Portable booster battery

In a tool for boosting (jump starting) a vehicle, it is know that there is a battery as a power source and booster cables to bring the energy to the engine. In this invention, the battery and the cables are incorporated into one unit which includes the battery, the cables and protective holsters (housing) to lodge the cables. The holsters are an integral part of the unit and swivel at 90.degree. (degrees) to permit easy access. In this way, everything can be carried in one hand. Also, because the unit can be easily placed close to the engine, the cables can be much shorter than regular booster cables. It is easier to use since there are only two connections to make instead of four. Finally, the holsters, which house the booster clips protect the user from short circuits.

FIELD OF INVENTION 
The present invention relates to batteries and more specifically to 
batteries that are moved from location to location, to connect to 
different devices, especially discharged or dead batteries of motor 
vehicles. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Most automobiles are presently powered by an internal combustion engine 
which must be spun up to speed externally before they can operate. The 
engines are usually spun up to speed by an electric motor that is powered 
by a battery. The battery is then charged by a generator connected to the 
engine once the engine is operating or running. The battery is usually 
able to store enough charge for the periods that the engine is not running 
in order to start the engine when needed. 
When the battery does not have sufficient charge to start the engine, a way 
must be found to recharge the battery or bypass the battery with a 
separate charge. Since very often a discharged battery is caused by an 
external drain such as leaving the lights on or playing the radio, once 
the engine is started by either recharging the battery or bypassing it by 
sending a separate charge the automobile will continue to operate 
properly. 
Since there are many things that will temporally cause a battery to lose 
its charge, the need to recharge or bypass batteries with separate charges 
is common. Very often another or booster battery is brought to the 
vicinity of the dead battery and electrical cables are used to connect the 
booster battery to the dead battery in parallel in order to recharge 
and/or bypass the dead battery. This often known as boosting or jump 
starting the dead battery or engine. 
In this method of boosting, the cables are disconnected from the batteries 
after each use so as to prevent short circuits. This method and structure 
however, is cumbersome since there are at least two parts and they demand 
great attention since there are 4 connections to make and a bad connection 
in either one will result in a short circuit or failure to start the 
engine. 
Some manufacturers have tried to resolve the problem by combining the 
battery and cables in one unit. The problems that have arisen with these 
units are that the cables which are permanently connected to the battery 
are always live so they have to be protected as to not touch each other. 
The amount of amperage available in these batteries is very large and if 
the cables touch each other it would create a short circuit and damage the 
cables and batteries. To isolate the live cables, some manufacturers have 
used protective pouches. These are not practical to use since they are 
often in the way when trying to boost. Also it is time consuming to put 
the cables in and out of the pouches. 
Other manufacturers have incorporated a male cigar lighter plug at the end 
of the cables permitting the user to plug this into the female cigar 
lighter plug of the vehicle. The problem with this unit is that one can 
only use this tool on vehicles equipped with female cigar lighter plugs. 
Also, since the plugs almost always have a maximum amperage rating of 30 
amps and that most starter motors draw much more than 30 amps., the 
capacity is not adequate. 
SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
It is any object of the present invention to provide a portable booster 
battery which can be easily carried to a car with a dead battery and 
connected to the dead battery of the car in order to provide sufficient 
charge to start the engine. It is also an object of the present invention 
to make the portable booster battery easy to use, maintain and safe from 
electrical short circuits which could damage the battery, the cables and 
the surrounding environment. 
The present invention achieves these objectives by providing an electrical 
energy storage device such as a sealed non spillable battery inside a 
housing. Cables are connected to the terminals of the battery and extend 
outside the housing. On the ends of these cables are battery or booster 
clamps which are designed to clamp on and electrically connect to the 
terminals of the dead battery or any other part of electrical system of 
the automobile. When the cables and the battery clamps are not being used, 
the battery clamps can be positioned inside holsters that are connected to 
the housing. The holsters cover the battery clamps and block the battery 
clamps from electrically contacting the surrounding environment. In this 
way the clamps are protected when they are not in use, and this prevents 
electrical short circuits from occurring which would damage property. 
Inside the holsters is positioned a bit means for connecting with the 
battery clamp when the clamps are positioned inside the holsters. A groove 
can also be formed in the housing to retain the cables close to the 
housing. The entire unit then becomes very compact and easy to transport. 
A handle can also be provided in the housing. 
