Abstract:
The invention relates to a housing which receives dry cells in an in-line or end to end orientation. The invention includes features which prevent the incorrect orientation by preventing dry cell terminals making contact with the necessary components. In this way, it prevents premature dissipation of dry cells or their impairment. The mechanism by which these features do this is to recess one terminal namely that terminal which would be contacted by the positive terminal of a dry cell. In this way, the negative terminal of a dry cell can never make electrical connection. Another feature of the invention is the provision of an aperture having a profile of a silhouette of a dry cell, which has advantages in low light situations, saves material, and allows for relatively easy extraction of dry cells from the cartridge.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 on PCT Application No. PCT/AU97/00877 filed on Dec. 23, 1997, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(d) on Australian Patent No. 76519/96, filed on Dec. 24, 1996, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to cartridges or housings which receive dry cells in an in-line orientation and are subsequently inserted into appliances, such as flashlights, which utilize those dry cells. 
     Generally dry cell powered appliances have cavities which receive dry cells. These cavities have covers associated with them and the covers may generally have a sticker adhered to them which indicates the orientation in which the dry cells should be positioned. Alternatively, the cavities or the covers are embossed to indicate the orientation. However, the orientation that dry cells are ultimately installed in is dictated by the person installing the dry cells, and because they generally do not check the correct orientation from the diagram provided, the process will generally rely on that person remembering the correct orientation. The difficulty with this is that if dry cells are placed in the wrong orientation, then there is a chance that some dry cells will be dissipated or may become incapable of providing current. This could occur even while an appliance is switched off. Also, the appliance may have polarity sensitive circuits which might be damaged by incorrect polarity. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a housing or cartridge which ameliorates, at least in part at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention provides a housing having a generally elongate body to hold at least two dry cells together in series connection in an end to end or in-line orientation, said housing being insertable into and removable from an appliance, and includes: a first end having a first end wall which will receive a positive terminal of a dry cell and a second end having a second end wall; said first end wall and said second end wall each having a passage therethrough to allow electrical contact to be made by terminals of an appliance with terminals of a dry cell at said first and second ends; two or more dry cell cavities which each have at least one side wall and further having an intermediate wall common to adjacent cavities, the or each intermediate wall cooperating with a contact member which electrically connects the positive of one dry cell with the negative of an adjacent dry cell when dry cells are placed in correct orientation in adjacent cavities; said intermediate walls have or include a portion having a predetermined thickness and an axial passage therethrough, said thickness being less than the length of a raised cylindrical positive terminal of a dry cell, said intermediate walls having a first surface facing in the direction of said second end and a second surface facing in the direction of said first end; the or each said intermediate wall and said contact member being arranged so that a side of said contact member facing said second end is recessed relative to said first surface, so that a raised cylindrical positive terminal of a dry cell must pass, at least partially, through said passage to make electrical contact with said contact member. 
     Preferably said passage through said second end wall cooperates with the surface of a negative terminal of a dry cell in the cavity at said second end, so that when correctly positioned in said cavity, the surface of said negative terminal is recessed from the outwardly facing surface of said second end wall. 
     Preferably the thickness of said second end wall and a portion of said intermediate wall or said intermediate wall determines the depth of recessing. 
     Preferably said intermediate walls are each constructed from two wall parts with a space between each wall part to receive said contact member, so that a surface or a portion of a surface of said contact member is recessed from said first surface by the thickness of said wall part which includes said first surface. 
     Preferably said contact member is held in each intermediate wall by the joining of each wall part together at one end, to enclose the space between the wall parts. 
     Preferably said housing has a generally semi-cylindrical body in which said dry cell cavities are formed. 
     Preferably said holding members are extensions of said body which partially enclose a volume to form and occlude said cavities. 
     Preferably said body includes an aperture to provide some resilient flexibility to assist said holding members to move, to allow placement and removal of said dry cells. 
     Preferably said contact members include a bias means associated with the contact member to engage a negative terminal of a dry cell. 
