Patent Publication Number: US-2009239134-A1

Title: Holding device and portable electronic device

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a holding device and portable electronic device; more particularly, the present invention discloses a holding device for holding a battery, and a portable electronic device with the holding device. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     A portable electronic device (such as a mobile phone) is generally arranged with a battery, such that the battery can provide power for operation of the portable electronic device. Conventionally, because a battery holder of the portable electronic device is further required to comprise electrode plates, the battery holder has to arrange a reserved space for the electrode plates. Therefore, the battery holder is slightly longer than the battery such that there is an obvious interval between the battery holder and the battery. When the portable electronic device sustains an impact (for example, when it is dropped), the two ends of the battery may become separated from the electrode plates, thus resulting in power failure. As a result, the portable electronic device cannot operate normally; more seriously, the above situation might also cause loss of important data. Furthermore, when placing the battery into the battery holder, a user has to exert force on the electrode plates, which can be inconvenient because the battery has a relatively small volume. 
     In order to solve the above power failure problem, in prior arts, some manufacturers adopt a design using electrode plates with a larger modulus of elasticity. Although the above design indeed reduces the likelihood of power failure when the portable electronic device sustains an impact, the user has to exert a stronger force to the electrode plates with the larger modulus of elasticity when installing the battery into the battery holder, and it is also more difficult for the user to remove the battery. There is no such prior art provided with a holding device designed both to solve the power failure problem when the portable electronic device sustains an impact and to provide an energy-saving battery installation/removal mechanism. 
     Therefore, it is desirable to provide a holding device and portable electronic device to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a holding device used for holding a battery. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a portable electronic device with a holding device. 
     To achieve the aforementioned objects, the portable electronic device of the present invention comprises a holding device, and the holding device comprises a main body, a positioning unit and at least one elastic unit, wherein the main body has at least one opening and a battery holder, and the battery holder is used for holding the at least one battery; the positioning unit has at least one protrusion, and the at least one protrusion can pass through the at least one opening; and the at least one elastic unit is mounted to the main body, wherein each of the at least one elastic units has a battery contact part and a protrusion contact part. By means of the above structure, when the battery holder holds the at least one battery, and the at least one protrusion of the positioning unit passes through the at least one opening, the at least one protrusion will exert force on the protrusion contact part, such that the battery contact part will exert force on the at least one battery. 
     According to one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, the length of the battery holder is substantially equal to the length of the at least one battery, and the battery contact part of the elastic unit further comprises a bending part. 
     Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic drawing of a portable electronic device of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the portable electronic device of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic drawing of a positioning unit of a holding device of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic drawing of an empty battery holder. 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic drawing of the battery holder holding a battery wherein the positioning unit is not yet disposed to the opening. 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic drawing of the battery holder holding the battery wherein the positioning unit has been disposed to the opening. 
         FIG. 7  and  FIG. 8  are schematic drawings of a holding device of another embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     First, please refer to  FIG. 1 , which is a schematic drawing of a portable electronic device of the present invention. The portable electronic device  100  comprises a holding device  1 . Batteries  90  can be mounted by means of the holding device  1 . The holding device  1  can be used in all kinds of portable electronic devices using batteries  90 ; for example, a mobile phone, a camera, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a global positioning system (GPS), a walkman, a remote controller, and so on. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 2 , which is an exploded view of the portable electronic device of the present invention. The holding device  1  comprises a main body  10 , elastic units  20  and a positioning unit  30 . The main body  10  has an opening  12  and a battery holder  14 . The battery holder  14  is substantially used for holding the batteries  90 ; that is, the length of the battery holder  14  is substantially equal to the length of the batteries  90 , such that the battery holder  14  can efficiently limit the position of the batteries  90  so as to efficiently reduce the likelihood of a power failure. 
     In this embodiment, the battery holder  14  is used for holding two AA batteries. Please note that the size and number of the batteries to be placed into the battery holder  14  are not limited to the above description. Because the shape of the battery holder  14  is associated with the batteries  90 , in one embodiment of the present invention, the battery holder  14  can be applicable to either AAA batteries or lithium-ion batteries by simply remodeling the shape of the battery holder  14 . 
     The opening  12  is close to the electrodes of the batteries  90 . In this embodiment, because the battery holder  14  can hold two batteries  90 , there are four openings  12 . Please note that the number of the openings  12  is not limited to the above description. For example, two adjacent openings  12  can be combined into one. 
     Please refer to both  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 3  is a schematic drawing of a positioning unit of the holding device of the present invention. The positioning unit  30  has protrusions  32 , wherein the number of the protrusions  32  is associated with the number of the openings  12  of the main body  10 , such that the protrusions  32  can pass through the openings  12 . In this embodiment, there are four protrusions  32 . Please note that the number of the protrusions  32  is not limited to the above description. 
