JP7543483B2 - Battery box structure - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to the structure of a battery box that is installed in a device.

Patent Document 1 discloses a battery fixing structure that allows batteries of different sizes to be attached and detached as part of the configuration of the device (specifically, surveying instrument). This makes it possible for batteries to be substituted for each other even if the dedicated batteries are different sizes for different types of surveying instruments.

JP 2018-113236 A JP 2006-221825 A JP 9-199097 A

There is a need to use this fixed structure to power surveying instruments using standard batteries that are available anywhere in the world and are easy to obtain. The battery box is required to store standard batteries and be replaceable with dedicated batteries, to have a robust structure that can withstand the harsh surveying environments around the world, and to be compact enough to be used with many models.

In contrast, if the battery box disclosed in Patent Document 2 has a cover that closes the opening of the housing and has a conductive part, the joint between the separate cover and the main body is weak both electrically and structurally, making it more likely to break if dropped, and if the cover is lost, the battery will become completely unusable even if there is remaining power in the battery.

In addition, when the frame that stores the batteries is covered with a cover, as in the battery box disclosed in Patent Document 3, the areas where the cover and frame overlap (the upper and lower surfaces in Patent Document 3) form a double structure, which creates the problem of increasing the overall size. In other words, even if the surveying instrument is equipped with a fixing structure that can fix batteries of different sizes, batteries larger than the maximum acceptable size cannot be attached, so if the shape is compact, it can be used with many different models, so it is desirable for the overall size to be as small as possible.

The present invention was made in consideration of this problem, and provides a durable and compact battery box that houses batteries inside and can replace the dedicated battery of a device.

For this reason, in one aspect of the battery box of the present invention, the battery box is inserted into a power supply storage chamber provided in the housing of an equipment, and is provided with a hollow battery box body having electrode points on the upper and lower walls inside, with openings for inserting and removing batteries provided on both opposing side walls, and a pair of cover bodies closing the two opposing openings, and the interior of the hollow battery box body is configured so that two or more batteries, the same number of batteries, are stored in parallel and facing each other through the two opposing openings, and the interior of the battery box body is configured so that pillars are formed in the center of the opposing adjacent batteries, contacting the batteries on all four sides and helping to hold the batteries.

Although the cover exists separately from the battery box body, the only conductive part is the battery box body, and the cover does not have any conductive parts, so there is no need to electrically connect the cover and the battery box body, and the structure is strong both structurally and electrically. If all the batteries were stored in parallel from one opening, the size would be large in the width direction, or if they were stored in a stack from front to back or up and down from one opening, it would be difficult to hold them. In this embodiment, the same number of batteries are placed in parallel and facing each other from two opposing openings, so the width direction is halved. The batteries are arranged in a matrix as a whole, which allows the overall size to be reduced. Although only a minimum number of pillars are used to assist holding the batteries, they are held tightly against all the batteries arranged on all four sides, so they are held firmly. The cover only closes the opening of the battery box body, and there are no overlapping parts as a housing, making the overall size compact.

In one embodiment, the inside of the battery box body is configured so that the batteries housed in the battery box body are housed in contact with adjacent batteries and with opposing batteries. The batteries are arranged in two parallel rows in close proximity, making the overall structure strong and sturdy, and the batteries are held stably.

In one embodiment, the inside of the battery box body is configured so that a total of four batteries are arranged facing each other, with two batteries from one opening and two from the other. There are four batteries, two at the front and two at the back, and the overall configuration is slim with a minimal one-pillar configuration.

In one embodiment, the pair of cover bodies each have an engagement claw formed at the bottom end of the cover body, which engages with a locking portion formed on the battery box body to close the two openings and sandwich the battery stored inside the battery box. According to this embodiment, the stored battery is sandwiched from the front and back and firmly held.

As is clear from the above description, the present invention provides a durable and compact battery box.

1 is a perspective view of a surveying instrument to which a battery box according to an embodiment of the present invention is attached. This is a perspective view of the power supply storage room of the surveying instrument, as seen from the mount side (inside). FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view showing an overview of the battery box. FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the battery box body. FIG. FIG. 1 is an exploded rear perspective view of a battery box, with the battery and conductive parts omitted in this drawing.

Specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The embodiments are illustrative and do not limit the invention, and all features and combinations described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the invention. In addition, in each drawing, similar components are given the same reference numerals, and detailed descriptions are omitted as appropriate.

(Surveying equipment)
FIG. 1 shows a surveying instrument 11 to which a battery box 1 (described later) according to an embodiment of the present invention is attached.