The holsters can be pivotably attached to the housing by a least 
90.degree., in order to make it easier to insert and remove the battery 
clamps. The holsters each include a cover which is rounded and closed at 
one end and flat and open at another substantially opposite end. 
A recharging connection or plug can be connected to the energy storage 
device and either positioned on the housing or extending from the housing 
in order to recharge the storage device. In a preferred embodiment, the 
recharging connection is a male cigar lighter plug which can be plugged 
into the cigar lighter of an automobile in order to recharge. An accessory 
connection can also be provided on the housing to electrically connect to 
accessories such as 12 volt lights, vacuum cleaners and compressors in 
order to power these devices. This accessory connection is preferably a 
female cigar lighter. A display means is also preferably connected to the 
energy storage device and positioned on the housing to display how much 
charge the energy storage device contains. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a unit which simple 
in design, rugged in construction, and economical to manufacture. 
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are 
pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part 
of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its 
operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses, reference 
is made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which 
preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring to the drawings, in particular FIG. 1, the unit comprises of a 
housing 1 which is preferably made out of plastic. Inside the housing 1 is 
the electrical storage device which is preferably a sealed non-spillable 
battery. First and second electrical cables 6 are connected to terminals 
of the battery inside the housing 1. The cables 6 extend outside the 
housing and are preferably held to the housing by grooves 10 when the 
cables are not in use. 
At the other end of the cable 6 from the battery which is inside the 
housing 1, are clamp means 7 for electrically connecting the cable to the 
terminals of a dead battery or portions of an electrical system. As can be 
seen in the drawings, especially FIGS. 1 and 2, the housing has a box-like 
shape. First and second dimensions of the box-like shape are of a size 
that is roughly or approximately similar to the two largest dimensions of 
the clamp means 7. 
Holster means 4 are preferably positioned on opposite sides of the housing 
1. The holster means 4 includes a cover 8 which is rounded at one end and 
opened at another end 22. The holster means 4 also includes bit means 5 
for connecting with the clamp means 7 when the clamps means is inside the 
holster means 4. The cover 8 is made of non-electrically conductive 
material and is preferable that the bit means 5 and the housing 1 are also 
non-conducting. The holster means 4 is pivotably connected to the housing 
1 by at least 90.degree.. This allows easier insertion and removal of the 
clamps means 7 independent of the position of the housing 1. The bit means 
5 is preferably positioned in substantially the middle of the holster with 
regard to the length of the housing 1. 
The unit also can have a recharging connection 12 for charging the energy 
storage device. Preferably this recharging connection 12 is male cigar 
lighter plug which can extend from the housing 1 in order to plug into the 
cigar lighter receptacle of an automobile. An accessory power connection 
11 is also provided for a powering accessories with the unit. This 
accessory connection 11 is preferably a female cigar lighter receptacle 
and can be used power such equipment as portable lights, invertors, 
compressors, vacuum cleaners and refrigerators. 
In order to determine the amount of charge in the energy storage device, 
the present invention has a display means 13 which displays the present 
charge of the device. The preferred embodiment the display means consist 
of a test button 14 and indicator lights 15. 
To use the unit, one puts the housing 1 close to the engine one wishes to 
boost, either on its bottom 3 or on its back side 9. Next one pivots the 
holster 4 to the desired angle, opens the clamp 7, and removes the clamp 7 
from the holster. The positive clamp is connected to the positive post of 
the battery one wishes to boost, the negative clamp is connected to a good 
ground of the engine. The engine, is then started. To use the booster as a 
power supply, the male cigar plug of any 12 volt accessory is plugged into 
the female cigar plug on the unit. 
In another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4, the 
recharging connection can also be the same as the accessory connection 11. 
A special recharging plug 16 as shown in FIG. 5, or 17 as shown in FIG. 6, 
is connected to the accessory connection 11. With the recharging plug 16 
of FIG. 5, one end is plugged into the accessory connection 11, and the 
other end is plug into the female cigar lighter receptacle in an 
automobile. With the recharging plug 17 of FIG. 6, the male cigar lighter 
plug 18 is plugged into the accessory connection 11 and the other end has 
a wall outlet plug 19 which is plugged into a wall outlet. The embodiment 
of FIG. 4 also has a recharging light 20 indicating that the battery is 
recharging. 
While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described 
in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the 
invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied 
otherwise without departing from such principles.