Abstract:
There is described a battery storing apparatus for storing two or more types of batteries and easily distinguishing the type of the battery, and an electronic equipment and a digital camera having it. The battery storing apparatus includes a battery storing section being capable of storing more than two types of batteries; a cover member, being capable of opening and closing, to cover the battery storing section; an anode terminal and a cathode terminal, which are provided in an inner side of the battery storing section; a battery contact piece equipped at the cover member and disposed opposite the anode terminal and the cathode terminal; and a battery-type distinguishing section to distinguish a type of the battery by detecting a voltage applied to the battery contact piece through means for electronically connecting with the battery contact piece.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a battery storing apparatus, an electronic equipment, and a digital camera and more particularly to a battery storing apparatus for storing two or more types of batteries and easily distinguishing the type of the battery and an electronic equipment and digital camera having it. 
     On the market at present, there are many kinds of devices capable of using a plurality of, such as two or more, types of batteries, for example, a digital camera. 
     The devices are broadly divided into two kinds as follows: 
     (1) dedicated terminals are respectively provided in correspondence with the battery type and 
     (2) common terminals are used. 
     With respect to (1) among them, the art disclosed in Japanese Application Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 11-176404 is known. 
     In devices capable of using a plurality of, such as two or more, types of batteries like this, when batteries are controlled without recognizing the battery type, a problem arises that control using characteristics of the battery type (for example, battery check) cannot be executed. For example, when battery check is executed without recognizing the battery type, the capacity of each battery cannot be used effectively. 
     The characteristics are respectively different depending on the battery type like this, so that to use each battery effectively (for example, to use the capacity of each battery effectively), it is desired to control each battery in accordance with the characteristics thereof, thus it is necessary to distinguish the type of each battery to be stored and change the control in accordance with the type. On the other hand, as a distinguishing means for the battery type, when the terminals are different for each battery type, there is a method available for distinguishing the corresponding battery type by detecting the used terminals. Further, there is a method available that the shape of each battery is made different for each battery type and on the basis of the shape distinguished by a means for distinguishing the difference in shape, the battery type is distinguished. 
     However, in conventional devices having dedicated terminals for each battery type, the number of parts is increased and it is an obstruction factor for reliability, miniaturization, and cost reduction. 
     Further, in devices for distinguishing differences in the external shape of batteries, device parts for distinguishing the shape and switches for distinguishing are also necessary, and the number of parts is increased due to incorporation of them, and there is the same defect as the aforementioned. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     To overcome the abovementioned drawbacks in conventional equipments, it is an object of the present invention to provide a battery storing apparatus, electronic equipment and a photographing apparatus, which make it possible to easily distinguish two or more types of batteries without employing a large number of new parts. 
     Accordingly, to overcome the cited shortcomings, the abovementioned object of the present invention can be attained by the apparatus described as follow. 
     (1) An apparatus for storing a battery, comprising: an anode terminal; a cathode terminal; a battery contact piece disposed in correspondence with the anode terminal and the cathode terminal; a battery-type recognizing section to recognize a type of the battery by detecting a voltage applied to the battery contact piece. 
     (2) The apparatus of item 1, further comprising: a battery storing section adapted to store the battery, being one of at least two batteries whose battery-types are different each other; wherein the anode terminal, the cathode terminal and the battery contact piece are provided in the battery storing section. 
     (3) The apparatus of item 2, wherein the battery contact piece is disposed opposite both the anode terminal and the cathode terminal. 
     (4) The apparatus of item 2, wherein the anode terminal contacts an anode of the battery and the cathode terminal contacts a cathode of the battery so as to enable an electronic power supply from the battery, and when the battery is a combination of element-batteries, the battery contact piece makes it possible to electronically connect the element-batteries each other. 
     (5) The apparatus of item 2, further comprising: a coupling member electronically coupled to the battery contact piece; wherein the battery-type recognizing section recognizes the type of the battery by detecting the voltage, applied to the battery contact piece, through the coupling member. 
     (6) The apparatus of item 5, further comprising: a cover member to cover the battery storing section; wherein the anode terminal and the cathode terminal are provided in the battery storing section capable of storing the battery, and the coupling member is an urging member, made of electrically conductive material, for urging the cover member in a direction of either opening or closing the cover member. 
     (7) The apparatus of item 5, wherein the coupling member is a lead wire. 
     (8) A photographing apparatus, comprising the apparatus described in anyone of items 1-7. The photographing apparatus is preferably a digital camera. 
     (9) An electronic equipment, comprising the apparatus described in anyone of items 1-7. 
     Further, to overcome the abovementioned problems, other battery storing apparatus and a digital camera, embodied in the present invention, will be described as follow: 
     (10) A battery storing apparatus, characterized by comprising: 
     a battery storing section being capable of storing more than two types of batteries; 
     a cover member, being capable of opening and closing, to cover the battery storing section; 
     an anode terminal and a cathode terminal, which are provided in an inner side of the battery storing section; 
     a battery contact piece equipped at the cover member and disposed opposite the anode terminal and the cathode terminal; and 
     a battery-type distinguishing section to distinguish a type of the battery by detecting a voltage applied to the battery contact piece through means for electronically connecting with the battery contact piece. 