     Preferably said aperture has the profile similar to the silhouette of a dry cell with a representation of a positive terminal being visible. 
     Preferably the contact member includes at least one angled barb which engages one of the facing wall parts of said end wall, said barb being angled to prevent removal of the contact member once it has been positioned in the end wall. 
     Preferably said passage through said end intermediate wall and said first and second end walls is of a generally U-shaped, or semi circular or part semi circular construction. 
     Preferably said first end wall is semi-circular. 
     Preferably said intermediate walls have a generally circular periphery. 
     Preferably said passage through intermediate walls is of a substantially U-shaped construction. 
     Preferably said intermediate wall is made from a single wall part and has said contact member attached to said second surface, so as to recess said contact member from said first surface. 
     Preferably the housing includes holding members cooperating with said side walls, said holding members being moveable to allow insertion or removal of a dry cell into or out of said cavities, 
     The invention also provides an appliance powered by dry cells which are serially connected and mounted in a housing as described in any one of the above paragraphs, wherein the positive terminal of said appliance is constructed so that it has at least one projection associated with it which can engage an external surface of said second end wall of said housing as described in any one of the above paragraphs, so as to prevent said positive terminal of said appliance making contact with the negative terminal of a dry cell in a cavity associated with the second end wall of said housing. 
     Preferably said at least one projection also engages an external surface of said first end wall so as to prevent said positive terminal of said appliance making contact with the negative terminal of an incorrectly positioned dry cell in a dry cell cavity associated with said first end wall of said housing. 
     The invention further provides a housing being insertable into, and removable from, an appliance, said housing holding to more than two dry cells in an in-line or end to end orientation, said housing including a series of dry cell cavities to receive said dry cells, said cavities including a body portion having at least one side wall portion, said housing including a part of said body associated with each cavity having a shaped aperture therethrough which has a profile similar to a silhouette of a dry cell with a part of the aperture representing the positive end of a dry cell, said part of said aperture and said aperture being oriented so as to correspond to and indicate the correct orientation of the dry cell in said cavity, said aperture being of a size which will prevent said dry cell passing through said aperture. 
     Preferably said housing is generally cylindrical. 
     Preferably said shaped aperture cooperates with said holding means to assist said holding means to be moveable to allow removal or insertion of said dry cells out of or into said cavity. 
     Preferably said housing includes a holding means to releaseably hold said dry cells in said cavity. 
     Preferably said aperture assists in the removal of a dry cell from said cavity. 
     The invention also provides an appliance in combination with a housing as described in any one of the above paragraphs, wherein said appliance has a housing receiving cavity to receive said housing, said appliance including a positive and negative terminal for electrical connection to first and second ends of said housing, said housing including intermediate walls having a thickness or depth of a dimension so that the overall length of said housing is greater than the length of the same number of said dry cells, which said housing is meant to receive, when said same number of dry cells are series connected from end to end, said housing receiving cavity being of a dimension such that if said number of dry cells are placed in said housing receiving cavity without said housing, the positive and negative terminal of said appliance are sufficiently spaced that no simultaneous electrical connection can be made between all of said dry cells and said positive and negative terminals. 
     Embodiments of the invention for the housing have features which ensure that dry cells inserted in an incorrect orientation in the cavity will have the negative end of the dry cell not in contact with the contact member between adjacent cavities. Thus any impairment of the dry cell to perform as required will not occur. 
     Further, the presence of a shaped aperture to indicate the orientation of the dry cell in the cavity, provides several advantages namely: a more reliable method of identification in low light situations; a means to reduce the amount of force required to open the holding members; and a means to simultaneously reduce the amount of plastic in the housing or cartridge. 
     Also, an appliance having the features discussed above in paragraphs 19 to 21, has a relatively simple means to protect the circuits of the appliance, to prevent the incorrect installation into the appliance of a housing containing dry cells in correct orientation in the housing. 
