JPH08250090A - Battery pack charger / discharger - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide a battery pack charger / discharger capable of performing a contact operation at a plurality of places in one operation of inserting a battery pack. [Structure] On a base 22 having a storage recess 23 into which a battery pack 11 is inserted, a cam 33 that is pressed and rotated by the battery pack 11, a lifter 35 that tilts by the rotation of the cam 33, and a lifter 35. A contact probe (1Y) that moves up by tilting is provided, and
When the battery pack 11 is inserted into, the contact probe (1Y) comes into contact with the charging / discharging terminal.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a battery pack charging / discharging device in which a charging / discharging terminal of the battery pack can be brought into contact with a contact probe of the charging / discharging device when the battery pack is inserted.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Among secondary batteries used as a power source for mobile phones, portable personal computers, etc., it is known that nickel cadmium battery produces a memory effect. When this memory effect occurs, it will not be possible to discharge even a battery that is still usable.

In order to recover a battery having such a memory effect, it is necessary to forcibly discharge it.

For this reason, the battery pack has a discharging terminal and a charging terminal, and the charger / discharger also has a contact probe for charging / discharging.

FIG. 5 shows the structure of a contact probe used in a battery pack charger / discharger. In this contact probe 1, a cylinder case 2 holds a plunger 3 movably in an axial direction, and a coil spring 4 holds the plunger. Preload is applied to the jar 3, and this plunger 3
By contacting the tip contactor 5 with the charging / discharging terminal, electrical conduction is obtained.

The plunger 3 has a predetermined stroke (S) in the lengthwise direction, and the contact with each charging / discharging terminal is surely made within this stroke (S). Therefore, the battery pack to be charged / discharged must be arranged within this stroke (S).

When not in contact, the coil spring 4 is at the longest stroke position (A) due to preload, and when the charging / discharging terminals are brought into contact with each other from this position, the coil spring 4 is compressed and the plunger 3 and each terminal are contacted. Make contact.

During charging and discharging, the contact probe 1 must be surely brought into contact with each terminal while the battery pack is inserted into the charger / discharger, and also, there is no erroneous insertion during charging / discharging. Each terminal may be located on a different side of the battery pack, or the shape of the contact pin of the charger / discharger may be different. For safety reasons, the battery pack does not come into contact with the charging / discharging terminal. Has been done.

In this case, in order to reliably contact the charge / discharge terminal and the contact probe, a means for moving the contact probe and then contacting it is necessary.

In the conventional battery pack charger / discharger, after inserting and fixing the battery pack into the charger / discharger, the contact probe is moved by turning a lever or the like to contact the charge / discharge terminal. Apart from this, a method of fixing the contact probes for charging / discharging on both the side surface and the bottom surface is also considered.

[0011]

However, the former charger / discharger must perform two operations of inserting the battery pack and moving and contacting the contact probe, and cannot perform the inserting operation and the contact at the same time. There is a problem of forgetting to operate.

In the latter method, the contact probe on the bottom side cannot be inserted when the battery pack is inserted, or the contact probe on the bottom side is subjected to oblique stress other than in the stroke direction, and It bends and cannot be operated stably.

When diagonal stress is applied to the contact probe, the unevenness of the battery pack is pushed into the contact probe while being caught, and the contact probe is designed and manufactured so as to cope with stress in directions other than the normal stroke direction. Therefore, when stress other than the stroke direction is applied, the operation is not reliably performed, and the life thereof is significantly shortened.

Therefore, in the conventional method, the fixed arrangement of the contact probe on both the side surface and the bottom surface does not endure practical use, and ensures that the battery pack charger / discharger will operate regardless of who uses it. In order to do so, it is necessary to minimize the number of operations, and it is necessary to complete the preparation with one operation.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to charge a battery pack in which the charging / discharging terminal and a plurality of contact probes can be brought into contact with each other in one operation of inserting the battery pack, so that the operation is not forgotten and the life of the contact probe is not reduced. It is to provide a discharger.

