 is in the horizontal position or a distance between the base of the receptacle 110 and the surface of the electronic board when the receptacle 110 is in the horizontal position. In some examples, the gap is at least 1 mm and up to 2 mm. However, examples are not so limiting. As a result of the described solution, electronic board space can be maximized by allowing components to be mounted on the electronic board at spaces under the coin cell battery receptacle, and providing access to the components by rotating the receptacle 110 to a vertical position.
A number of components including device 100 can be mounted on the board 200 via electrical contacts. For example, components 202, 204, and 206 can also be mounted on the board 200. Components 202-206 can include memory devices, processors, integrated circuits, and other surface-mount devices. When the receptacle 110 is in the horizontal position, components 202-206 can still be mounted on the board 200 at locations under the receptacle 110, thereby maximizing the board space. As described, when the receptacle 110 is placed in the horizontal position, a gap is maintained between the receptacle 110 and the board 200 such that the components 202-206 can occupy spaces under the receptacle 110.
In the foregoing description, numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding of the subject matter disclosed herein. However, implementations may be practiced without some or all of these details. Other implementations may include modifications and variations from the details discussed above. It is intended that the following claims cover such modifications and variations.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/US2016/044869 | 7/29/2016 | WO | 00 |