     Finally the appliance and housing in combination prevent the appliance being used without the housing thereby forcing a user to install all dry cells in the correct orientation by having to use the housing, otherwise no operation of the appliance will occur, without interfering with the dry cell arrangement. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a dry cell housing; 
     FIG. 2 is an underneath perspective view of the apparatus of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a front view of the apparatus of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 5 is an underneath plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 6 is a left side view of the apparatus of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 7 is a rear view of the apparatus of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 8 is a part cross section of the apparatus of FIG. 1 showing two dry cells installed incorrectly; 
     FIG. 9 is a part cross section of the apparatus of FIG. 1 showing two dry cells installed correctly; 
     FIG. 10 is a plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 8; 
     FIG. 11 is a plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 9; 
     FIG. 12 is a part cross section of an appliance and the front of the housing of FIGS. 1 to  7 ; 
     FIG. 13 is a part cross section of an appliance and the rear of the housing of FIGS. 1 to  7 ; and 
     FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a contact member. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     Illustrated in FIG. 1 is a housing  2  which includes a body portion  4 . The housing  2  is meant to receive four dry cells in an in-line or end to end orientation, so that when they are correctly installed they are connected in series. The body portion  4  illustrated in FIG. 1 has a generally semi-cylindrical shape because this embodiment is required to be inserted into a cylindrical cavity in an appliance. The shape of the body  4  can be manufactured to conform to any shape as desired to be received by a matching cavity in an appliance. For example the shape could be square or triangular. 
     Body  4  has three intermediate walls  6  and first and second end walls  8  and  10 , respectively. 
     The walls  6 ,  8  and  10  together with the body  4  form dry cell cavities  62 ,  64 ,  66  and  68 . The base of each of the dry cell cavities  62 ,  64 ,  66 ,  68  has a generally rectangular aperture  70  which is best illustrated in FIGS. 5,  4  and  2 . The aperture  70  has a profile which is similar to a silhouette of a dry cell. The aperture  70 , in keeping with the silhouette of a dry cell, has a three sided portion  72  which represents the raised cylindrical positive terminal of a dry cell. 
     This portion  72  indicates to a user which direction the positive end and positive terminal of a dry cell has to be inserted into a cavity  62 ,  64 ,  66 ,  68 . One advantage of the aperture  70  is that if there is any light present, even though that light may not be enough to read by, a user peering through the aperture  70 , will be able to determine which direction is correct for the proper installation of a dry cell. This will be more effective in situations of low light than either stickers or even embossed dry cell representations, the latter relying on touch in low light situations. 
     A second function of each aperture  70  is that it reduces the amount of material in the housing  2 , thus saving on material costs. The aperture  70  also serves a third purpose of allowing a dry cell in a respective cavity  62 , 64 ,  66 ,  68  to be pushed out of the cavity by means of the user&#39;s finger being pushed partially through the aperture  70 . The aperture  70  has a fourth function which will be described later. 
     The first end wall  8  is at a first end of the housing  2  and is of a generally semi-annular construction with a semi-circular periphery and a semi circular cut-out portion  12  which is positioned so as to receive and locate a centrally mounted raised cylindrical positive terminal of a cylindrical dry cell when such a dry cell is located in cavity  68 . The thickness  14  of the first end wall  8  is such that when the circular rim of a dry cell contacts the inner surface  16  of the first end wall  8 , the raised cylindrical positive terminal of the dry cell will project past the outwardly facing surface  18  of the wall  8 . 
     The second end wall  10  is located at a second end of the housing  2  and has a generally circular periphery, but has a generally U-shaped form, whereby the “U” defines a straight sided half round periphery of a passage  20 , through the central portions of the second end wall. The second end wall  10 , if a dry cell is correctly inserted into the cavity  62 , will be next adjacent the negative terminal of that dry cell. The second end wall  10  has a thickness  22  which will effectively recess any negative terminal of a dry cell (which contacts the inner surface  24 ), from the outer surface  26  of the second end wall  10 . The depth of the recess will be to the depth of the thickness  22  of wall  10 . 
