Patent Publication Number: US-2023163399-A1

Title: Portable electronic device with a battery switching function

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a portable electronic device, especially related to battery switching function in portable electronic devices. 
     2. Description of the Prior Arts 
     In the prior art as shown in  FIG.  11   , the connection between the battery  90  and the casing  91  of a conventional portable device is used to make the system automatically detect whether the battery is unplugged. The casing  91  is provided with a plurality of power supply pins  911  and at least one detection pin  912  corresponding to the electrical connection of the battery  90 . When the battery  90  is removed from the casing  91 , the socket  901  of the battery  90  is separated from the pins  911  and  912  of the casing  91 . Because the detection pin  912  is shorter, the socket  901  must be separated from the detection pin  912  first to form an open circuit. Thus, the system detects that the battery  90  is about to be disconnected by detecting the disconnection signal of the detection pin  912 , and the system switches the power supply source to another battery. 
     The length difference between the power supply pins  911  and the detection pin  912  is not huge, and the action of unplugging the battery  90  is usually a continuous action. After the detection pin  912  is disconnected, the power supply pins  911  are also disconnected in a very short time. However, the system needs at least 0.03 seconds of response time to switch the power source to another battery. If the time difference between the open circuits of the power supply pins  911  and the detection pin  912  is less than 0.03 seconds, it will make the system too late to switch the power source. It will still cause the components to be interrupted due to abnormal power failure and even cause the components to be damaged. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A portable electronic device with a battery switching function is provided. The portable electronic device has two battery switching assemblies corresponding to each battery. Each battery switching assembly has a primary fastener and a secondary fastener corresponding to each other. When the primary fastener is engaged with the secondary fastener, the secondary fastener engages with the corresponding battery so that the battery cannot be detached from the casing of the portable electronic device. When the primary fastener and the secondary fastener are disengaged, the Hall sensor corresponding to the primary fastener sends a signal to a control unit. Then the control unit turns off the power supply of the corresponding battery and switches to another battery to supply power, or closes a specific application to reduce power consumption. 
     Other objectives, 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 perspective view from a back side of a portable electronic device in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG.  2    is a partially enlarged perspective view of the portable electronic device in  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  3    is a block diagram of partially components of the portable electronic device in  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  4    is a perspective view of a first battery and a second battery of the portable electronic device in  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  5    is an exploded perspective view of partially components of the portable electronic device in  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  6    is another exploded perspective view of partially components of the portable electronic device in  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  7    is a perspective view of a limiting unit of the portable electronic device in  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  8 A  is an enlarged operational back side view of a primary fastener and a secondary fastener of the portable electronic device in  FIG.  1   , showing the primary fastener engaging with the secondary fastener; 
         FIG.  8 B  is an enlarged operational top side view of the primary fastener and the secondary fastener of the portable electronic device in  FIG.  1   , showing the primary fastener engaging with the secondary fastener; 
         FIG.  8 C  is an enlarged operational side view in partial section of the secondary fastener and the first battery of the portable electronic device in  FIG.  1   , showing the secondary fastener locking the first battery; 
         FIG.  9 A  is an enlarged operational back side view of the primary fastener and the secondary fastener of the portable electronic device in  FIG.  1   , showing the primary fastener disengaging with the secondary fastener; 
         FIG.  9 B  is an enlarged operational top side view of the primary fastener and the secondary fastener of the portable electronic device in  FIG.  1   , showing the primary fastener disengaging with the secondary fastener; 
         FIG.  10 A  is an enlarged operational back side view of the primary fastener and the secondary fastener of the portable electronic device in  FIG.  1   , showing the secondary fastener releasing the first battery; 
         FIG.  10 B  is an enlarged operational top side view of the primary fastener and the secondary fastener of the portable electronic device in  FIG.  1   , showing the secondary fastener releasing the first battery; 
         FIG.  10 C  is an enlarged operational side view in partial section of the secondary fastener and the first battery of the portable electronic device in  FIG.  1   , showing the secondary fastener releasing the first battery; 
         FIG.  10 D  is an enlarged operational perspective view of the portable electronic device, showing the first battery disengaging from the casing; and 
         FIG.  11    is an enlarged perspective view of the battery and the casing of a portable device according to a prior art. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     With reference to  FIGS.  1  and  3   , a portable electronic device in accordance with the present invention comprises a casing  10 , a first battery  20 , a second battery  30 , a first battery switching assembly  40  and a second battery switching assembly  40 A. A first Hall sensor  11  and a second Hall sensor  11 A are disposed in the casing  10 . The first Hall sensor  11  is disposed adjacent to the first battery switching assembly  40 . The second Hall sensor  11 A is disposed adjacent to the second battery switching assembly  40 A. The casing  10  comprises a control unit  12 . The first and second Hall sensors  11 ,  11 A are electrically connected to the control unit  12 . 