     In this embodiment, the positioning unit  30  is in the form of a battery cover, which can be separately mounted to the main body  10 . The positioning unit  30  comprises hook-shaped mounting units  34 . The main body  10  comprises fastening holes  16 . By mounting the mounting units  34  to the fastening holes  16 , the positioning unit  30  can be mounted to the main body  10 . In this embodiment, each of the mounting units  34  has an oblique part  342 . The oblique parts  342  can contact edges of the fastening holes  16  so as to guide the positioning unit  30  to be mounted to the main body  10 . Please note that the structure of the positioning unit  30  is not limited to the above description. 
     The elastic units  20  are mounted to the main body  10 . Each of the elastic units  20  has a battery contact part  22  and a protrusion contact part  24 . When the battery holder  14  holds batteries  90 , and the protrusions  32  of the positioning unit  30  pass through the openings  12 , the protrusions  32  will exert force on the protrusion contact parts  24 , and the force will be directly transmitted to the battery contact parts  22 , such that the battery contact parts  22  will exert force on the electrodes of the batteries  90 , thus generating an electronic connection. In this embodiment, there are four elastic units  20 , but please note that the number of the elastic units  20  is not limited to the above description. Further, the elastic units  20  can also be other units capable of pushing against the batteries  90 . 
     In this embodiment, the elastic units  20  are leaf springs. The battery contact part  22  of the elastic unit  20  comprises a bending part  221 . The object of the bending part  221  is to increase its modulus of elasticity so as to increase the force against the batteries  90 . Further, if the protrusion contact part  24  of the elastic unit  20  directly contacts the battery contact part  20  after being forced, the modulus of elasticity of the elastic unit  20  can be increased so as to increase the force against the batteries  90 . 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 4 to 6  for the explanation, stage by stage, of the usage of the holding device  1  of the present invention.  FIG. 4  is a schematic drawing of an empty battery holder.  FIG. 5  is a schematic drawing of the battery holder holding a battery wherein the positioning unit is not yet disposed to the opening.  FIG. 6  is a schematic drawing of the battery holder holding the battery wherein the positioning unit has been disposed to the opening. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 4  first. At this time, a user can easily put the battery  90  into the matching battery holder  14  without being obstructed by the elastic units  20 .  FIG. 5  illustrates the stage after the battery  90  has been put into the battery holder  14 , and, at this time, the battery contact parts  22  of the elastic units  20  do not yet fix the position of the battery  90 . 
     Then the user places the positioning unit  30  into the openings  12  to reach the stage shown in  FIG. 6 . From the stage shown in  FIG. 5  to the stage shown in  FIG. 6 , the user has to exert force on the positioning unit  30  such that the protrusions  32  can act against the elasticity of the protrusion contact parts  24  of the elastic units  20 ; as a result, the protrusions  32  can be completely placed into the protrusions  32 . When placing the positioning unit  30  into the openings  12 , the user can use the fastening holes  16  as a pivot so as to place the positioning unit  30  into the openings  12  by means of rotation, thus saving energy. 
     The shapes of the protrusion contact parts  24  will be changed due to the force; as a result, the protrusion contact parts  24  will transmit the elasticity to the battery contact parts  22  such that the battery contact parts  22  will exert force on the electrodes of the battery. In this embodiment, the elastic units  20  (as shown in  FIG. 6 ) are respectively disposed next to a positive electrode  92  and a negative electrode  94  of the battery  90 . Therefore, battery contact parts  22  of these two elastic units  20  will respectively exert force on the positive electrode  92  and the negative electrode  94  of the battery  90 , such that the battery  90  can be completely positioned in the battery holder  14 . Consequently, when the portable electronic device  100  sustains an impact (as when dropped), the battery contact parts  22  will not easily be separated from the electrodes of the battery  90 ; therefore, the likelihood of power failure is reduced. 
     Please refer to both  FIG. 7  and  FIG. 8 , which are schematic drawings of a holding device of another embodiment of the present invention. The difference between this and the above embodiments is the structure of the elastic units. In this embodiment, an elastic unit  20   b  pushing against the positive electrode  92  of the battery  90  is a helical spring, and an elastic unit  20   a  pushing against the negative electrode  94  of the battery  90  is a leaf spring, wherein the leaf spring is mounted to the main body  10  by means of a slide  50 . When the user places the protrusions  32  of the positioning unit  30  into the openings  12 , the elastic unit  20   a  will move towards the negative electrode  94  of the battery  90  along the slide  50  so as to push against the battery  90 . 
     Please refer again to  FIG. 7  and  FIG. 8 . In this embodiment, each of the protrusions  32  comprises an oblique side  322 . The oblique sides  322  can contact the protrusion contact parts  24 , such that the protrusions  32  can be placed into the openings  12  more easily. 
     Although the present invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.