Patent Publication Number: US-2011052958-A1

Title: Battery holder and electrical device having thereof

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a battery holder, and more particularly to a battery holder with a main battery and a spare battery received therein, and to a battery holder for a battery operated electrical device such as a rangefinder and a laser sighting apparatus. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Batteries have found versatile ways of applications in electrical devices in situations where mains electricity is inappropriate, especially for portable electrical devices, such as a rangefinder, a laser sighting apparatus and the likes. 
       FIGS. 1-3  of the attached drawings show schematic views of a known battery operated electrical device, generally designated at  9 . As shown in  FIGS. 1-3 , the known battery operated electrical device  9  has a housing  90  and a battery holder  92  with at least one battery  94  received therein. The battery holder  92  includes an insulating frame  920  formed on the top of the housing  90 . The insulating frame  920  forms one battery-receiving cavity  922  for receiving the battery  94  and for receiving conductive components  96  that electrically contact with the battery  94 . The battery holder  92  further includes a battery cover  98  for enclosing the battery-receiving cavity  922  and being removable from the fixing frame  920  for replacing the battery  94 . 
     The currently available battery operated electrical devices are often subjected to constraint of the operable time period of the battery that supplies electrical power to support their operations. For example, when the battery being used in the electrical device is dead or become exhausted, a user must leave to get a replacement battery in order to continue the operation of the electrical device. To facilitate changing the battery, the spare batteries are generally placed in the user&#39;s pockets. However, because the batteries used for such electrical devices are relatively small, it is often that they get lost or get dirty or affected with damps. These problems are troublesome to the users of the battery operated electrical devices. 
     Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a battery operated electrical device having a battery holder with a main battery and a spare battery received therein in order overcome the above problems. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a battery holder that stores at least one main battery and one spare battery, so that the spare battery can easily and timely replace the main battery when the main battery becomes exhausted. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrical device having a battery holder with at least one main battery and one spare battery received therein, whereby the main battery, when exhausted, can be easily and timely replaced by the spare battery. 
     To achieve the above objects, in accordance with the present invention, a battery holder is provided for accommodating electrical batteries to supply electrical power to a battery operated electrical device. The battery holder comprises a main fixing frame defining a first opening and a first battery-receiving cavity for receiving at least one main battery, a spare fixing frame assembled onto the main fixing frame for closing the first opening of the main fixing frame and defining a second opening and a second battery-receiving cavity for receiving at least one spare battery that is removable from the second battery-receiving cavity to be receivable into the first battery-receiving cavity for replacing the main battery, and a battery cover assembled onto the spare fixing frame for closing the second opening of the spare fixing frame. 
     In one embodiment, the battery holder further comprises a first insulating sheet located on a bottom surface of the spare battery for separating the spare battery from the main battery and a second insulating sheet located on an upper surface of the spare battery. 
     In one embodiment, the spare fixing frame has an extending portion insertable into the main fixing frame for fixing the spare fixing frame to the main fixing frame, and an L-shaped spring member, which is disposed on an outer bottom of the spare fixing frame for applying a pressure to the main battery. 
     In one embodiment, the main fixing frame further defines an element-receiving cavity, which is adjacent to the first battery-receiving cavity and receives a number of conductive components. 
     In one embodiment, the conductive components comprise a circuit board having flexible spring fingers mounted thereon, and a conductive board located upon the circuit board and having a center conductive portion for electrically connecting the main battery and the flexible spring fingers. 
     In one embodiment, the center conductive portion of the conductive board has an upper surface in direct contact with the bottom surface of the main battery and a bottom surface in direct contact with the flexible spring fingers. 
     In one embodiment, the conductive components comprise a circuit-board-fixing sheet located on the circuit board for fixing the circuit board to an inner bottom of the main fixing frame, and a conductive-board-fixing ring located on the conductive board. 
     In one embodiment, the battery holder further comprises a battery-retaining ring, which is arranged in the first battery-receiving cavity of the main fixing frame and defines a cylindrical retaining cavity for receiving and retaining the main battery. 
     In one embodiment, the cylindrical retaining cavity has a wall in contact with a side surface of the main battery, the battery-retaining ring having a bottom surface in contact with the conductive-board-fixing ring. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an electrical device operated by at least one battery is provided. The electrical device comprises a housing, a main fixing frame, which is disposed on the housing and defines a first opening and a first battery-receiving cavity for receiving at least one main battery; a spare fixing frame, which is assembled onto the main fixing frame for closing the first opening of the main fixing frame and defines a second opening and a second battery-receiving cavity for receiving at least one spare battery that is removable from the second battery-receiving cavity to be receivable into the first battery-receiving cavity for replacing the main battery when the main battery becomes exhausted, and a battery cover, which is assembled onto the spare fixing frame for closing the second opening of the spare fixing frame. 
