Abstract:
A battery casing is adapted to fit into at least two different receiving bays of different sizes. The casing includes an adapter panel which is movable into at least two positions. Moving the adapter panel to the first position increases the effective width of the casing, and allows the battery to be inserted securely into a first receiving bay. Moving the adapter panel to the second position maintains the original width of the casing. This allows the battery casing to be inserted securely into a receiving bay, which has the same width as that of the original casing.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to packaging technology. In particular, the present invention relates to the packaging of batteries in portable computers. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Portable computers are commonly provided with two receiving bays. One bay is configured to receive the battery pack, and the other bay, referred to as the secondary or multi-bay, is for optional accessories such as an optical disc player or floppy disc :drive. To operate the portable computer without an external power source, a rechargeable battery can be inserted in the battery receiving bay in the computer. When the battery runs low, the user typically must remove the used battery, and replace it with a charged battery. 
     Many users of portable computers have found that, under some circumstances, the amount of electricity stored in a standard battery, such as an eight-cell battery, is insufficient. When the battery runs low, computer usage must be interrupted while the spent battery is replaced. One solution to this problem is to increase the capacity of the battery. This, however, means increasing the size and weight of the battery pack or casing. Not only is this undesirable, given the trend towards more compact models, but a larger battery also requires a larger receiving bay. Thus, increasing battery capacity translates into higher costs for manufacturing a different computer housing, together with all the re-designing associated with these modifications. An alternative solution is to use a second battery which can be fitted into the multi-bay. Because, however, the multi-bay is designed for use with various peripheral drives, the size of the multi-bay is different than the battery receiving bay. Consequently, the user would need two batteries of different sizes, which are not interchangeable, to operate the computer with two batteries (one in the battery receiving bay and one in the multi-bay). Alternatively, a completely new housing and hardware design must be made to make the battery receiving bay identical to the multi-bay. Both of these solutions, however, are costly. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a casing which is adapted to fit into at least two receiving bays of different sizes. The casing has a predetermined height, width and depth to fit into a first receiving bay and is further provided with an adapter member which is movable into at least two positions. Moving the adapter member to the first position increases the effective width of the casing, and allows it to be inserted securely into the first receiving bay. Moving the adapter member to the second position maintains the original width of the casing and allows it to be inserted securely into the second receiving bay, which preferably has the same width as that of the original casing. 
     In the preferred embodiment, the present invention is a battery casing designed for battery cells. The adapter member is a panel attached to one side of the battery casing by a hinge, so that the battery may be used interchangeably in both the first and second receiving bays. In this manner, only one type of battery is required to provide a dual battery capability to a computer with two receiving bays of different sizes, and the existing housing design may be used with minimal changes. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIGS. 1A and 1B are a plan view and elevated view respectively of the base of a conventional computer housing. 
     FIG. 2A is a left side elevated view of a battery casing according to the present invention with the adapter panel in an intermediate position. 
     FIG. 2B is a right side elevated view of the same battery casing as in FIG.  2 A. 
     FIGS. 2C and D are cross-sectional views of the battery casing along section A—A indicated in: FIG. 2A with the adapter panel in the second position (FIG. 2C) and first position (FIG.  2 D). 
     FIG. 3 is a plan view of the base of conventional computer housing shown in FIG. 1 with two of the batteries according to the present invention inserted into the primary and secondary bays. 
    
    
     The following detailed description describes the preferred embodiment for implementing the underlying principles of the present invention. One skilled in the art should understand, however, that the following description is meant to be illustrative of the present invention, and should not be construed as limiting the principles discussed herein. In addition, certain terms are used throughout the following description and claims to refer to particular system components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, computer companies may refer to a component by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components that differ in name but not in function. In the following discussion, and in the claims the terms “including”, “having” and “comprising” are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean “including but not limited to . . . ”. Also, the term “couple” or “couples” is intended to mean either an indirect or direct electrical connection. Thus if a first device “couples” to a second devices, that connection may be a direct electrical connection or through an indirect electrical connection via other devices or connections. Finally, the terms “width” and “height” should be broadly interpreted herein to refer to the length of different sides of a battery casing. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The following description pertains to the exterior casing of a battery for portable computers, and is used as the preferred embodiment for implementing the underlying principles of the present invention. Numerous specific details are set forth such as specific receiving bays for a portable computer in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It should be understood that the overview is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, and thus the battery casing described herein can be used in other computer designs without departing from the principles of the present invention. In addition, one skilled in the art will understand that certain computer system components have been omitted in the following discussion so as not to digress unnecessarily from the focus of the present invention. It should be understood by one skilled in the art that batteries contain well known elements such as battery cells, with the appropriate internal electrical and electronic connections and control elements. Furthermore, the appropriate electrical coupling is provided for the inserted battery to supply power to the computer. 
     FIGS. 1A and B show an example of a housing  21  of a portable computer which has a primary bay  22  for receiving an 8-cell battery, and a secondary or multi-bay  24  for other peripheral functions such as disk, CD or DVD drive. The motherboard  20  is also shown. As in many commonly available portable computers, the primary bay  22  is different in size than the secondary bay  24 . In this example, the primary bay  22  has a width  25 A of 138 mm, which is  5  mm longer than the width  25 B of the secondary bay  24 . A latch  22 A mounts on the side of primary bay  22  for mechanically securing a battery inside the bay. Rails  24 A are provided in the secondary bay  24  for mechanically supporting the optional accessories. In addition, a second latch  24 B mounts on the side of secondary bay  24  for securing a battery inside the bay. Battery connectors  22 B and  24 B are provided at the back of the primary and secondary bays, respectively, for coupling with an inserted battery. 
