Patent Description:
The webpage https://item. html (retrieved on <NUM> September <NUM>) shows a junction box for an electric meter box, which has two-in and four-out conductive lines. According to the purpose, the two-in and four-out conductive lines disposed in the junction box are utilized to delivering electric power.

<CIT> discloses a battery tester having high precision, which has a casing having an input device and two detecting wires, a microprocessor, a variable loading unit and a battery power status detecting unit. The microprocessor builds a strategic decision process therein to determine a proper resistance of a load for a battery according to the battery capacity, initial voltage and detection requirements having <NUM>/N CCA and loading time. When the resistance of the load is determined, the microprocessor adjusts a resistance of the variable loading unit equal to the resistance of the load for the battery.

Furthermore, <CIT> discloses that a detachable battery status alarm has an alarm device and at least one battery detector. The battery detector is directly mounted on the battery and electronically connected to the battery. The alarm device links to the battery detector to obtain the battery status in a physical connection or a wireless connection.

In addition, <CIT> discloses a battery pack diagnostic apparatus including a communication port, a measurer, and a controller. The communication port provides an electrical connection between the battery pack diagnostic apparatus and a battery management system. The measurer is electrically connected to an output terminal of the battery pack and is configured to measure a voltage and a current of the battery pack. The controller is configured to obtain a first measurement value with respect to a voltage and a current of the battery pack from the battery management system. The controller is further configured to obtain a second measurement value with respect to a second voltage and a second current of the battery pack from the measurer. The controller analyzes a state of the battery pack based on the first measurement value and the second measurement value.

Moreover, <CIT>, which is related to the field of cell safety, discloses a battery safety detection device, a battery module and an electric automobile. The battery module comprises a plurality of unit batteries and an assembly plate, wherein a plurality of positioning holes is formed in the assembly plate with the unit batteries being arranged in the positioning holes. The battery safety detection device comprises a power supply, a detection device, a control device and an alarming device, wherein the detection device is arranged on the assembly plate and is arranged near each positioning hole. As such, the detection device is connected with the control device, the control device is connected with the alarming device, and the power supply is connected with the detection device, the control device and the alarming device. The detection device is used for sending a triggering signal to the control device when the temperature of one unit battery exceeds a preset value, and the control device is used for controlling the alarming device to give an alarm when receiving the triggering signal.

A rechargeable battery is an electronic device widely applied in various fields, and not only needs to be charged but also needs to be tested.

Please refer to <FIG> and <FIG>, which are circuit diagrams of a conventional rechargeable battery B during charging and testing. For charging the rechargeable battery B, the positive terminal and the negative terminal of the rechargeable battery B need to be connected to the positive terminal and the negative terminal of the battery charger C through two transmission lines. For testing the rechargeable battery B, the positive terminal and the negative terminal of the rechargeable battery B need to be connected to the positive terminals and the negative terminals <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> of the test instrument T through four transmission lines.

However, the test instrument T for testing the rechargeable battery B mostly uses a four-line structure wire set of Kelvin connection to obtain higher accuracy, but the battery charger C does not need the four-line structure wire set. Instead, the battery charger C only needs a two-line structure wire set for being connected to the positive terminal and the negative terminal of the rechargeable battery B to charge the rechargeable battery B. Therefore, when the rechargeable battery B needs to be operated between charging and testing, the two-line structure wire set and the four-line structure wire set need to be alternatively connected to the rechargeable battery B by repeatedly plugging and un-plugging the two-line structure wire set and the four-line structure wire set. Accordingly, the structure wastes much time and is not convenient for the user.

Thereby, how to provide a battery connector adapter to solve the problem mentioned above is an urgent subject to tackle.

As aforementioned, the invention concerns a use of a battery adapter (<NUM>) for detachably connecting a first wire set (3a), a second wire set (3b), a rechargeable battery (B) and a battery charger (C). The battery adapter (<NUM>) includes a housing (<NUM>), a positive electrode terminal (<NUM>), a negative electrode terminal (<NUM>), two positive electrode connectors (<NUM>), two negative electrode connectors (<NUM>), and two fuses (<NUM>). The positive electrode terminal (<NUM>) is mounted to the housing (<NUM>), wherein the positive electrode terminal (<NUM>) is configured to connect to a positive terminal (<NUM>) of the battery charger (C). The negative electrode terminal (<NUM>) is mounted to the housing (<NUM>), wherein the negative electrode terminal (<NUM>) is configured to connect to a negative terminal (<NUM>) of the battery charger (C). The two positive electrode connectors (<NUM>) are mounted to the housing (<NUM>) and electrically connected to the positive electrode terminal (<NUM>) respectively by two first transmission lines (<NUM>), wherein the two positive electrode connectors (<NUM>) are configured to detachably connect to two polarity connectors (33a, 34a) of the first wire set (3a). The two negative electrode connectors (<NUM>) are mounted to the housing (<NUM>) and electrically connected to the negative electrode terminal (<NUM>) respectively by two second transmission lines (<NUM>), wherein the two negative electrode connectors (<NUM>) are configured to detachably connect to two polarity connectors (33b, 34b) of the second wire set (3b). The two fuses (<NUM>) are respectively configured to electrically connect to the two first transmission lines (<NUM>) or configured to respectively electrically connect to the two second transmission lines (<NUM>); wherein the two first transmission lines (<NUM>) and the two second transmission lines (<NUM>) are disposed in the housing (<NUM>); wherein two terminals (31a, 32a) of the wire set (3a) are configured to connect to a positive terminal of a rechargeable battery (B) and two terminals (31b, 32b) of the wire set (3b) are configured to connect to a negative terminal of the rechargeable battery (B).

