Abstract:
A battery for a portable phone is formed with a rectangular battery part and a curved flange part. The battery is held into place in the portable phone by bottom connections including nubs and a jagged portion with surfaces that constrain the battery to move in a plane. The battery is placed into the phone nub side first. Then, the battery is pivoted while the nubs are still engaged, to bring the contacts into position and then the battery is clipped into place.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     It is well known to provide batteries in cellular and other portable telephones. There are many competing objectives for such a battery. The viewed portion of the battery should have good aesthetics However, the battery portion needs to be sized properly to hold the battery cells efficiently. Easy insertion and removal is also desirable. When inserted, the battery must also stay firmly in place in order to maintain good battery contact. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present invention teaches a special system for retaining a battery into a cellular phone. This system includes a number of different features which retain the battery into the cellular phone and also provide good aesthetics. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and other aspects will be described with reference to the drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 shows a rear view of the system with the battery installed; 
     FIG. 2 shows an opposite side of the battery system; 
     FIG. 3 shows the device without the battery installed; 
     FIG. 4 shows the corresponding battery; and 
     FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the battery being removed from the device. 
     FIg. 6 shows a cross sectiona of the battery. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 1 shows a rear view of the telephone chassis with the battery inserted. The telephone chassis includes a body portion  100  with an antenna mount  102 . A battery portion  110  is attached into the telephone. The battery clip portion includes a bottom interface portion  112  which includes a jag-shaped area as formed from lowered areas  114 ,  116  and a raised area  118 . The battery has corresponding jag-shaped surfaces to mate the battery in place in a way that allows the battery to pivot as explained herein. 
     The telephone chassis and battery also include a clip portion  130 . This allows the battery to clip in place. The battery portion also includes curved outer surfaces  122 ,  124  defining the “viewed” edge of the battery. 
     FIGS. 3 and 4 respectively show the telephone chassis when the battery portion in FIG. 4 is removed from the telephone chassis in FIG.  3 . The battery portion in FIG. 4 fits into the telephone chassis. 
     As shown in FIG. 3, the telephone chassis  100  includes an inner cavity  300 . This cavity is sized to contain the outer perimeter of battery  110 , the “unviewed” part of the battery. The inner cavity  300  includes an inner rectangular cavity portion  310 . A curved flange receiving portion  320  surrounds the inner cavity portion. The cavity receiving portion  310  is rectangular to fit relative to the main portion  410  of the battery  110  which is also rectangular. The curved flange receiving portion mates with the curved outer edge  424  of the battery. 
     A cross section of the battery in FIG. 4 along the line  4 — 4  is shown in FIG.  6 . Note that the battery generally includes the main portion  410  which holds the battery and which is generally rectangular with a first surface  460 , a parallel second surface  462 , a third surface  464  perpendicular to the first and second surfaces, and a fourth surface  466  parallel to the third surface. A flange portion  420  is wider than the battery. The flange portion  420  does not hold any battery material, but rather only surrounds the battery, aligning it properly within the cavity  310  and providing an ornamental aspect. 
     When properly provided in the cavity  310 , the side walls  410  of the unviewed part of the battery abut against or close to the corresponding walls  312  of the inner cavity. The outer flange  420  also includes a bottom surface  422  which presses against a corresponding flange stop surface  322  on the telephone body. FIG. 5 shows the battery and how it fits into the cavity. 
     The jagged portion on the bottom-most surface of the battery is formed by two lowered areas  114 ,  116  defining a flange and an inward extending portion  430 , and outward extending portion  432 . FIG. 5 shows how the inward extending portions  430  and outward extending portions  432  on the battery mate with corresponding portions  330  and  332  on the jag on the housing. This connection of jag on the battery to jag on the chassis prevents side-to-side motion of the battery relative to the chassis, e.g. in the direction shown in arrow  502 . The battery also includes downwardly extending nub portions  440 ,  442  which extend downward from the bottom surface of the battery, and which respectively mate with corresponding nub portion holes  340 ,  342  in the chassis. 
     In operation, and while not viewable in FIG. 5, first the nub portions  440 ,  442  are inserted into corresponding holes  340 ,  342  in FIG.  3 . This initially orients the battery relative to the chassis. At the same time, the jags are brought into contact by bringing the inwardly extending portion  430  on the battery against or close to the corresponding portion  330  in the housing. This properly locates the two outwardly-extending portions  432 ,  433  on the battery against the corresponding outwardly-extending portions  332 ,  333  on the housing. When in this position, the battery can pivot in the direction shown by arrow  500 , bringing the contact end  450  of the battery closer to and farther from the housing by the pivot operation. The battery cannot move in the direction shown by arrow  502  during this pivoting, since it is held in place by both the connection of the nubs  440 ,  442  and by the inwardly and outwardly extending portions  430 / 432 / 433 . Hence, the battery is constrained to a plane that is perpendicular to the housing during this time, allowing insertion and removal of the battery. 
     The battery can be lowered to the position shown in FIG. 1 in which the flanges  420  press against the corresponding flange surfaces  322 . At that point, the clip portion  416  on the battery is clamped against a corresponding clip-receiving portion  316  on the chassis. The battery can be tilted in the proper plane constrained by the flange portions to allow insertion and removal. When properly held into place, the contacts  462  on the battery are properly aligned with and held firmly against the corresponding contacts  362  on the housing. The final position, where the battery contacts are located in their final position, is held by the clip portion. 
     The battery can be removed in the reverse way. First, the spring clip  416  is depressed. The battery is tiled until it is in the position shown in FIG.  5 . At this position, the battery can be removed from (or inserted into) its semi-attachment formed by connection of nubs  440 ,  442 , to holes  340 ,  342 , and connection of jag on the battery to jag on the chassis. 
     The battery flange portions include a solid edge portion  424 , and a number of fin portions  426  which extend between the solid edge portion and the actual battery element  410 . As shown in FIG. 4, the edge portion  424  has a gently curving shape which is narrowest at a top portion  428 , and widens towards the bottom portion  429 , finally narrowing again at the bottom-most portion  431 . The housing has a similar shape so as to mate with the external portion of the battery. However the battery element itself is rectangular, to accommodate the battery cells. 
     Although only a few embodiments have been described in detail above, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that modifications are possible without departing from the teaching noted above. All such modifications are encompassed within the following claims.