Protected-type electrical contacting means

In a hand-held broadcast means of communications technology, the charging device for the integrated battery is connected via a covered plug. The cover of the plug is automatically opened when the hand-held broadcast device is placed onto the charging device and the path for the cooperating plug of the charging device is thus exposed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The invention is directed to a protected-type electrical contacting means, 
particularly for the power supply of portable communications-technology 
apparatus. 
2. Summary of the Invention 
Given re-chargable power supplies of electrical apparatus, particularly of 
hand-held broadcast apparatus for radio telephones in this example, the 
connection to the charging device should be arranged in covered and 
protected fashion. 
An object of the invention is to provide an interlock which automatically 
unlocks when the hand set is placed on the charging device. 
This object is inventively achieved in that the single contact pin of the 
device is arranged in the inside of its housing behind a disk that can be 
displaced in the housing of the apparatus perpendicular to the plug-in 
direction, this disk being closed by a spring in the quiescent condition 
and outwardly having a channel into which a pimple of an actuating rod in 
the housing of the power supply device engages and pushes the closing disk 
toward the side against the pressure of the spring before the contact and 
exposes the path for the contacting pin.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
A hand-held broadcast device whose portion important for this purpose is 
referenced 2 has a power supply plug 1 which is arranged covered in the 
interior. A disk 3 displaceable parallel to a housing wall 15 is provided 
for covering an opening 16 provided in the underside of the housing wall 
15. The disk 3 is prestressed against a block 17 with a shoulder by means 
of a spring 4, so that the plug is covered by it. The disk 3 has an 
outwardly directed channel 5 into which a pimple 6 of an actuating rod or 
slide 7 engages. The actuating rod is displaceably seated at a cover 10 of 
the charging device. The pimple 6 thereby extends through an opening 18 in 
the cover 10 down to the channel 5 of the disk. 
When the slide 7 is actuated against the spring power of the spring 4, then 
the opening for the contacting of a contact 1A of the power supply plug 1 
and a contact plug 9 projecting out of the charging device is exposed. 
The following mechanism is provided in order to automate the operation. 
First, the cover 10 of the charging device is held in movable fashion by a 
hinge 19 situated at the outside right in the FIG. A continuation of the 
actuating rod 7 extends through a housing opening at the other side and 
has a roller 11 at this end which engages into a curve or cam channel 12. 
When, after the the seat of the hand-held broadcast device has been placed 
on the cover 10, the latter is pressed down, then the roller 11 rolls off 
in the curved or cam channel 12 and pulls the slide completely up into the 
final position, whereby the pin 9 of the charging device simultaneously 
engages through the arising opening into the cooperating contact 1A of the 
hand-held broadcast device. 
In order to compensate tolerances, the roller 11 is guided movably 
perpendicular to its axis 13 and is pre-stressed by a spring 14. 
Thereby arising in an arrangement which, on the basis of mutual interaction 
between the handset and the charging device, produces an automatic 
contacting, whereby the handset can be tightly closed in its lifted-off 
condition. 
As is apparent from the foregoing specification, the invention is 
susceptible of being embodied with various alterations and modifications 
which may differ particularly from those that have been described in the 
preceding specification and description. It should be understood that I 
wish to embody within the scope of the patent warranted hereon all such 
modifications as reasonably and properly come within the scope of my 
contribution to the art.