Abstract:
A battery cover assembly includes a battery cover ( 3 ) defining a pair of guide rails ( 326 ) therein, a connecting member ( 2 ), a housing ( 1 ) defining a receiving slot ( 164 ) and a battery-receiving compartment ( 194 ), a plurality of springs ( 5, 7 ), a plurality of sheaths ( 6 ), and an antenna rod ( 4 ). The connecting member is engaged with the sheaths and is loosely received in the guide rails along a lateral direction. The antenna rod inserts into the receiving slot through the connecting member, the sheaths, and the springs such that the battery cover can rotate about the antenna rod. When the battery cover is rotated downwardly to the housing, a force is required to press the battery cover down upon the housing, and then inwardly along a direction toward the antenna rod until locking projections ( 302 ) on the cover catch in troughs ( 182 ) defined in the housing.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention generally relates to battery cover assemblies, and more particularly to a battery cover assembly for use in a portable electronic device. The application relates to the copending applications titled “BATTERY COVER ASSEMBLY FOR PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE” for Rui Hao Chen et al., “BATTERY COVER ASSEMBLY FOR PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE”, for Jian Wu Chen et al., and “BATTERY COVER ASSEMBLY FOR PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE” for Xiaozhou Wang et al., all of which are assigned to the same assignee with the instant invention.  
           [0003]    2. Prior Art  
           [0004]    As a power source, batteries are widely used in portable electronic devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), cellular phones and so on. Conventional batteries are attachably received in the electronic devices, and battery covers are designed to connect with housings of the electronic devices to package the batteries. The batteries have to be replaced by opening the battery covers when the batteries are damaged or can not be recharged with electricity any more.  
           [0005]    A clasp structure or latch structure is used with a conventional battery cover to engage with a housing of a portable electronic device. For example, a cellular phone marked Alcatel OT310 has a latch for the battery cover. The latch comprises a pair of hooks at one end of the battery cover and a locking pin protruding from the other end of the battery cover. Accordingly, a pair of troughs is defined in an end portion of a backside of a housing of the cellular phone, and a locking hole is defined in the other end portion of the backside of the housing. In assembly, the hooks are firstly inserted into the troughs in the backside of the housing. Then, the battery cover is pressed downwardly to the housing until the locking pin on the battery cover is inserted into the locking hole in the backside of the housing. The battery cover is thus assembled to the housing of the cellular phone. The battery cover is simple in structure, and the engagement between the battery cover and the housing of the cellular phone is firm, too. However, during disassembly, the battery cover is susceptible to being damaged, since a greater force is exerted thereon. As a result, it is inconvenient for a user to change a battery in the housing of the cellular phone.  
           [0006]    In addition, most conventional battery covers or battery packages are separate from housings of portable electronic devices. The battery covers need to be opened and taken off when changing batteries, and then the battery covers have to be remounted to the housing after the batteries are changed. During the course of changing the batteries, the disassembled battery covers could be lost due to a user&#39;s carelessness.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a battery cover assembly which is convenient for a user to open and close, and for which the battery cover is not susceptible to being lost when it is opened.  
           [0008]    To achieve the above-mentioned object, a battery cover assembly includes a battery cover, a connecting member, a housing defining a receiving slot along a longitudinal direction thereof, a plurality of springs, at least a sheath, and an antenna rod secured in the receiving slot. The battery cover has a pair of guide rails defined in an inner side thereof. The connecting member includes a main body, a pair of side wings extending from two sides of the main body, and a folding leg extending downwardly from each side wing. The sheath comprises a tube, a positioning tab, and a stop tab. The connecting member is slidingly received in the guide rails along a lateral direction and is engaged with the sheath by the folding legs inserting between the positioning tab and the stop tab. The battery cover is connected to the housing by the antenna rod inserting through the sheath such that the battery cover is rotated to different positions around the antenna rod. When the battery cover is rotated downwardly to the housing, a predetermined force is required to press the battery cover down, and then a force is required along a direction toward the antenna rod. The battery cover locks into place on the housing when locking projections on the cover engage into troughs on the housing. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a battery cover assembly in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an assembled battery cover assembly, in which a cover is in an open position;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the assembled battery cover assembly of FIG. 3, viewed from a different angle;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the assembled battery cover assembly, in which the cover is about to cover a housing of the battery cover assembly; and  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the assembled battery cover assembly, in which the cover is in a closed position, covering the housing. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0014]    Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and  3 , a battery cover assembly for use in a mobile phone (not shown) will be taken here as an example to disclose details according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The battery cover assembly comprises a housing  1 , a connecting member  2 , a cover  3 , an antenna rod  4 , a plurality of springs  5 , a plurality of sheaths  6 , and a plurality of springs  7 .  