     With reference to  FIGS.  2  to  5   , the first and second batteries  20 ,  30  are disposed detachably on the casing  10  and are electrically connected to the control unit  12 . The first and second batteries  20 ,  30  alternately or simultaneously supply power to the electronic components in the casing  10 , depending on the performance of the portable electronic device. In one embodiment, the first battery  20  is first used to supply power to all the electronic components in the casing  10 , and then the second battery  30  is switched to supply power to all the electronic components in the casing  10  if the first battery  20  is running out. The first and second batteries  20 ,  30  take turns to supply power. A first holding element  50  is provided on a periphery of the first battery  20 . A second holding element  50 A is provided on a periphery of the second battery  30 . 
     With reference to  FIGS.  4  and  6   , the first battery switching assembly  40  is disposed on the casing  10  and corresponds to the first holding element  50 . The second battery switching assembly  40 A is disposed on the casing  10  and corresponds to the second holding element  50 A. Each battery switching assembly  40 ,  40 A has a primary fastener  41  and a secondary fastener  42 . The primary fastener  41  has a body  411 , an internal latch  412  and a magnetic element  413 . The internal latch  412  and the magnetic element  413  are disposed on the body  411 . The secondary fastener  42  has a body  421 , an internal latch  422  and an external latch  423 . The internal latch  422  and the external latch  423  are disposed on the body  421 . 
     With reference to  FIGS.  5  to  8 B , the body  411  of the primary fastener  41  is moved along a first axis A 1 , and the body  421  of the secondary fastener  42  is moved along a second axis A 2 . The first axis A 1  and the second axis A 2  form an angle greater than 0 degrees. In one embodiment, the first axis A 1  is perpendicular to the second axis A 2 . The internal latch  412  of the primary fastener  41  has a first side  412   a  and a second side  412   b . The first side  412   a  faces to the body  421  of the secondary fastener  42 . The internal latch  422  of the secondary fastener  42  is disposed along the second axis A 2  and has a hook  425  forming along the first axis A 1 . When the internal latch  412  of the primary fastener  41  engages with the internal latch  422  of the secondary fastener  42 , the hook  425  abuts against the second side  412   b  of the internal latch  412 . Thus, the internal latch  422  of the secondary fastener  42  hooks the end of the internal latch  412  of the primary fastener  41 . 
     With reference to  FIGS.  4  to  7   , the body  421  of the secondary fastener  42  is moved along the second axis A 2 . The corresponding first battery  20  or second battery  30  is moved along a third axis A 3 . The third axis A 3  and the plane formed by the first axis A 1  and the second axis A 2  form an angle greater than 0 degrees. In one embodiment, the third axis A 3  is respectively perpendicular to the first axis A 1  and the second axis A 2 . The external latch  423  is disposed along the second axis A 2  and has at least one protrusion  426 . The first holding element  50  is disposed in a recess  21  of the periphery of the first battery  20 . The second holding element  50 A is disposed in a recess  31  of the periphery of the second battery  30 . Each holding element  50 ,  50 A has at least one seat  51 ,  51 A and at least one inclined surface  52 ,  52 A. As shown in  FIG.  5   , the secondary fastener  42  has a spring  427 . One end of the spring  427  abuts against the casing while the other end of the spring  427  abuts against one end of the body  421  of the secondary fastener  42  to push the body  421  to move toward the body  411  of the primary fastener  41 . 
     The following description of the operation of the first battery  20  is used as an example to describe the overall operation, and the same operation can also be operated on the second battery  30 . 