     The U-shaped passage  20  is of sufficient width to serve the purpose of preventing a dry cell placed in the adjacent cavity  62  from exiting the cavity  62  axially, as well as being of sufficient width so that a biased negative terminal of an appliance, in which the housing  2  will be installed, can make contact with the negative terminal of a dry cell placed in the cavity  62 . 
     The intermediate wall  6  will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1,  9  and  14 . Because of congestion most of the reference numbers below are only illustrated in regards to the intermediate wall  6 , which is closest to first end wall  8 . 
     The intermediate wall  6  is constructed from two wall parts  28  and  30  which are positioned so as to provide a space  32  between them. Into the space  32  is inserted a contact member  34 . The wall parts  28  and  30  have a generally circular periphery and are of a generally U-shaped construction with a passage  36  through them. The passage  36  is defined by the half rounded straight sided generally U-Shaped inner periphery of the wall parts  28  and  30 . When the contact member  34  is situated between the wall parts  28  and  30  the contact member  34  is also positioned inside the passage  36 . 
     The contact member  34  has a generally circular and planar first portion  38  which when it is installed between wall parts  28  and  30  remains recessed relative to the first surface  40  of the wall part  28 . It remains recessed because the first portion  38  of the contact member  34  is held by the wall parts  28  and  30  in position at the top and bottom and side portions of the contact member  34  and the first portion  38  cannot protrude through. The only part of the contact member  34  not sandwiched by the wall parts  28  and  30  are those portions of the contact member  34  which are exposed in the passage  36 . 
     The portions of contact member  34  exposed in the passage  36  include second portion  42  having a first part  44  which is at an angle to the first portion  38  (before a dry cell is installed). The first part  44  is of a generally rectangular and planar construction and is effectively hinged and biased relative to the first portion  38  by a bend line  48 . Because the first part  44  is formed at an angle to the first portion  38 , the first part  44  will provide some bias against movement towards the first portion  38 . 
     The second portion  42  also includes a second part  46  which is formed at an angle to the first part  44 . The second part  46  is joined to the first part  44  at a bend line  50 . The second part  46  is of a generally planar and semi-circular construction of a diameter which is equal to the width of the rectangular first part  44 . Extending away from a mid-section of the second part  46  is a tab portion  52 . The tab portion  52  is of a generally rectangular and planar construction and is best illustrated in FIG.  14 . The tab portion  52  is formed at an angle to the second part  46  and is joined to the circumferential portion of the second part  46  at a bend line  54 . 
     The tab portion  52  cooperates with second part  46  and first part  44  to make good electrical contact with a negative terminal  56  of a dry cell  58  installed in the housing  2 . The angular relationship, when first formed, between first part  44 , second part  46  and tab portion  52  is as follows (see FIG.  14 ): the angle  51  that the first part  44  makes to the first portion  38  can range between 2° to 20°; the angle  53  that the second part  46  makes to the first part  44  can range between 2° to 20°; the angle  55  that a tab portion  52  makes to the second part  46  is in the range of 20° to 50° as measured and indicated in FIG.  14 . 
     When a dry cell  58  is installed against the second portion  42 , the negative terminal  56  makes contact first with part of the tab portion  52 . As the dry cell  58  is further inserted, either the first part  44  rotates towards the first portion  38  and then the second part  46  rotates relative to the first part  44  also toward the first portion  38 , or both first part  44  and second part  46  rotate simultaneously. The purpose of the tab portion  52  is to ensure that a surface contact is made between the tab portion  52  and the negative terminal  56  of the dry cell  58 . If tab portion were not present only a line contact might be made between the semi circular periphery of second part  46  and the negative terminal  56 . 
     To hold the contact member  34  in position between the wall parts  28  and  30 , the two wall parts  28  and  30  are fused so as to produce a fused surface  60 . This fused surface  60  extends from the base  4  to the upper extremity of the U-shaped passage  36  to ensure that the contact member will not be removable from the intermediate wall  6  during normal service requirements. 