     (11) The battery storing apparatus, recited in item 10, characterized in that the means for electronically connecting with the battery contact piece is an urging member, made of electrically conductive material, for urging the cover member in a direction of either opening or closing the cover member. 
     (12) The battery storing apparatus, recited in item 10, characterized in that the means for electronically connecting with the battery contact piece is a lead wire. 
     (13) A digital camera, characterized by comprising: 
     the battery storing apparatus recited in anyone of items 10-12. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a digital camera viewed from the front side; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a digital camera viewed from the rear side; 
     FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view showing the opened state of a cover member; and 
     FIGS.  4 (A) and  4 (B) are cross sectional views respectively for explaining a battery storage device. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The embodiment of the present invention will be explained in detail hereunder with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a digital camera having a battery storage device (serving as a battery storing apparatus) relating to the present invention viewed from the front side and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of it viewed from the rear side. 
     On the front of a camera body  100 , an imaging lens  1  is installed and above the imaging lens  1 , a finder  2  and a stroboscope  3  are arranged. 
     On the top of the camera body  100 , a power switch  4  for turning power on or off, a release switch  5  for executing imaging, and an LCD display unit  6  for displaying various information such as the camera state are arranged. 
     On the rear of the camera body  100 , an LCD display unit  7  for displaying an image and switches  8  to  11  for performing various operations are installed. 
     Further, on the side of the camera body  100 , a DC jack  12  for obtaining power from the outside, a terminal  13  for communicating with an external device such as a personal computer, and a cover member  14  for opening or closing the camera body  100  are installed. 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the opened state of the cover member  14 . To change the cover member  14  from the closed state to the open state, it slides firstly in the down direction of the camera body  100  slightly in parallel (a preliminary operation for the open state), is released from the connection with the camera body  100 , then opened as shown in the drawing, and put into the open state. And, to change the cover member  14  from the open state to the closed state, when the reverse operation to the aforementioned is performed, the cover member  14  is closed. 
     Further, on the portion covered by the cover member  14  on the side of the camera body  100 , a coil spring  15  which is a pressing means is attached on the upper end side of the cover member  14 . The coil spring  15  is made of a metal capable of supplying power, and one end  15   a  thereof makes contact with the side of the cover member  14 , and the other end  15   b  is fixed on the side of the camera body  100 , so that the coil spring  15  always presses the cover member  14  in the direction for opening it. Such a constitution of the cover member is conventionally well-known. 
     On the portion on the side of the camera body  100  which is covered by the cover member  14 , a recording medium storage unit  16  and a battery storage unit  17  in the neighborhood of the recording medium storage unit  16  are installed in parallel and the cover member  14  in the closed state covers the recording medium storage unit  16  and the battery storage unit  17  together. 
     In the recording medium storage unit  16 , a recording medium (not shown in the drawing) is loaded when it is pressed in and locked to the innermost side (the push-in position) by a finger, and when the recording medium is pressed in to the innermost side (the push-in position) again, the recording medium is unlocked, and when the recording medium is pressed out up to the takeout position by a pressing member (not shown in the drawing) installed inside, it can be taken out. 
     The battery storage unit  17  can store two AA dry batteries having the anode terminal and cathode terminal on the opposite end faces or a battery such as CR-V3 in almost the same shape as that when two AA dry batteries are installed in parallel, having an anode terminal and a cathode terminal only on the surface on one side so that the length direction is the storing direction. 
     The battery storage device relating to the present invention is shown in detail in FIG.  4 . FIG. 4A is a cross section view showing the state that two batteries BA 1  and BA 2  in a shape that the anode terminal and cathode terminal are installed on both opposite end faces are stored. 
     Inside the side of the battery storage unit  17 , an anode terminal  17   a  and a cathode terminal  17   b  for supplying power to the camera body  100  are arranged in contact with the batteries BA 1  and BA 2  and on the rear of the cover member  14  opposite to the terminals  17   a  and  17   b,  a battery contact piece  18  is installed. When the batteries stored in the battery storage unit  17  are two batteries having terminals at both ends shown in the drawing, the battery contact piece  18 , when the cover member  14  is put into the closed state, makes electrical contact with the terminals of the batteries and connects them in series. 
     The anode terminal  17   a  and the cathode terminal  17   b  are formed almost in a dogleg shape and given elasticity. When the terminals press the stored batteries BA 1  and BA 2  in the direction of projecting from the battery storage unit  17  (in the left direction on the drawing) and the cover member  14  is opened, the batteries BA 1  and BA 2  are projected outside and can be easily taken out and when the batteries BA 1  and BA 2  to be stored are batteries having terminals at both ends, contact pressure with the battery contact piece  18  on the rear of the cover member  14  is obtained. 