     In general use as shown in  FIGS.  8 A,  8 B and  8 C , the internal latch  412  of the primary fastener  41  engages with the internal latch  422  of the secondary fastener  42 . The external latch  423  of the secondary fastener  42  engages with the first holding element  50  of the first battery  20 . Thus, the first battery  20  cannot be detached from the casing  10 . In one embodiment, the hook  425  of the internal latch  422  of the secondary fastener  42  abuts against the second side  412   b  of the internal latch  412  so that the internal latch  412  of the primary fastener  41  engages with the internal latch  422  of the secondary fastener  42 . The protrusion  426  abuts against the corresponding seat  51  so that the external latch  423  of the secondary fastener  42  engages with the first holding element  50  of the first battery  20 . 
     With reference to  FIGS.  9 A and  9 B  in view of  FIG.  3   , when the body  411  of the primary fastener  41  is pushed to move along the first axis A 1 , the internal latch  412  of the primary fastener  41  disengages from the internal latch  422  of the secondary fastener  42 . The magnetic element  413  is also moved with the body  411  of the primary fastener  41 , so that the distance between the magnetic element  413  and the first Hall sensor  11  changes. Then the first Hall sensor  11  transmits a first signal to the control unit  12 , and the control unit  12  knows that the first battery  20  is about to be removed. Therefore, the control unit  12  switches on the power supply of the second battery  30 , and then the control unit  12  turns off the power supply of the first battery  20 . That is to say, the electronic components in the casing  10  originally powered by the first battery  20  are changed to be powered by the second battery  30 , or at least one application program is closed, so that the power supplied by the second battery  30  is sufficient to supply the portable electronic device for continuous operation. Similarly, when the distance between the magnetic element  413  of the second battery switching assembly  40 A and the second Hall sensor  11 A changes, the second Hall sensor  11 A transmits a second signal to the control unit  12 , and the control unit  12  knows that the second battery  30  is about to be removed. The control unit  12  turns off the power supply of the second battery  30  and switches on the first battery  20 . The electronic components in the casing  10  originally powered by the second battery  30  are changed to be powered by the first battery  20 , or at least one application program is closed, so that the power supplied by the first battery  20  is sufficient to supply the portable electronic device for continuous operation. 
     With reference to  FIGS.  10 A,  10 B,  10 C and  10 D , since the internal latch  412  of the primary fastener  41  disengages from the internal latch  422  of the secondary fastener  42 , the body  421  of the secondary fastener  42  is no longer limited by the body  411  of the primary fastener  41 . The user may push the body  421  of the secondary fastener  42  to move along the second axis A 2 , so that the external latch  423  of the secondary fastener  42  releases the first holding element  50 . Then the first battery  20  is able to be detached from the casing  10 . In one embodiment, the protrusion  426  is moved by the external latch  423  of the secondary fastener  42  to leave the seat  51 , so that the external latch  423  of the secondary fastener  42  releases the first holding element  50 . Further, when the protrusion  426  is moved, the protrusion  426  abuts against the inclined surface  52  of the first holding element  50  to push up the first holding element  50 . Then the first battery  20  is forced to move along the third axis A 3 . Therefore, during the movement of the body  421  of the second fastener  42 , the first battery  20  is not only released but also pushed out of the casing  10 . Thus, it is convenient for the user to take out the first battery  20 . 
     In conclusion, with cooperation between the magnetic elements  413  of the primary fasteners  41  and the first and second Hall sensors  11 ,  11 A, the control unit  12  has already begun preparations for the first battery  20  or the second battery  30  to be removed when the primary fastener  41  is actuated. However, the first battery  20  or the second battery  30  must wait until the secondary fastener  42  is actuated before it can be truly separated from the casing  10 . Then, the time difference between releasing the engagement state of the primary fastener  41  and the secondary fastener  42  respectively gives the control unit  12  sufficient response time. That is to say, the total time for a user uses his finger to push the primary fastener  41  and then to push the secondary fastener must be greater than 0.03 seconds. Therefore, enough time is obtained for the control unit  12  to switch the battery or close the application program to maintain the normal operation of the portable electronic device. 
     Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and features of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.