     The fused surface  60  is just one preferable method to hold the contact member  34  between the wall parts  28  and  30 . Another includes providing the contact member  34  with at least one barb portion (not illustrated), at a region of the contact member  34  which will be adjacent the internal facing surfaces of the wall parts  28  and  30 , the barb portion will engage one of the internal surfaces of said wall parts  28  and  30 . The barb portion can be angled so that movement is prevented in a direction which would allow the contact member  34  to be removed from the intermediate wall  6 . Other methods could include riveting by plastic rivets, riveting by metal rivets which are recessed to prevent electrical contact; use of adhesives or any other appropriate means. 
     Extending in a circumferential direction from the body portion  4  are a pair of holding members  74  for each cavity  62 ,  64 ,  66 ,  68 . The holding members  74  can be generally described as curved extensions of the body  4  and are integrally formed therewith. The curve with which they are formed is the same as that as the circumference of the semi cylindrical body  4 . 
     The holding members  74  do not extend along the whole of the length of the cavities  62 ,  64 ,  66 ,  68 . They are generally centrally located along the length of the cavities  62 ,  64 ,  66 ,  68  and are of length to provide equally long spaces  76  at each end and along each side of each cavity  62 ,  64 ,  66 ,  68 . These spaces  76  allow a person utilising the housing  2  to remove dry cells from the cavities  62 ,  64 ,  66 ,  68 , by permitting a user&#39;s fingers to grab the positive or negative end of a dry cell. 
     The holding members  74  achieve their holding purpose by partially occluding the cavities  62  and  68 . The holding members  74  are able to be bent or moved away from their rest position, in which rest position they occlude the openings of the cavities  62 ,  64 ,  66 ,  68 . The operation of the holding members  74  and their occlusion of the respective cavity  62 ,  64 ,  66 ,  68  can be best seen in FIGS. 10,  11  and  4 . 
     The holding members  74  are preferred, but are not essential in that the dry cells could beheld by a variety of means if it is desired to hold them in the respective cavities prior to insertion into an appliance. Some other means could include the use of straps or even an outer cylindrical tube to slide over the housing  2 , thereby leaving only the positive and negative terminals at respective ends of the housing  2  exposed, and ready for insertion into an appliance. 
     Whereas, if it is not desired to hold the dry cells in position in the housing prior to insertion in the appliance, then the appliance can include a cylindrical cavity to receive the housing  2 . By such a cylindrical cavity in the appliance, the appliance will prevent the dry cells from exiting the cavities  62 ,  64 ,  66 ,  68 . 
     The aperture  70  serves a third purpose in that its presence allows the sides  78  in the central regions of aperture  70  to move in the direction of arrows  80  when each corresponding holding member  74  is moved in the direction of each corresponding arrow  82 . Without the aperture  70  being present, a greater force would be required to move the top edges  84  in the directions of arrows  82  to thereby allow a dry cell to be removed. 
     When a dry cell is being inserted the top edges  84  of holding members  74  will move in a direction of arrows  82  when a cylindrical side wall of a dry cell is placed against the top edges  84  and pressure is applied to the dry cell, so as to insert it into a cavity  62 ,  64 ,  66 ,  68 . The top edges  84  will move because of the interaction of the cylindrical dry cell wall and the top edges  84  and the angle between them. 
     In use, the housing  2  provides the advantage that if any dry cells are placed in an incorrect orientation the dry cell which is incorrectly positioned will not make electrical contact at one end. This will now be described in relation to FIGS. 8 to  11 . 