The surveying instrument 11 is a total station capable of measuring distance and angle, and operates on a loaded power source. The power source is not limited to the battery box 1 according to this embodiment, and a dedicated battery can also be loaded. However, the structure of the battery box 1 according to the present invention is not limited to the surveying instrument 11, and may be attached to other equipment that can be used as a power source. In this embodiment, an example will be described in which the battery box 1 is mounted on the surveying instrument 11 instead of a dedicated battery.

The surveying instrument 11 comprises a base unit 12 and a mount unit 13. The mount unit 13 is mounted, for example, on a tripod (not shown) via the base unit 12. The base unit 12 has a leveling screw, and the mount unit 13 is maintained horizontal by leveling using the leveling screw. The mount unit 13 is rotatable around a vertical axis A1. A collimating telescope unit 14 equipped with a distance measuring optical section is supported by the mount unit 13, and is rotatable around a horizontal axis A2.

A power supply storage chamber 15 is provided on the side of the stand 13, in which a power supply such as a battery box 1 or a dedicated battery is attached. The power supply storage chamber 15 has an openable and closable lid 16. The lid 16 is rotatable around a horizontal axis A3 and has a protrusion 161.

Figure 2 is an oblique view of the power supply storage chamber 15 of the surveying instrument 11, as seen from the side (inside) of the stand unit 13. The power supply storage chamber 15 comprises a box-shaped housing unit 17 formed in the casing (housing) of the stand unit 13, and an opening 19 formed in the housing unit 17 as a power supply attachment port is closed by a lid unit 16. Figure 2 shows the state in which the opening 19 of the housing unit 17 is closed by the lid unit 16, and in order to explain the interior of the power supply storage chamber 15, the side facing the opening 19 (the back surface of the housing unit 17) has been omitted.

As shown in FIG. 2, the power supply storage chamber 15 has a battery holder 18 as a fixing structure for the battery box 1 to be stored. The battery holder 18 is provided on the housing 17 and is movable in the vertical direction. The battery holder 18 has a stopper portion 181 on the top and a contact portion 182 on the bottom.

The protrusion 161 of the lid 16 extends toward the inside of the surveying instrument 11 when the lid 16 closes the opening 19 of the housing 17. When the lid 16 is closed, the abutment 182 is engaged with the protrusion 161 and prevented from moving, thereby preventing the battery box 1 attached to the power supply storage chamber 15 from moving upward. The stopper 181 also presses against the top surface of the attached battery box 1, preventing the battery box 1 from moving upward. This fixing structure is disclosed in detail in JP 2018-113236 A, and details will be omitted here.

In this way, in the surveying instrument 11, the battery holder 18 prevents the attached battery box 1 from moving up and down and holds it in the power supply storage chamber 15. This fixing structure of the power supply storage chamber 15 makes it possible to attach the battery box 1 even if it is a different size than the dedicated battery. Furthermore, if the surveying instrument has the same fixing mechanism in the power supply storage chamber, even if the dedicated batteries are different sizes, the battery box 1 can be used as a power source instead and can be inserted and removed.

(Battery box)
Fig. 3 is a rear perspective view of the battery box 1 to be mounted on the surveying instrument 11. Fig. 4 is a rear perspective view showing only the battery box body 4 with the cover and battery of Fig. 3 omitted. Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the battery box 1. Fig. 6 is an exploded front perspective view of the battery box 1. Fig. 7 is an exploded rear perspective view of the battery box 1. The conductive parts and battery are omitted in Fig. 7.

As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the battery box 1 is a hollow rectangular parallelepiped with electrode points on the upper and lower walls of the hollow interior, and the battery is stored in an upright position. The battery is not limited to primary batteries such as alkaline dry batteries, and can be secondary batteries such as lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, and any type of battery is acceptable.

The battery box 1 is housed as a substitute for a dedicated battery, for example, as a power source for the surveying instrument 11 in this embodiment. The user can selectively use the dedicated battery and the battery box 1 with the surveying instrument 11, for example, as a substitute for the dedicated battery when it runs out of charge.

On both the left and right sides of the battery box 1, engagement parts 48 that engage with the power supply storage chamber 15 are formed, and catch on protrusions (not shown) provided on the power supply storage chamber 15 to prevent the battery box 1 from falling off. In addition, a positive electrode output part 49p and a negative electrode output part 49n are provided on the bottom, from which the battery voltage is output to the surveying instrument 11.

The battery box 1 comprises a battery box body 4, which is a housing for storing batteries, and cover bodies 2 and 3 that close the front and rear openings 41 and 42 provided in the battery box body 4. The openings 41 and 42 are formed in almost the entire area of the front and rear of the battery box 1, so the cover body 2 forms the front of the battery box 1, and the cover body 3 forms almost the rear of the battery box. From the front and rear openings 41 and 42 of the battery box body 4, batteries of the same shape and number (two each in this embodiment) are stored in parallel in the left-right direction with the longitudinal direction aligned vertically, and the same number of batteries loaded from different openings are arranged so that they face each other. A pillar 5 is erected in the center of the internal space S of the hollow battery box 1.