[0016]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a base having a portion into which a battery pack is inserted, a cam that is pushed down by the inserted battery pack and rotates. One end of the lifter is interlocked with the cam, and a lifter that tilts about the fulcrum shaft by the rotation of the cam and a contact probe that is connected to the other end of the lifter and moves up by tilting the lifter are provided. This is a structure in which the probe is brought into contact with the charge / discharge terminals of the battery pack.

[0017]

When the battery pack is inserted into the base, the cam pushed down by the battery pack rotates, the lifter interlocked with this cam tilts, the contact probe rises, and contacts the charge / discharge terminals of the battery pack. As a result, even if the contact probe is fixedly arranged on the bottom surface of the base, the charging / discharging terminal and the plurality of contact probes are brought into contact with each other in one operation of inserting the battery pack without applying stress in a direction other than the normal stroke direction. It is possible to let

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

4 (A) and 4 (B) show a battery pack 11, in which a charge / discharge terminal 12 is arranged on the end face and a charge / discharge terminal 13 is arranged on the bottom face side. Normally, the charge / discharge terminal 12 on the end face is the charge terminal and the bottom face side. The charging / discharging terminal 13 of the electronic pack 1 serves as a discharging terminal.
Even if the front and back of 1 are mistakenly inserted into the charger / discharger, it has a structure that takes safety measures to avoid short circuit.

1 to 3 show a charger / discharger 21 of a battery pack 11, in which an accommodating recess 23 for accommodating the battery pack 11 is provided on the upper surface of a base 22, and one end of the accommodating recess 23 has a plurality of contacts. The block 24 in which the probes 1X are arranged in parallel is fixed, and the fixing lever 25 of the battery pack 11 is attached to the other end of the block 24.

The contact probe 1X has the end charging / discharging terminal 12 of the battery pack 11 inserted into the storage recess 23.
And a cover 26 for inserting the end of the battery pack 11 is provided on the upper portion of the block 24.

The lower end of the fixed lever 25 is a pivot 27.
Is attached to the base 22 with a compression spring 28, and as shown by the solid line in FIG. 3 (B), rotational elasticity for always maintaining a standing posture is imparted, and the storage recess 2 is provided at the end facing the storage recess 23 on the upper side.
When the battery pack 11 is pushed into the battery pack 3, the inclined surface 29 is pushed by the end of the battery pack 11 to allow the fixing lever 25 to escape to the outside, which is indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. A claw portion 30 that engages with the end portion of the battery pack 11 that is housed therein is provided, and when the operation portion 31 at the outer end portion is pushed down, the claw portion 3 is formed.
The engagement of 0 with the battery pack 11 can be released.

A window hole 32 is provided in the bottom surface of the storage recess 23 of the base 22 at a substantially central position, and a cam 33 is rotatably attached to a lower portion of the window hole 32 by a fulcrum shaft 34.
The upper protrusion 33 a can be retracted into and retracted from the storage recess 23.

The lifter 35 disposed on the lower surface of the base 22 is formed in a U-shape in an upward cross section, and an intermediate portion thereof is attached to the lower surface of the base 22 by a pivot 36 so that the lifter 35 can be swung about the pivot 36 as one end. The part side is in contact with the lower end of the cam 33, and the one end is constantly pulled up by a tension spring 37 stretched between the lower face of the base 22 and the cam 33 to push up the cam 33. Therefore, the cam 33 is urged to rotate upward with the pivot 34 as a fulcrum, and when the battery pack 11 is not inserted, the protrusion 33a is located inside the storage portion 23 as shown in FIG. 3 (A). It is protruding.

The base 22 is provided with a vertical hole 38 opening in the accommodating recess 23 at a position near the contact probe 1X, and a holder for the contact probe 1Y inserted in the vertical hole 38 so as to be vertically movable. 39 and the other end of the lifter 35 are connected to each other, and the contact probe 1Y moves vertically due to the swinging of the lifter 35.