     In comparison with the prior art, the battery holder according to the present invention comprises a spare fixing frame and at least one spare battery received therein, so that the spare battery can be easily and timely removed from the second battery-receiving cavity of the spare fixing frame to be put into the first battery-receiving cavity of the main fixing frame in order to replace the main battery as the power when the main battery becomes exhausted. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention may best be understood through the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing a conventional battery operated electrical device; 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of  FIG. 1 , showing inside structure of a battery holder of the conventional battery operated electrical device; 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded section view of the conventional battery operated electrical device shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view showing an electrical device in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B of  FIG. 4 , showing inside structure of a battery holder formed on the electrical device in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded perspective view of the electrical device of the present invention shown in  FIG. 4 ; and 
         FIG. 7  is an exploded section view of the electrical device of the present invention shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     With reference to the drawings and in particular to  FIG. 4 , which is a perspective view showing an electrical device I according to an embodiment of the present invention, and  FIG. 5 , which shows inside structure of a battery holder  20  incorporated in the electrical device  1  in accordance with the present invention, the electrical device  1  is operated by at least one battery and comprises a housing  10  and a battery holder  20 , which receives therein at least one main battery  22  and one spare battery  24  received therein. In one preferred embodiment, the main battery  22  and the spare battery  24  are button-type cells, and the battery operated electrical device  1  may be a rangefinder or a laser sighting apparatus. 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , which is an exploded perspective view of the electrical device  1 , and  FIG. 7 , which is an exploded section view of the electrical device  1 , the battery holder  20  is disposed on the housing  10  of the electrical device  1 . The battery holder  20  comprises a main fixing frame  30  located on the housing  10 , a spare fixing frame  40  assembled onto the main fixing frame  30 , and a battery cover  50  assembled onto the spare fixing frame  40 . 
     In one embodiment, the main fixing frame  30  defines a first opening  32 , a first battery-receiving cavity  34  for receiving at least one main battery  22 , and an element-receiving cavity  36  adjacent to the first battery-receiving cavity  34  for receiving a number of conductive components  60 . The main battery  22  is receivable into the battery-receiving cavity  34  through the first opening  32  to provide electrical power to the electrical device  1 . 
     The conductive components  60  received in the element-receiving cavity  36  are adjacent to the first battery-receiving cavity  34  and are set in electrically engagement with the main battery  22 . In detailed words, the conductive components  60  comprise a circuit board  62  located on the bottom of the element-receiving cavity  36 , a circuit-board-fixing sheet  64  located on the circuit board  62 , a conductive board  66  located above the circuit board  62  and the circuit-board-fixing sheet  64 , and a conductive-board-fixing ring  68  located on the conductive board  66 . The circuit board  62  has three flexible spring fingers  620  mounted thereon. The three flexible spring fingers  620  extend through a center hole  640  of the circuit-board-fixing sheet  64  to electrically engage a center conductive portion  660  of the conductive board  66 . The upper surface of the center conductive portion  660  of the conductive board  66  directly contacts the bottom surface of the main battery  22  and the bottom surface of the center conductive portion  660  directly contacts the flexible spring fingers  620 , so that the center conductive portion  660  electrically connects the main battery  22  to the flexible spring fingers  620 . 
     Also provided inside the main fixing frame  30  is a battery-retaining ring  70  that is set in the first battery-receiving cavity  34  and defines a cylindrical retaining cavity  72  for receiving and retaining the main battery  22 . The cylindrical retaining cavity  72  has a wall in contact with a side surface of the main battery  22 . The battery-retaining ring  70  has a bottom surface in contact with the conductive-board-fixing ring  68 . 
     In one embodiment, the spare fixing frame  40 , which functions to close the first opening  32  of the main fixing frame  30 , defines a second opening  42  and a second battery-receiving cavity  44 . At least one spare battery  24  is received in the second battery-receiving cavity  44  and can be removed out of the second battery-receiving cavity  44  and received into the first battery-receiving cavity  34  to replace the main battery  22  when the main battery  22  becomes exhausted. The spare fixing frame  40  has an extending portion  46  and an L-shaped spring member  48 . The extending portion  46  is insertable into the main fixing frame  30  for fixing the spare fixing frame  40  to the main fixing frame  30 , and the L-shaped spring member  48  is disposed on an outer bottom of the spare fixing frame  40  and presses the upper surface of the main battery  22  for application of pressure on the main battery  22 . Moreover, a spare-battery-fixing ring  26  is also received in the second battery-receiving cavity  44  and is used for fixing the spare battery  24 . 
     Inside the spare fixing frame  40 , a first insulating sheet  80  and a second insulating sheet  82  are arranged. The first insulating sheet  80  is located on the bottom surface of the spare battery  24  for separating the spare battery  24  from the main battery  22 . Namely, in one embodiment, the first insulating sheet  80  is disposed on the inner bottom of the second battery-receiving cavity  44  and is arranged between the main battery  22  and the spare battery  24 . The second insulating sheet  82  is located on the upper surface of the spare battery  24  and is arranged between the spare battery  24  and the battery cover  50 . 
     In one embodiment, the battery cover  50  is used for closing the second opening  42  of the spare fixing frame  40  to protect the spare battery  24 . Preferably, a water-tight sealing ring  52  is arranged between the battery cover  50  and the spare fixing frame  40  for enhancing the sealing performance of the battery holder  20 . 
     It is to be understood, however, that 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 function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, 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.