         [0015]    The housing  1  comprises a top wall  12 , a bottom wall  14 , a left sidewall  16 , and a right sidewall  18  together defining a rectangular space (not labeled). The rectangular space is separated into a first compartment  192  and a second compartment  194  (shown in FIG. 3) by a partition wall  19 . The partition wall  19  is formed at an intermediate position between an upper surface (not labeled) and a lower surface (not labeled) of the housing  1 . An inner wall  162  protrudes from the partition wall  19 , and connects against the left sidewall  16 . The first compartment  192  is for accommodating electronic components, such as a printed circuit board therein after assembly of the housing  1  with other housings (not shown) of the cellular phone. The second compartment  194  is used to receive batteries or a battery package therein. The left sidewall  16  and the inner wall  162  define a plurality of mounting grooves  166  and a plurality of rectangular openings  168  therein which alternate with the mounting grooves  166 . A receiving slot  164  is defined in the first compartment  192  at a position corresponding to the mounting grooves  166  and the rectangular openings  168 , for receiving the antenna rod  4 . An elongated recess  122  is defined in an outside surface (not labeled) of the right sidewall  18 . A pair of troughs  182  is defined in the recess  122 , and the troughs  182  are located near the top wall  12  and the bottom wall  14 , respectively. A plurality of positioning projections  167  extends from a bottom of the receiving slot  164 .  
         [0016]    The connecting member  2  is made of elastic material, such as metal material, by way of stamping. The connecting member  2  comprises a main body  20  and a pair of side wings  24  extending from two opposite sides of the main body  20 . The pair of side wings  24  is in one plane, which is lower than the plane of the main body  20 . A folding leg  22  extends from a longitudinal end of each side wings  24 . A foot portion  28  protrudes from each folding leg  22 . An elastic latch  26  is formed on and extends beyond an outside edge of each side wing  24 .  
         [0017]    The cover  3  is substantially rectangular in shape and comprises a sidewall  30  extending from a longitudinal side thereof. Two parallel, elongated recesses  32  are defined along a lateral direction in an inner side of the cover  3 , spaced from each other a certain distance. A plurality of protruding blocks  322  is formed adjacent to an outside edge of each recess  32 , protruding from the inner side of the cover  3 . The plurality of protruding blocks  322  extends to hang over each recess  32 , defining a pair of guide rails  326  for slidably receiving the side wings  24  of the connecting member  2 . A block  324  extends from a bottom surface of each recess  32  at a proximal side of the cover  3 . A distance from each block  324  to a closest lateral side of the cover  3  is slightly smaller than a distance from an outside edge (not labeled) of the recess  32  to the same lateral side of the cover  3 . Two locking projections  302  protrude from an inner surface of the sidewall  30  to engage with the pair of troughs  182  defined in the recess  122  of the housing  1 . Referring to FIG. 4, a circular pressing portion  34  is formed on an outside surface of the cover  3 , adjacent to a longitudinal side of the cover  3  opposite the side from which the sidewall  30  depends. A plurality of nipples  342  protrudes from an outside surface of the pressing portion  34  to increase a frictional force when the pressing portion  34  is pressed. A plurality of mounting protrusions  36  extends from the side of the cover  3  which is opposite to the sidewall  30 .  
         [0018]    The antenna rod  4  is hollow and is secured within the receiving slot  164  by a positioning means (not shown). The antenna rod  4  is known in many portable electronic devices which having antennas.  
         [0019]    Each spring  5  comprises a coil-shaped body  52 , a first end portion  54  extending along a tangent to the coil-shaped body  52 , and a second end portion  56  extending parallel to a longitudinal axis of the coil-shaped body  52 . A hook  58  is formed on an end of the second end portion  56 , for engaging with the foot portion  28 .  
         [0020]    The sheath  6  comprises a tube  60 , a positioning tab  62 , and a stop tab  64 . The positioning tab  62  and the stop tab  64  extend from ends of the tube  60  and are folded inwardly along an axis of the sheath  6 . The positioning tab  62  is confronted with the stop tab  64  to form a groove (not labeled) for receiving the folding leg  22  of the connecting member  2 .  