     Referring now to FIGS. 2A-D, the following discussion details the manner in which a battery is adapted to fit into both the primary and secondary bays of the housing according to the preferred embodiment. As used herein, casing refers to the outer covering for the battery cells and other related electronic components such as the PCB board. The casing has a predetermined and fixed dimension. The battery refers to the casing and the attached adapted. The dimension of the battery, therefore, is easily adjustable according to the positioning of the adapter. In this embodiment, the casing  26  of the battery contains  12  battery cells and a PCB board for electronic control (not shown). Casing  26  also comprises a front  26 A, a right side  26 B, left side  26 C, top  26 D, bottom (not shown), back  26 E and connector  27 . An adapter panel  28  preferably attaches to the right side  26 B of the casing by a hinge. The casing preferably has a width  29  that is the same as the width of the secondary bay  24 . The thickness  30  of the adapter panel  28  preferably is the same as the difference in width between the primary and secondary bay (i.e., 5 mm in this example). When the panel is rotated (as shown by arrow  31  in FIG. 2A) to the first position juxtaposing the side of the casing (as shown in FIG.  2 D), the effective width of the battery (as indicated by reference numeral  29 A) is lengthened by 5 mm to a total of 138 mm, and the battery may be inserted securely into the primary bay. In this position, the effective height of the battery is the same as the actual height of the casing. When the panel is rotated to the second position juxtaposing the top of the casing, the effective width of the battery is reduced to become the actual width of the casing, i.e.133 mm, while the effective height of the battery is increased by 5 mm. Since there is sufficient height in the secondary bay to accommodate the increased effective height of the battery, it may be inserted securely into the secondary bay. 
     The panel and the exterior surface of the casing are also provided with the necessary landscape to interact with the securing elements in the receiving bays. Referring still to FIGS. 1A,  1 B,  2 A and  2 B, recess  32 A on the external surface  32  of the adapter panel  28  is adapted to mechanically couple to latch  22 A of the primary receiving bay  22 , such that the battery may be secured upon insertion. The casing  26  is also provided with overhanging ribs  26 JE and  26 F on the right side  26 B and the left side  26 C respectively. These ribs allow the battery to be fitted into the secondary bay  24  with the ribs  26 J,  26 F sliding above rails  24 A. An additional protrusion  26 G is provided on side  26 B for mechanically coupling with latch  24 B of the secondary bay. Release buttons (not shown) are also preferably provided to release each of the latches when the user is ready to remove the batteries. 
     Referring now to FIG. 3, this example shows how two identical batteries  38  and  40  are inserted into two different receiving bays  22 ,  24  of a portable computer. Only the base of the computer housing and the receiving bays are shown in order to focus on the present invention. In this example, battery  38  is inserted into the primary receiving bay  22  of the computer, and battery  40  is inserted into the secondary receiving bay  24 . For battery  38 , the adapter panel  42  is juxtaposing the right side  38 A of the casing. For battery  40 , the adapter panel  44  is juxtaposing the top of the casing. The adapter panels  42  and  44  are each 5 mm in thickness. Therefore, the effective width  25 A of battery  38  is 138 mm, which is 5 mm larger than the actual size of the battery casing. Since the height of secondary bay  24  is more than 5 mm taller than the height of primary bay  22 , the increased height of battery  40  when adapter panel  44  is rotated to the top side does not hinder its insertion into secondary bay  24 . 
     Referring again to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the hinges are preferably double hinges of the rotatable and reversible type. In the preferred embodiment, the panel  20  connects to the casing via a pair of metallic hinges each containing two loops, one loop for securing the hinge to the casing, and the other loop for securing the hinge to the panel. The loops of the hinges are rotatable, and the points of attachment to the casing and the panel are recessed into the landscape, such that they do not protrude to interfere with the insertion of the battery in the bay. One of these recesses is shown as reference numeral  26 H in FIGS. 2A and B. 
     In the embodiment described above, the adapter is used to secure the battery into the respective receiving bays by a width-wise fit, and thus the heights of the bays in this example do not play an important role in securing the battery, as long as the height of the bay is taller than the effectively height of the battery. In other instances, the shape of the casing may be designed such that the effective height of the casing does not change when the adapter moves from the first to the second position. In such a situation, a recessed space may be provided in the casing to accommodate the adapter when it is rotated to the first position. 
     Other types of position guiding and securing features, besides the latch and rails described above, may be provided to secure the casing to the receiving bay. If securing structures are provided on the inner walls of the receiving bays, the two side walls of the casing would also have the appropriate matching features or landscape. Furthermore, at least one of the two external surfaces of the adapter panel should also have the matching features. 
     While the present invention has been described particularly with reference to the aforementioned figures with emphasis on a battery for use with a primary and secondary bay of a portable computer of the described dimensions, it should be understood that the figures are for illustration only and should not be taken as limitation on the invention. In addition, the size interchangeability principles may be applied to other industries where it is necessary or desirable to mount packages interchangeably in receptacles of different sizes. It is clear that other variations and embodiments are also within the scope of the invention, based on the teachings disclosed herein. These variations include packages with adapter panels which allow a height-wise fit, and casings with the size adapter panel of different thickness and shapes for use in other applications. In addition, more than one adapter member may be used to vary the dimensions of the sizes and shapes of a packaging. For specific applications, the appropriate landscape may be provided on the panel and the exterior surface of the casing to match the corresponding receiving bay.