Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Hideyo Morita

Tetsuya Okada

Osamu Kaite

Toshiki Nakasho

Takayuki Mino

Yasuhiro Oono

Koichi Inoue

Katsuji Mizuta

Syouiti Toya

Hiroshi Nagamine

A portable power source apparatus has a closing surface () facing an open end of a main case () and an exposed surface () externally exposed at an opposite end of a cap section () from the closing surface; a planar circuit board () housed in the cap section with voltage conversion circuitry for converting the voltage of the circular cylindrical batteries CB contained in the main case; and a power supply terminal () disposed in the exposed surface of the cap section and capable of outputting power from the circular cylindrical batteries CB contained in the main case. The circuit board is disposed diametrically across a circular cross-section of the cap section, and a pair of ribs () is provided approximately perpendicular to the circuit board.

Portable power source apparatus capable of holding circular cylindrical batteries

The battery charger is provided with a holding cavitythat allows a first rectangular battery packand a second rectangular battery packto be loaded in a detachable fashion. The holding cavity has a rectangular opening and has first charging terminalsA to contact first rectangular battery pack electrode terminals, and second charging terminalsB to contact second rectangular battery packelectrode terminalsestablished on a first perimeter wallA and second perimeter wallB, which are perpendicular. The battery charger charges the first rectangular battery pack through the first charging terminals when it is loaded in the holding cavity with electrode terminalsin contact with the first charging terminals. The battery charger charges the second rectangular battery pack through the second charging terminals when it is loaded in the holding cavity with electrode terminals in contact with the second charging terminals.

Battery charger for two types of rectangular battery packs

A battery pack provided with a battery block (), a case (), and a circuit board (). The battery block () has a plurality of batteries () lined up in a horizontal row with the same orientation, and lead plates () connect to terminals of those batteries () to form a parallel unit (). A plurality of parallel units () are stacked in the vertical direction with a different orientation, and battery terminals are connected by lead plates () in the vertical direction to connect parallel units () in series. Lead plates () have projections () which protrude horizontally beyond the confines of the battery block () and connect with the circuit board (), and the battery block () and circuit board () are connected as a unit.

Battery pack

A battery pack including a thin outline battery in an external case. The external case is provided with openings exposing the front and back of the thin outline battery to the outside, and is formed in the shape of a rectangular frame which covers both sides and both ends of the thin outline battery. The thickness of the external case is essentially equal to the thickness of the thin outline battery, or the external case is made thinner than the thin outline battery.

A battery pack includes a laminate battery having a built-in electrode held inside thereof by connecting a first sheathing film and a second sheathing film at lap sections thereof along outer peripheries of the electrode. A terminal substrate is disposed at the lap section and includes output terminals at a front surface side thereof. A substrate holder is disposed between a rear surface of the terminal substrate and the lap section, and a first metal plate is laminated on a first sheathing film side of the laminate battery. In the battery pack, the terminal substrate is supported by the substrate holder, the lap section, and the first metal plate, and the output terminals of the terminal substrate are disposed at positions so as to be brought closer to the same plane as a front surface of the second sheathing film.

An apparatus having spring-loaded contacts for electrically connecting with electrical equipment terminals. First spring-loaded contacts and second spring-loaded contacts are disposed in close proximity. Each of the first and second spring-loaded contacts has a pair of connection segments for connecting with each electrical equipment terminal, attachment segments which attach to a board or substrate, and flexible arm segments between the attachment segments and connection segments. The flexible arm segments are adapted to press the connection segments resiliently against the electrical equipment terminals. Each pair of flexible arm segments of a first spring-loaded contact defines a widened region where the flexible arm segments extend towards the connection segments of a second spring-loaded contact, and part of the second spring-loaded contact is disposed inside the widened region of the first spring-loaded contact.

Apparatus with spring-loaded contacts

A battery pack contains rechargeable batteries, and is provided with a recessed area to insert a battery charger for charging. The recessed area has battery contacts to make electrical connection with a battery charger inserted within it. In this invention, the battery pack is not inserted into a recessed region of a battery charger, but rather the battery charger is inserted into the recessed area provided on the battery pack to charge the rechargeable batteries.

Battery pack having recessed area for receiving battery charger

A battery charger is provided with a connecting part for connection of a rechargeable battery in a freely removable fashion. The charger body has charger terminals protruding from the connecting part to electrically connect with battery terminals of the rechargeable battery. The connecting part of the charger body has a body slot and catch to allow connection thereto of only a particular rechargeable battery. The slot and catch of the body are designed to match with a battery slot and catch of the rechargeable battery when the appropriate rechargeable battery is normally connected to the connecting part, but to not match with the battery slot and catch when the connecting part of the rechargeable battery is abnormally connected. Both catches of the battery slot and catch and of the body slot and catch are provided to protrude at a location facing each other to prevent the electrical connection of the terminals when the battery slot and catch and the body slot and catch do not match each other.

Battery charger with body slot and catch arrangement to prevent

The battery charger of the present invention is provided with a printed circuit board in a case. A transformer, the primary side components, the secondary side components are fixed in the printed circuit board. The transformer insulates the surface by the insulating case. In the printed circuit board, using the transformer as border, the primary side components are set on one side and the secondary side components are set on the other side. The transformer isolates the primary side components and the secondary side components.

Battery charger

The power supply apparatus of this invention has a portable case. The case is provided with battery attachment sections for attaching a plurality of battery packs containing rechargeable batteries, a charging circuit for charging battery packs, a charging power input section for supplying power to the charging circuit for battery pack charging, a discharge circuit for discharging battery packs to electrical equipment loads, and a discharge power output section for delivering output from the discharge circuit to external loads.

Power supply apparatus to provide power to electrical equipment from a

A charging attachment connects battery packs having different cell types with a battery charger, and a power source attachment connects these battery packs to electrical equipment such as a video camera. The charging attachment has a mount for a constant voltage chargeable battery pack and electrically connects it with constant voltage adapter terminals on a battery charger. The power source attachment has easy on-off coupling with electrical equipment and mounts a reduced size battery pack on equipment designed for full size battery packs. The charging and power source attachments can be single unit.

Battery charging apparatus, power supply, and attachment for connecting

A battery charger charges a discharged battery and can be connected directly to an appliance where it serves as an AC adapter. The output of the battery charger automatically reduces to a trickle maintenance charge as the battery approaches a full charge condition. A Zener diode, used for overcurrent protection automatically turns off the charging function in the event of an overcurrent condition. The circuit automatically resets when the overcurrent condition is removed. A hinged section, when opened out, provides mounting for a battery to be charged. When the hinged section is closed, switches are operated, and electrical connections are made to permit affixing the charger, as an AC adapter, to the normal battery retainer of the appliance.

Combination battery charger and AC adapter

A battery charging apparatus, which charges a secondary battery such as an Ni-Cd battery being used for a battery-driven equipment such as a VTR camera, is provided with a first loading unit for only charging a loaded battery and a second loading unit for charging a loaded battery, for discharging the charged battery, for measuring the capacity of the discharged battery, and for displaying the measured capacity by four steps of its percentage, and which is capable of using either of the both loading units according to the qualities of the battery characteristics of the battery. In this battery charging apparatus, a new battery or a battery with good battery characteristics substantially similar to the new one are charged in the first loading unit and an old battery or a battery with inferior battery characteristics are charged in the second loading unit. The former unit can charge the battery in a shorter time and the latter one can recover the better battery characteristics by repeating the charging and discharging operation to the battery with inferior battery characteristics a few times.

Growing community of inventors

Mihara-gun, Japan

Hideyo Morita