Abstract:
The present invention is related to an adjustable battery box and an electronic device using the same. The battery box has a seat and a sliding cover moving relative to the seat along an inclined direction. One electrode spring is mounted on an end of the seat to press against one end of the sliding cover. When a battery is inserted in the seat, the sliding cover is pushed up by the battery and then the sliding cover moves along the inclined direction to compress the electrode spring, so a retaining space of the battery box is enlarged. After the battery is completely retained inside the seat, the electrode spring restores to press against the sliding cover to mount the battery. Therefore the battery box is fit for batteries of different sizes.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of Taiwan patent application No. 101147119, filed on Dec. 13, 2012, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]      1 . Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to a battery box, and more particularly to an adjustable battery box. 
         [0004]      2 . Description of Related Art 
         [0005]    Various electronic devices use batteries as a power source. From the perspective of a consumer, although it is convenient to purchase batteries, some inconvenience still occurs. For example, batteries of different types cannot be interchangeably used in one electronic device. 
         [0006]    In brief, a double-A battery and a triple-A battery are frequently used in the electronic devices nowadays. However, the size of the battery box is fixed according to the size of the battery. Although the double-A battery and the triple-A battery may be both compatible for one electronic device, the fixed-sized battery box of the electronic device is not fit for both. As a result, a user may buy a battery of the wrong size or may have to store batteries of different sizes, causing trouble in use. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    Due to the disadvantages of usage of the fixed-sized battery box for different types of batteries, an objective of the invention is to provide an adjustable battery box that can adjust a battery retaining space for mounting batteries of different sizes. 
         [0008]    The adjustable battery box comprises: 
         [0009]    a seat having a first opening and a second opening opposite to the first opening; 
         [0010]    a sliding cover movable toward the first opening along an inclined direction to be slideably mounted in the second opening of the seat; and 
         [0011]    a spring having an end pressing against an end of the sliding cover along a length direction of the sliding cover. 
         [0012]    An electronic device using the battery box has a shell, such that the seat of the battery box is integrally formed in the shell. The first opening of the seat is formed through the shell of the electronic device. Hence, the electronic device can use the battery box as mentioned above. 
         [0013]    A battery can be inserted in the seat from the first opening of the adjustable battery box. Meanwhile, the sliding cover is pushed to move toward the second opening along the inclined direction. At the same time, the spring is compressed to enlarge a depth space and a length space of the battery box. When the battery is completely retained in the battery box, the spring provides a restoring force as a pushing force to push the sliding cover along a length direction of the sliding cover. The sliding cover then presses against the battery in the first opening along the inclined direction to retain the battery in the battery box. Therefore, the battery box of the invention provides proper mounting spaces according to the size of the battery. For example, the electronic device that is compatible with a double-A battery and a triple-A battery can interchangeably use the double-A battery and the triple-A battery to solve the problems as mentioned above. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0014]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an electronic device of the invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  is a top view of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of an electronic device of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0019]      FIG. 6  is a top view of the electronic device of  FIG. 5 ; 
           [0020]      FIG. 7A  is a lateral view of the battery box with a double-A battery; and 
           [0021]      FIG. 7B  is a lateral view of the battery box with a triple-A battery. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0022]    With reference to  FIGS. 1-3 , an embodiment of a battery box  20  of the invention mounted in an electronic device  10  is disclosed. In this embodiment, the electronic device  10  can be, but is not limited to, a wireless mouse. The battery box  20  comprises a seat  30 , a sliding cover  40  and a spring  50 . In practice, the seat  30  can be integrally formed in a shell  11  of the electronic device  10 . In this embodiment, a vertical fixture plate  36  is formed on an end of the shell  11  along a length direction of the seat  30  and is separated from the seat  30  by a distance, such that a gap is formed between an end of the seat  30  and the fixture plate  36  along the length direction of the seat  30 . 
         [0023]    The seat  30  comprises a first opening  31  and a second opening  32  opposite to the first opening  31 . In this embodiment, the seat  30  has two side plates  33  formed along a width direction of the seat  30 . Each side plate  33  has at least one first inclined notch  331  and at least one first rib  332 . The first inclined notch  331  is formed downward from a top of the side plate  33 . The first rib  332  protrudes inward from the top of the side plate  33 . In this embodiment, the first inclined notch  331  and the first rib  332  are each respectively shaped into a geometrical shape with an inclined edge, such as a triangle and a trapezoid. For convenience of description, the geometrical shape can be, but is not limited to, a right triangle. 
         [0024]    The sliding cover  40  is movable toward the first opening  31  along an inclined direction and is then slideably mounted in the second opening  32  of the seat  30 . In this embodiment, the sliding cover  40  comprises two side pieces  41  parallel to each other and a curve plate  42 . The curve plate  42  is connected between the two side pieces  41  and has a concave surface facing downward. An exterior surface of each side piece  41  has a second rib  412  and a second inclined notch  411 . The second rib  412  and the second inclined notch  411  each respectively match the first inclined notch  331  and the first rib  332  of the seat  30 , such that the second rib  412  can be engaged with the first inclined notch  331  and the second inclined notch  411  can be engaged with the first rib  332 . The second rib  412  is smaller than the first inclined notch  331 , and the first rib  332  is smaller than the second inclined notch  411 , such that the first rib  332  and the second rib  412  can each respectively move along an inclined surface of the second inclined notch  411  and the first inclined notch  331 . In this embodiment, an inclined surface of the right triangle is parallel to the inclined direction of the sliding cover  40 . In addition, because the first rib  332  extends inward from the top of the side plate  33 , the sliding cover  40  slideably moves to the second opening  32  along the inclined direction. The sliding cover  40  stops moving as long as the first rib  332  reaches the second inclined notch  411 , such that the ribs  332 ,  412  and the notches  331 ,  411  have a positioning effect. 