         [0021]    Each spring  7  has the same structure as each spring  5 . Each spring  7  comprises a coil-shaped body  72 , a first end portion  74  extending along a tangent to the coil-shaped body  72 , and a second end portion  76  extending parallel to a longitudinal axis of the coil-shaped body  72 . A hook  78  is formed on an end of the second end portion  76 , for engaging with the stop tab  64 .  
         [0022]    In assembly, the connecting member  2  is assembled to the cover  3  with the pair of side wings  24  being inserted into the guide rails  326  defined by the protruding blocks  322  and the recesses  32 . During the course of inserting the side wings  24  into the guide rails  326 , the elastic latch  26  on each side wing  24  is deflected by the block  324  located at an entrance of the corresponding guide rail  326 . The elastic latch  26  returns to its original position when each side wing  24  is completely received in the corresponding guide rail  326 . The guide rails  326  are slightly longer than that of the side wings  24 , so that the connecting member  2  can move back and forth in a small range. However, the connecting member  2  is prevented from moving out of the guide rails  326  by the elastic latches  26  bumping against the blocks  324 .  
         [0023]    The positioning tab  62  and the stop tab  64  are deflected and the folding legs  22  of the connecting member  2  is placed therebetween. Then, the positioning tab  62  and the stop tab  64  are released to clasp the folding leg  22 , with the foot portion  28  maintained underneath the positioning tab  62  and the stop tab  64 . The connecting member  2  is thus secured with the sheath  6 , since the foot portion  28  can prevent the connecting member  2  from disengaging from the sheath  6 .  
         [0024]    Next, the hook  58  of the spring  5  clasps the foot portion  28  of the connecting member  2  and the hook  78  of the spring  7  clasps the stop tab  64 , and the combined connecting member  2 , the springs  5 , the sheaths  6 , and the springs  7  is then inserted into the rectangular openings  168  defined in the inner wall  162  of the housing  1 . After that, the antenna rod  4  is inserted through an entrance of the receiving slot  164 , through one of the folding leg  22 , through one of the springs  5 , alongside the positioning projections  167 , through the other folding leg  22 , through the sheath  6 , through the springs  7 , and through the other spring  5 . The diameter of the antenna rod  4  is slightly greater than that of the coils of the springs  5  so that a particular tool is required to realize this assembly. The antenna rod  4  is thus secured in the receiving slot  164  by the connecting member  2 , the springs  5 , and the positioning projections  167 .  
         [0025]    Referring to FIG. 2, a battery package (not shown) is put into the second compartment  194  when the cover  3  is in an open position. Then, the cover  3  together with the connecting member  2  is rotated downwardly about the antenna rod  4  to the housing  1 . In this process, a certain force is required to be exerted on the pressing portion  34  of the battery cover  3  to overcome the spring force produced by the springs  5 . When the cover  3  is rotated to a status as shown in FIG. 4, wherein the housing  1  is covered by the cover  3 . The mounting protrusions  36  are inserted into the mounting grooves  166  and the locking projections  302  are inserted into the troughs  182  when the cover  3  is pushed along a direction toward the antenna rod  4 . Referring to FIG. 5, the battery package is thus received in the second compartment  194 , and the housing  1  is completely covered by the cover  3 , since the sidewall  30  of the cover  3  is received in the recess  122  of the housing  1 .  
         [0026]    To take the battery package out of the second compartment  194 , the pressing portion  34  is pushed to move the cover  3  along a direction away from the antenna rod  4 . Then, the mounting protrusions  36  are disengaged from the mounting grooves  166  and the locking projections  302  are disengaged from the troughs  182  when the cover  3  is moved a certain distance relative to the connecting member  2  under the pushing force. Finally, the sheath  6  is rotated along a direction away from the housing  1  at an axis of the antenna rod  4  under the spring force produced by the springs  7  and the cover  3  is rotated back to the open position under the spring force produced by the springs  5 . The cover  3  is thus opened and the battery package can be removed.  
         [0027]    Compared with other battery cover assemblies in the prior art, the battery cover  3  is not easy as easily lost when it is opened to change the battery package, since the battery cover  3  is rotatably connected to the housing  1 . It is also convenient for a user to open and close the battery cover  3 .  
         [0028]    It is believed that the present invention and its advantages will be understood from the foregoing description and it will be apparent that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the examples hereinbefore described merely being preferred or exemplary embodiments of the invention.