1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a nickel metal hydride/nickel cadmium secondary battery charger, and more particularly to a battery charger structure that allows an electric plug to be rotated and folded within 180 degrees and stored in the battery charger.
2. Description of the Related Art
As science and technology advance, electronic products including digital cameras, mobile phones, Game Boy and PDA become popular, and all of these 3C electronic products require dry cells for supplying electric power.
However, a dry cell can be divided into two types: a primary dry cell and a secondary dry cell, wherein the primary dry cell will be discarded after the power is exhausted, and thus a primary dry cell not only increases a user's cost, but also causes problems to environmental protection. Therefore, the secondary dry cell that can be recharged become a mainstream, but the major issue of using a secondary dry cell for the 3C products resides on finding a place outdoors to charge the dry cells after the electric power of the dry cells is exhausted.
Although there are many chargers available for charging a battery in a car by inserting a power supply plug with a conductive connecting cable into a cigarette lighter socket as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,919 and US2003/0062873A1 to overcome the problem of charging a battery outdoors, the foregoing two patented inventions disclosed ways of charging the battery of a mobile phone, but they cannot charge secondary dry cells. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,811 disclosed a way of charging secondary dry cells, but it comes with a large volume that occupies too much space, and its conductive connecting cable cannot be connected to the cigarette lighter socket in a car.
Therefore, finding a way of improving the battery charger and charging a battery conveniently in a car without occupying much space to facilitate its carrying demand immediate attentions and feasible solutions.
Therefore, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a nickel metal hydride/nickel cadmium secondary battery charger capable of charging the nickel metal hydride/nickel cadmium battery directly in a car, so as to provide a convenient way of charging the batteries of the 3C products.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a nickel metal hydride/nickel cadmium secondary battery charger, wherein its charging base is integrally coupled to the power supply plug, and the power supply plug can be turned within 180 degrees, so as to facilitate its carrying, and users can adjust its angle if needed. Furthermore, such arrangement can reduce the storage space.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects of the invention, a nickel metal hydride/nickel cadmium secondary battery charger includes:
a) a charging base, comprised of a lower casing and a cover, wherein the lower casing has a containing space, and a front section of the containing space has a U-shape retaining base, and the cover has a battery compartment, and both front and rear walls of the battery compartment have front and rear hollow portions respectively, and a central position of a front edge of the cover has a pivotal groove for connecting a front wall of the battery compartment to the exterior;
b) a charge control circuit board, installed in the containing space of the lower casing, and having a first set of reeds disposed at its front end and a second set of reeds disposed at its rear end, wherein the first set of reeds is protruded from the front hollow portion of the battery compartment, and the second set of reeds is protruded from the rear hollow portion; and
c) a power supply plug, corresponding to a cylindrical shape of a cigarette lighter socket in a car, for inserting and connecting to a power supply, and its internal end forming a protruding ear, and a protruding axle being pivotally coupled on both sides of the protruding ear, and one of the protruding axles being provided for passing a conducting wire and connecting a power supply input terminal of the charge control circuit board, and the two protruding axles being disposed across a U-shape retaining base of the lower casing, and the protruding ear being disposed in a pivotal connecting groove of the cover, such that the power supply plug uses the two protruding axles of the protruding ear as an axis to be turned from 0 degree to 180 degrees, and the power supply plug is protruded from the front of the charging base or folded in an opposite direction into the battery compartment.
Referring to
A charging base 10 is comprised of a lower casing 11 and a cover 12, wherein the lower casing 11 has a containing space 111, and the front section of the containing space 111 has a U-shape retaining base 112, and the cover 12 has a battery compartment 121, and the front wall of the battery compartment 121 has a front hollow portion 122, and the bottom of the rear wall of the battery compartment 121 has a rear hollow portion 125 as shown in
A charge control circuit board 20 is installed in the containing space 111 of the lower casing 11 for supplying electric power to the battery compartment 121 for a battery charge, and its front end has a first set of reeds 21, and its rear end has a corresponding second set of reeds 22, wherein the first set of reeds 21 is protruded from the front hollow portion 122 of the battery compartment 121, and the second set of reeds 23 is protruded from the rear hollow portion 125, such that the front and rear walls of the battery compartment 121 separately have a contact terminal for conducting and charging the battery. In this embodiment, an adjusting body 24 is disposed at a position including but not limited to the rear hollow portion 125 and capable of turning within 90 degrees as shown in
In
The power supply plug 30 further includes a non-circular positioning member 321 disposed at an external side of one of the protruding axles 32 and provided for a frame portion 42 of a positioning frame 40 to be sheathed thereon, and the bottom of the positioning frame 40 has an inserting body 41 to be inserted into a latch groove 113 of the lower casing 11. In
The power supply plug 30 further includes a recess 34 disposed at the top of the power supply plug 30, and a protrusion 126 disposed at a position corresponding to the recess 24 of the battery compartment 121 after the power supply plug 30 is folded, and the protrusion 126 is embedded and engaged into the recess 34 as shown in
In summation of the description above, the present invention can charge a nickel metal hydride/nickel cadmium battery directly in a car, and the power supply plug can be turned within 180 degrees and folded into the battery compartment 121. When the battery charger is inserted into a cigarette lighter socket of a car, the charging base 10 can be turned to an appropriate angle to fit the space in the car, so as to improve the prior art and avoid hindering the driving or occupying too much space in a car.
Many changes and modifications in the above-described embodiment of the invention can, of course, be carried out without departing from the scope thereof. Accordingly, to promote the progress in science and the useful arts, the invention is disclosed and is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.
This patent application is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 10/718,673, filed on 24 Nov. 2003 now abandoned.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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5977747 | Huang | Nov 1999 | A |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20060273760 A1 | Dec 2006 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 10718673 | Nov 2003 | US |
Child | 11504010 | US |