When the battery pack 11 is not inserted into the accommodating recess 23, the lifter 35 pushes up the cam 33 to bring the contact probe 1Y into a horizontal state as shown in FIG. When the battery pack 11 is inserted below the bottom surface and the battery pack 11 is inserted into the storage recess 23, the lifter 35 is pushed down by the cam 33 as shown in FIG. Then, the contact probe 1Y rises and comes into contact with the charging / discharging terminal 13 provided on the bottom surface of the battery pack 11.

The charging / discharging device of the present invention has the above-described structure, and as shown in FIG. 1, the battery pack is designed so that the charging / discharging element 12 on the end face is pressed against the contact probe 1X against the housing recess 23 of the base 22. Insert 11.

The end of the battery pack 11 close to the fixed lever 25 is tilted so as to fit into the storage recess 23. The battery pack 11 stops diagonally above the fixed lever 23.
In this state, the charging / discharging terminal 12 at the end is not completely in contact with the contact probe 1X. The contact probe 1Y also does not project into the storage recess 23 because the cam 33 is not pushed in.

When the fixed lever 25 side of the battery pack 11 is further pushed from this state, the fixed lever 25 escapes to the outside, the battery pack 11 is housed in the storage recess 23, and the fixed lever 2
5 returns to the original position, and the battery pack 11 is fixed in the storage recess 23.

When the battery pack 11 is housed in the storage recess 23, the charging / discharging terminal 12 at the end contacts the contact probe 1X. At the same time, the cam 33 is pushed down, the lifter 35 tilts due to the movement of the seesaw, and the contact probe 1Y rises and contacts the charging / discharging terminal 13 on the bottom surface as shown in FIG. 3 (B).

As described above, the base 2 of the battery pack 11
The contact probe 1Y and the charging / discharging terminal 13 are contacted with each other substantially at the same time with respect to 2, and the bottom surface of the battery pack 11 is always pushed up by the protrusion 33a of the cam 33 when the battery pack 11 is fixed.

Next, in order to take out the battery pack 11 from the base 22, the operating portion 31 of the fixing lever 25 is pushed and tilted, the claw portion 30 is disengaged from the battery pack 11, and the cam 33 is caused by the elastic force of the tension spring 37. Of the contact probe 1Y
Also descends and separates from the charge / discharge terminal 13.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform the contact operation between the charging / discharging terminals at a plurality of locations and the contact probe by one operation of inserting the battery pack into the accommodating recess of the base, and the stroke of the contact probe. The contact can be obtained without applying a stress other than the direction.

Further, the connection can be established by one operation, and the malfunction due to forgetting the operation can be prevented.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a battery pack charger / discharger according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a charger / discharger.

FIG. 3A is a vertical sectional front view of the charger / discharger, and FIG. 3B is a vertical sectional front view showing a state in which the battery pack is fixed to the same.

FIG. 4A is a perspective view of the battery pack, and FIG. 4B is a perspective view seen from the bottom surface of the battery pack.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway front view of the contact probe.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 1X, 1Y Contact probe 11 Battery pack 12, 13 Charge / discharge terminal 21 Charger / discharger 22 Base 23 Storage recess 25 Fixing lever 33 Cam 35 Lifter 37 Tension spring

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Shigeru Sano 6-6 Josaimachi, Takatsuki-shi, Osaka Yuasa Corporation (72) Aya Nishino 6-6 Josaicho, Takatsuki-shi, Osaka Yu Within Asa Corporation

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cam, which is pushed down by the inserted battery pack and rotates on a base having a portion for inserting the battery pack, and one end side of which interlocks with the cam, and the fulcrum shaft is centered by the rotation of the cam. The battery pack charging / discharging device is provided with a lifter that tilts in a vertical direction and a contact probe that is connected to the other end side of the lifter and that moves up by tilting of the lifter so that the lifted contact probe contacts the charging / discharging terminal of the battery pack. Electric appliances.