As shown in FIG. 5, the four batteries D1 to D4 housed in the battery box 1 are held so that adjacent batteries and opposing batteries are in contact with each other at least partially.

Pillar 5 is placed in the center of these four adjacent batteries D1 to D4. The cross-sectional shape of pillar 5 has four arcuate sections so that it can abut against all four batteries arranged on all four sides, and these arcuate sections each act as curved walls that contact the batteries in the longitudinal direction, stably holding batteries D1 to D4.

The side walls 44-47 inside the battery box body 4 are the inner walls of the battery box body 4 on the sides of the batteries D1-D4 that are stored therein. They are curved to match the diameter of the battery so as not to interfere with the insertion and removal of the batteries, and as curved walls, each one contacts the battery in the longitudinal direction and, together with the pillars 5, holds the batteries D1-D4. Furthermore, ribs 21, 31 are formed on the inside of the cover bodies 2, 3 to correspond to the shape of the battery, thereby sandwiching and holding the batteries D1-D4 from both the front and back. The batteries D1-D4 are held firmly by contacting the side walls 44-47, the pillars 5, and the ribs 21, 31 of the cover bodies 2, 3.

(Exploded perspective view)
As shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the battery box body 4 is divided into two parts, front and rear, approximately in the center, and is formed by engaging a first housing 50 which is the front half and a second housing 60 which is the rear half.

An engagement claw 61 is formed in the middle of the left and right sides of the second housing 60, facing the first housing 50. An engagement receiver 51 is formed in the first housing 50 at a position opposite the engagement claw 61, so that the two engage and become one body.

Since the pillar 5 is divided into two parts, front and back, approximately at the center, a split pillar 55 is formed on the first housing 50 side and a split pillar 65 is formed on the second housing 60 side. A number of protrusions 54 formed on the divided surface of the first housing 50, including the split pillar 55, fit into a number of fitting holes 64 formed on the second housing 60, including the split pillar 65, helping to integrate the first housing 50 and the second housing 60, and the fitting of the split pillars 55 and 65 forms the pillar 5.

The internal space S that houses the batteries D1 to D4 is also divided into two, so that both the first housing 50 and the second housing 60 have an internal space S.

An engagement claw 22 is formed in the center of the lower end of the cover body 2, which slides from above the first housing 50 and engages with a locking portion 52 formed on the upper surface of the bottom portion 53 of the first housing 50, closing the opening 41 on the front side. Similarly, an engagement claw 32 is formed at the lower end of the cover body 3, which slides from above the second housing 60 and engages with a locking portion 62 formed on the upper surface of the bottom portion 63 of the second housing 60, closing the opening 42 on the rear side.

(Conductive part)
A slit 57 extending in the front-rear direction is formed in the bottom 53 of the first housing 50. The slit 57 is formed below the dividing column 55 and wide in the left-right direction across the dividing column 55. A wide conductive piece 73 is inserted into the slit 57 from the dividing surface (the second housing 60 side) and is exposed at two points on the upper surface of the bottom 53, i.e., the internal space S that houses the battery, sandwiching the dividing column 55, to become two electrode points on the lower side of the first housing 50. The battery D4 and the battery D3 stored on the first housing 50 side are electrically connected in series by this conductive piece 73. Since the batteries D3 and D4 are electrically connected in series, they are stored upside down, and a conductive elastic body 80 (a coil spring in this embodiment) is crimped and fixed to the upper surface of the conductive piece 73 at a portion where one of the batteries (the battery D3 in this embodiment) whose lower end side is the negative electrode contacts.

A pair of flat engagement tongues 66, 66 are formed on the ceiling 68 of the second housing 60, sandwiching the dividing post 65, protruding toward the first housing 50. Furthermore, engagement grooves 67, 67 extending in the front-to-rear direction are formed below the engagement tongues 66, 66. Plate-shaped conductive pieces 71, 72 that are long on one side are inserted here from the dividing surface (first housing 50 side) and positioned below the engagement tongues 66, 66. A portion of each is exposed to the bottom surface of the ceiling 68 of the second housing 60, i.e., the internal space S that houses the battery, and each becomes two electrode points on the upper part of the second housing 60.

The length of the conductive pieces 71, 72 is longer than the depth of the engagement grooves 67, 67, and one end of the inserted conductive pieces 71, 72 protrudes from the second housing 60 toward the first housing 50. The engagement tongues 66, 66 assist in fixing the conductive pieces 71, 72, and engage with the engagement grooves 56, 56 formed in the ceiling portion 58 of the first housing 50 together with the conductive pieces 71, 72. The conductive pieces 71, 72 protruding from the second housing 60 enter the first housing 50 side and are arranged across the first housing 50 and the second housing 60. The conductive pieces 71, 72 are exposed to the bottom surface of the ceiling portion 58 of the first housing, i.e., the internal space S that houses the battery, and also serve as two upper electrode points in the first housing 50.