     Illustrated in FIG. 9 is a part cross section of two adjacent dry cells  58  and  88  which have been correctly positioned in the housing  2 , with a plan view of the arrangement being illustrated in FIG.  11 . When in the correct position the raised cylindrical positive terminal  86  of the dry cell  88  partially passes through the U-shaped passage  36  to make electrical contact with the first portion  38  of the contact member  34 . The terminal  86  needs to pass through passage  36  because first portion  38  is recessed relative to the external surface  40  of the wall part  28 . To form a series connection, another dry cell  58  is placed in the adjacent cavity so that its negative terminal  56  makes contact with the tab portion  52  and second part  46  of the contact member  34 , as has been described previously. 
     Illustrated in FIG. 8 is a part cross section of two adjacent dry cells  58  and  88  which have been incorrectly positioned in the housing  2 , with a plan view of the arrangement being illustrated in FIG.  10 . The first portion  38  of contact member  34  is recessed and the external surface  40  of wall part  28  keeps the negative terminal  56  of the dry cell  58  from making contact with the recessed first portion  38 , thus no electrical connection is made to the positive terminal  86  of dry cell  88 . 
     Even if only one dry cell in a series of four is placed incorrectly in a cavity, because no contact is made by one negative end of a dry cell with the first portion  38  of a contact member  34  (which is that portion designated for contact with the positive terminal of a dry cell) no dissipation of the stored charge of the dry cells will occur. If however the dry cell  58  in FIG. 8 were placed so that its positive end were making contact with the first portion  38  of contact member  34 , then the two positives would be in contact with each other. However still no dissipation of the stored charge from either of the dry cells will occur because one negative terminal of one dry cell is not making electrical connection. 
     Illustrated in FIG. 12 is a positive terminal end  92  of an appliance, (the rest of which is not illustrated) and an end of housing  2  with a correctly positioned dry cell  88 . The positive terminal  86  of dry cell  88  protrudes past the external surface  18  of first end wall  8 , so as to make contact with the positive contact  94  of the appliance. The positive terminal  86  and positive contact  94 , are pushed together because of bias associated with the negative terminal of the appliance, which pushes against the negative terminal of a dry cell in cavity  62 , which in turn pushes the whole housing  2  forward. 
     Around the positive contact  94  are ribs  96  and  98  which are shown in cross section in FIG. 12 (and  13 ). The ribs  96  and  98  could be replaced by a single rib, such as a U-shaped rib if desired. When the housing  2  is inserted in the correct orientation into the appliance, the ribs  96  and  98  are separated from external surface  18  by a gap  100 . In one embodiment, such as that illustrated, the gap  100  is also substantially equivalent to the distance which the positive terminal  86  protrudes past the external surface  18  of the first end wall  8 . However, the gap  100  can be reduced or increased depending upon: the thickness of the first end wall  8 , distance from the end of positive contact  94  to the end of the ribs  96  and  98 . 
     If desired the positive contact  94  could be spring mounted, in which case the gap  100  might not be present. 
     Illustrated in FIG. 13 is the positive terminal end  92  of the appliance of FIG. 12, and a correctly positioned dry cell  58  in cavity  62 , but the housing  2  has been inserted with its negative end pushed toward the positive contact  94 . The second end wall  10  is adjacent the negative end  56  of the dry cell  58  positioned inside the cavity  62 . The ribs  96  and  98  engage the external surface  26  of the second end wall  10 . Because the surface of the terminal  56  is separated from the surface  26  of second end wall  10  (by the thickness  22  of the second end wall  10 ) the positive contact  94  does not make electrical contact with the negative terminal  56 . 
     By recessing the end of positive contact  94  from the end of the ribs  96  and  98 , there will be even less chance that inappropriate contacts will be made. By recessing the end of positive contact  94  from the end of the ribs  96  and  98 , will also prevent contact being made with a positive terminal of a dry cell which is incorrectly positioned in the cavity  62 , whereby the positive terminal of the dry cell may be protruding through passage  20  and past the outer surface  26  of end wall  10 . However, in this situation such a dry cell in cavity  62  will also not be making electrical contact with a adjacent terminal of an adjacent dry cell in cavity  64 , due to the construction of the intermediate wall  6  and the positioning of the surfaces of the contact member  34 . 