         [0025]    An end of the spring  50  is pressed against an end of the sliding cover  40  along the length direction of the sliding cover  40  to provide a pushing force along a length direction of the sliding cover  40 . In this embodiment, the spring  50  is mounted in the gap between the end of the sliding cover  40  along the length direction of the sliding cover  40  and the fixture plate  36 . In addition, the end of the sliding cover  40  along the length direction of the sliding cover  40  has a separable plug-in piece  43 . An engagement groove  413  is formed in an inner surface of each side piece  41  of the sliding cover  40  and corresponds to the plug-in piece  43  in position. The plug-in piece  43  is inserted in the engagement groove  413 . A ring  431  protrudes from an exterior surface of the plug-in piece  43 , wherein the exterior surface of the plug-in piece  43  faces toward the fixture plate  36  and the spring  50 . An end of the spring  50  is retained in the ring  431 , such that the spring  50  does not depart from the plug-in piece  43  when the sliding cover  40  moves. 
         [0026]    In order to conveniently connect an anode and a cathode of a battery to a circuit board  12  mounted in the electronic device  10 , a slot  34  is formed in an end of the seat  30  to correspond to the plug-in piece  43 . A first aperture  35  is formed in the other end of the seat  30 . A first electrode spring  51  is inserted in the first aperture  35  of the other end of the seat  30 . A second aperture  432  is formed in the plug-in piece  43  of the sliding cover  40  and is aligned with the slot  34 . A proper position of the second aperture  432  is inside the ring  431 . Hence, a second electrode spring  52  can be mounted in the spring  50  and mounted through the second aperture  432  and the slot  34  to be retained in the end of the seat  30 . In addition, the spring  50  and the second electrode spring  52  can be combined to become a spring assembly, such that the spring assembly includes two spring sections with different external diameters. A first spring section is located in the gap. A second spring section is mounted through the second aperture  432  and the slot  34  of the seat  30 . An end  511  of the first electrode spring  51  and an end  521  of the second electrode spring  52  can be directly welded to an anode pad and a cathode pad of the circuit board  12  of the electronic device  10  to avoid problems of wire bonding. 
         [0027]    The following description uses a double-A battery and a triple-A battery as an example for describing an adjusting process of the adjustable battery box  20 .  FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of the battery box  20  with a double-A battery  60  mounted therein. Because the double-A battery  60  is bigger than the triple-A battery, with reference to  FIGS. 3 and 7A , a cathode end of the double-A  60  battery  60  is inserted backward and inclinedly into the first opening  31 . With reference to  FIG. 1 , the plug-in piece  43  of the sliding cover  40  is pushed to move toward the second opening  32 . Meanwhile, the second rib  412  of the sliding cover  40  is pushed to move backward and upward along the inclined surface of the first inclined notch  331 . With reference to  FIG. 4 , the sliding cover  40  compresses the spring  50  until the double-A battery  60  has enough space to be completely inserted into the seat  30  from the first opening  31 . The spring  50  then pushes the plug-in piece  43  to retain the double-A battery  60  in the battery box  20 . 
         [0028]    With references to  FIGS. 5 ,  6  and  7 B, when the triple-A battery  60 ′ is inserted into the battery box  20  of the invention, similarly, a cathode end of the triple-A battery  60 ′ is inserted into the seat  30  from the first opening  31 . After the cathode end contacts the second electrode spring  52 , the triple-A battery  60 ′ pushes the plug-in piece  43  to move the sliding cover  40 , such that the sliding cover  40  moves backward and upward and compresses the spring  50 . Because the triple-A battery  60 ′ is smaller than the double-A battery  60  and a diameter of the triple-A battery  60 ′ is less than a diameter of the double-A battery, with reference to  FIGS. 7A and 7B , a distance for the plug-in piece  43  to move backward is shorter. The second rib  412  of the sliding cover  40  is located on a lower position than the first inclined notch  331 . Until the triple-A battery  60 ′ has enough space to be retained in the seat  30  from the first opening  31 , the spring  50  provides a restoring force for pushing the plug-in piece  43  to move forward and downward to adjust a space of the battery box  20  for fitting the triple-A battery and securely retains the triple-A battery  60 ′ in the battery box  20 . 
         [0029]    The double-A battery and the triple-A battery are just examples for describing an operating example of the battery box of the invention. The battery mounted in the battery box of the invention is not limited to the double-A battery and the triple-A battery. 
         [0030]    In conclusion, the battery box of the invention is combined with a wireless mouse. The first opening of the seat is in a bottom surface of a shell of the wireless mouse. A user can change the battery through the bottom surface of the wireless mouse. Hence, with respect to the structure of the battery box for the wireless mouse, the user can replace an original battery with a battery of a different size in the battery box. The wasting problems, i.e. a user buys batteries of an incompatible size, or a user buys too many batteries of various sizes, are thus solved.