The conductive piece 71 electrically connects the batteries D2 and D4, which are arranged facing each other from front to back, in series. Similarly, the conductive piece 72 connects the batteries D1 and D3 in series. The connected batteries D1, D3, and D2, D4 are stored upside down, so the top end of one of the batteries becomes the negative electrode. In this embodiment, the batteries D1 and D4 are arranged so that their top ends become the negative electrodes, so that the conductive elastic body 80 is crimped and fixed to the conductive pieces 71 and 72 at the parts that come into contact with them.

A pair of slits 69, 69 are formed in the bottom 63 of the second housing 60, sandwiching the dividing post 65. Conductive pieces 74, 75, which are roughly square metal plates roughly half the size of the conductive pieces 71-73, are inserted into these slits. Parts of the conductive pieces 74, 75 are exposed to the internal space S that houses the batteries, forming two electrode points below the second housing 60 and contacting the electrodes on the bottom side of the batteries D1, D2 housed in the second housing 60. A conductive elastic body 80 is crimped and fixed to the upper surface of the conductive piece 75, which contacts one battery D2, the lower end of which is the negative pole.

The conductive pieces 71 to 75 serve as the electrode points of the battery box 1, the batteries D1 to D4 are electrically connected in series, and the conductive elastic body 80 biases the batteries D1 to D4 in an upright position.

Furthermore, a pair of engagement holes 91, 91 are formed on the bottom surface of the second housing 60 into which cylindrical female terminals 90p, 90n are inserted. When the female terminals 90p, 90n are inserted, a portion of the body is bent to prevent them from falling out and fixed in place, and they come into contact with the conductive pieces 74, 75, respectively, for electrical conduction, and serve as the output section for the batteries D1 to D4 connected in series by the conductive pieces 71 to 75.

The terminals 90p, 90n and the conductive pieces 74, 75 may be connected by electric wires, or the two may be molded as one piece. The conductive pieces 71-75 and the terminals 90p, 90n may be multiple, integrated components.

In the battery box 1, the engagement and electrical continuity of each part is achieved solely through engagement and fitting, making it a simple yet sturdy structure.

The battery box 1 configured as described above is attached to the power supply storage compartment 15 of the surveying instrument 11. The surveying instrument 11 is capable of mounting batteries of different sizes, and the battery box 1 can be mounted without any problems in place of a dedicated battery. The battery box 1 holds the batteries securely with the minimum necessary retention, has a small outer side for a battery box that stores four batteries, and is very compact overall, so it can be mounted not only on the surveying instrument 11 but also on many other surveying instruments that have a power supply storage compartment with a similar structure.

The above describes a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the above embodiment is merely one example of the present invention, and modifications and combinations can be made based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art, and such forms are also included in the scope of the present invention.

1 Battery box 2, 3 Cover body 4 Battery box body 5 Pillar 11 Surveying instrument
15 Power supply storage compartment 41, 42 Openings D1 to D4 Battery

Claims (4)

A battery box to be inserted into a power supply storage chamber provided in a housing of an equipment,
a hollow battery box body having electrode points on its upper and lower internal walls and openings for inserting and removing the battery provided on both of its opposing side walls;
a pair of cover bodies that close the two opposing openings,
the hollow battery box body is configured so that two or more batteries, the same number of batteries, are loaded in parallel from each of the two opposing openings and stored facing each other;
Inside the battery box body, pillars are formed which stand in the center of adjacent batteries facing each other and contact the batteries on all four sides to assist in holding the batteries,
The battery box body is configured as a divided body divided into front and rear parts at approximately the center, and slits are formed on the dividing surfaces of the upper wall and the lower wall, and a conductive piece is inserted into the slit, and a part of the conductive piece is exposed inside the battery box body to become the electrode point.
A battery box characterized by: The inside of the battery box body is configured so that the batteries housed in the battery box body are housed in such a way that adjacent batteries and opposing batteries are in contact with each other.
2. The battery box according to claim 1, wherein the battery box is a battery box having a plurality of holes. The inside of the battery box body is formed so that a total of four batteries are arranged facing each other, two batteries being arranged from one of the two openings and two batteries being arranged from the other opening.
3. The battery box according to claim 1 or 2. The pair of cover bodies each have an engagement claw formed at a lower end thereof, and are configured to engage with a locking portion formed on the battery box body to close the two openings and sandwich the battery stored inside the battery box body .
4. The battery box according to claim 1, wherein the battery box is a battery box having a first insulating layer and a second insulating layer.