     It will be understood that the construction of the intermediate wall  6  ensures that any dry cells incorrectly positioned into any one of cavities  62 ,  64 ,  66 ,  68 , will not make electrical contact with an adjacent dry cell and thus no premature dissipation of the dry cells will take place. Further, interaction of the housing  2  at the first end wall  8  and second end wall  10  with the positive terminal end of an appliance ensures that even if all batteries or dry cells are correctly positioned inside each of the cavities  62 ,  64 ,  66 ,  68 , if the housing  2  is inserted incorrectly into an appliance, then no circuit is formed with the series connected dry cells, thus providing protection for the appliance. 
     The number of cavities provided can be varied according to usage. It could vary between 2 to 4, or more, dry cells per housing  2 , depending upon the appliance. The housing  2  illustrated in the figures is of dimensions to receive AA-sized dry cells. However, the housing  2  and the cavities  62 ,  64 ,  66 ,  68  can be sized to accept any cylindrical dry cells, having terminals at two ends. 
     While the above embodiment describes the intermediate wall  6  as having two wall parts  28  &amp;  30 , a modified version can be manufactured by using a single wall part  28 , with a passage  3  therethrough. In this case the contact member  34  of FIG. 14, by means of the first portion  38 , can be riveted by means of a plastic rivet or attached by some other appropriate means, to one side of the wall part  28 . In this way, by having first portion  38  on the same side of wall part  28  as illustrated in FIG. 9 (that is the second surface of said intermediate wall  6 ), and with wall part  30  absent, the alternatively constructed and assembled intermediate wall  6  and contact member  34  will function in the same fashion as the embodiment described above. 
     Another feature of the housing  2  described above is that the intermediate walls  6  can be increased in size, by such modifications as an increase in the thickness or depth of the wall part  30 , together with a commensurate change in shape and or length of the second portion  42  of the contact member  34 . By increasing the size of the intermediate walls  6 , the overall length of the housing  2  will increase. The length is increased so that it is appropriately longer than the length of the same number of dry cells connected end to end, which are meant to fit into the housing  2 . The appliance will have its positive and negative terminals spaced so as to make electrical contact with the dry cell terminals at the ends of the housing  2 . If a person were to place dry cells without using a housing  2 , into the appliance cavity which would normally receive the housing  2 , no simultaneous electrical contact will be made between each adjacent terminal of the dry cells and the positive and negative terminals of the appliance, because of the provision of spacing of the terminals of the appliance. Thereby, the appliance is protected and the chances will be very low of any of the dry cells prematurely dissipating or being impaired and thus not able to provide current as designed. Thus by providing a specially sized housing  2  with the appliance, the user will need to use the housing  2  thereby ensuring that the all the dry cells are correctly oriented for series connection. 
     While the housing  2  illustrated in the drawings does provide an increase in the overall length of the distance from the positive terminal in the cavity  68  to the negative terminal in the cavity  62 , the placing of dry cells into the appliance with a housing as illustrated may still be of sufficient length to make simultaneous contact, because the appliance may provide a negative contact or terminal which can travel a significant distance and is spring biased. Such travel and biasing may make the necessary contact, with the bias being sufficient to complete the contacts of all the dry cells. Thus thicker intermediate walls  6  can be provided to decrease the probability of simultaneous electrical contact of the terminals being made. 
     The above describes how the correct orientation of the dry cells to be inserted in the cavities is assisted by the apertures  70 . However, the correct orientation can be determined readily by feeling the two differently shaped first and second end walls  8  &amp;  10 , to identify the positive or first end. 
     It will be understood that the invention disclosed and defined herein extends to all alternative combinations of two or more of the individual features mentioned or evident from the text or drawings. All of these different combinations constitute various alternative aspects of the invention. 
     The forgoing describes embodiments of the present invention, and modifications, obvious to those skilled in the art, can be made thereto, without departing from the scope of the present invention.