     The coil spring  15  for pressing the cover member  14  in the open direction is installed so as to be always in electrical contact with the battery contact piece  18  whose one end  15   a  is arranged on the rear of the cover member  14 . 
     Further, in the camera body  100 , a camera control means  101  for driving and controlling each unit is incorporated and driven by power supplied from the two batteries BA 1  and BA 2 . 
     In the camera control means  101 , a battery type distinguishing section  102  is incorporated. One end of the battery type distinguishing section  102  is electrically connected to the other end  15   b  of the metallic coil spring  15 , pressing the cover member  14  in the open direction, on the side of the camera body  100 . Therefore, the battery type distinguishing section  102  is electrically connected to the battery contact piece  18  via the coil spring  15 . Further, the other end of the battery type distinguishing section  102  is connected to the ground. By doing this, the two batteries BA 1  and BA 2  are stored in the battery storage unit  17  and when the cover member  14  is closed, voltage is applied to the battery type distinguishing section  102  from the batteries BA 1  and BA 2  via the coil spring  15 . 
     The battery type distinguishing section  102  is composed of a voltage detection circuit for detecting voltage to be applied to the battery contact piece  18  via the coil spring  15 . Assuming that the batteries BA 1  and BA 2  are 1.5 V respectively, when the batteries BA 1  and BA 2  are connected in series as shown in the drawing, a voltage of 1.5 V is applied to a resistor R of the battery type distinguishing section  102  via the coil spring  15  and a voltage of 1.5 V is detected in a voltage detection unit Tp. 
     On the other hand, in place of the tow batteries BA 1  and BA 2 , as shown in FIG. 4B, for example, when a battery BA 3  in a shape that it has a terminal only on one side like CR-V3 is stored in the battery storage unit  17  and the cover is closed, the battery contact piece  18  is not in electrical contact with the terminals of the battery BA 3 , so that no voltage is applied to the battery contact piece  18  and the coil spring  15  and a voltage of 0 V (ground) is applied to the voltage detection unit via the resistor R. 
     Therefore, the battery type distinguishing section  102  detects the voltage applied via the coil spring  15 , thereby can distinguish that, for example, when the detected voltage is 1.5 V, AA dry batteries are stored and when the detected voltage is 0 V, CR□V3 is stored. 
     The camera control means  101  changes the control according to the characteristics of the battery type distinguished by the battery type distinguishing section  102 . For example, the cameral control means  101  can change the battery check level, output a suitable residual indication and warning indication for each battery type, and effectively use the battery capacity. 
     The battery type distinguishing section  102  is preferably incorporated in the circuit of the camera control means  101  as shown in the drawing because the use parts can be shared. However, the battery type distinguishing section  102  is not limited to it and it may be structured so as to form separately from the camera control circuit  101  and output distinguished results thereof to the camera control means  101 . 
     In the battery storage device relating to the present invention, the constitution for voltage detection by the battery type distinguishing section  102  is only such that the battery type distinguishing section  102  is electrically connected to the battery contact piece  18  using the metallic coil spring  15  originally incorporated as a component part of the cover member  14  so as to press the cover member  14  in the open direction, so that there is no need at all to newly incorporate a particular mechanical part for distinguishing the battery type. Therefore, great changes in the mechanical structure and a great increase in the number of parts are not required and the battery type can be distinguished easily by a simple constitution. 
     Further, great changes in the structure are not required for distinguishing the battery type like this and the number of parts can be reduced, so that by incorporating such a battery storage device, a digital camera having a function of distinguishing the battery type can be miniaturized and reduced in cost. 
     Further, in the above explanation, the coil spring  15  presses the cover member  14  in the open direction, though the coil spring  15  may press the cover member  15  in the closing direction. 
     Further, the cover member  14  is not limited to the type that the cover member  14  slides in parallel as a preliminary operation at the time of the opening operation and it may be of a just opening and closing type. 
     Furthermore, the means for electrically connecting the battery type distinguishing section  102  and the battery contact piece  18  is not limited to the metallic coil spring  15 . The battery contact piece  18  and the battery type distinguishing section  102  may be electrically connected using a lead wire  150 , which is indicated broken lines shown in FIG.  4 (A) and FIG.  4 (B). Also in this case, the lead wire may be just laid, so that without greatly increasing the number of parts, the battery type can be distinguished easily by a simple constitution. 
     The battery storage device relating to the present invention is not limited to application to a digital camera as explained above and can be widely applied to a photographing apparatus using two or more types of batteries stored in a battery storage unit including a cover member having a battery contact piece and furthermore to an electronic equipment. 
     The present invention can provide a battery storing apparatus, an electronic equipment, and a photographing apparatus for easily distinguishing two or more batteries by very few parts.