When the user wants to test the rechargeable battery, the user can directly connect a test instrument to the rechargeable battery through a four-line structure wire set.

When the user wants to charge the rechargeable battery, the user can connect a battery charger to the positive electrode terminal and the negative electrode terminal of the battery connector adapter through a two-line structure wire set, and further can connect the two positive electrode connectors and the two negative electrode connectors of the battery connector adapter to the rechargeable battery through the four-line structure wire set.

In summary, the battery connector adapter of the invention provides a design of an adaptor, which facilitates the user not to repeatedly plug the four-line structure wire set in the rechargeable battery and pull the wire set from the rechargeable battery. Instead, the four-line structure wire set can be fixed on the positive electrode terminal and the negative electrode terminal of the rechargeable battery. Therefore, the actions for plugging and un-plugging are easy to perform by interconnecting the battery connector adapter of the invention, and then the user can immediately switch to connect to the battery charger or the test instrument so that the user can swiftly perform charging and testing the rechargeable battery and the accuracy for testing the rechargeable battery can be sustained.

Please refer to <FIG>, which are stereo diagrams and a profile diagram of the battery connector adapter of the invention. The battery connector adapter <NUM> includes a housing <NUM>, a positive electrode terminal <NUM>, a negative electrode terminal <NUM>, two positive electrode connectors <NUM>, and two negative electrode connectors <NUM>. The positive electrode terminal <NUM>, the negative electrode terminal <NUM>, the two positive electrode connectors <NUM>, and the two negative electrode connectors <NUM> are disposed in the housing <NUM>. The two positive electrode connectors <NUM> are electrically connected to the positive electrode terminal <NUM> respectively by two first transmission lines <NUM>, and the two negative electrode connectors <NUM> are electrically connected to the negative electrode terminal <NUM> respectively by two second transmission lines <NUM>, wherein the two first transmission lines <NUM> and the two second transmission lines <NUM> are disposed in the housing <NUM>.

The battery connector adapter <NUM> further includes two fuses <NUM>, which are respectively electrically connected to the two first transmission lines <NUM> or respectively electrically connected to the two second transmission lines <NUM>. The fuses <NUM> include resettable fuses or non-resettable resettable fuses. The battery connector adapter <NUM> further includes two fuse bases (not shown in the figure), which are connected to the two first transmission lines <NUM> or connected to the two second transmission lines <NUM>. The two fuses <NUM> are disposed in the two fuse bases. Moreover, the two fuses <NUM> are detachably mounted in the fuse bases so that the two fuses <NUM> can be replaced when burned out.

The battery connector adapter <NUM> further includes a fool-proof design. In details, in an embodiment of the invention, at least one projecting part <NUM> is disposed in the housing <NUM>, wherein at least one of the positive electrode terminal <NUM>, the negative electrode terminal <NUM>, the two positive electrode connectors <NUM> and the two negative electrode connectors <NUM> is disposed in the at least one projecting part <NUM> so as to be clearly identified as different terminals or connectors by a user. Accordingly, the user can avoid mismatching the terminals or connectors and avoid a short circuit by simultaneously touching the positive terminal and the negative terminal. In the embodiment, the two positive electrode connectors <NUM> are disposed in the at least one projecting part <NUM>. In another embodiment of the invention, the positive electrode terminal <NUM>, the negative electrode terminal <NUM>, the two positive electrode connectors <NUM>, and the two negative electrode connectors <NUM> can be disposed in the housing <NUM>, that is, all of the terminals and the connectors can be disposed inside the housing <NUM> instead of protruding out of the housing. In other words, in the embodiment of the invention, the positive electrode terminal <NUM>, the negative electrode terminal <NUM>, the two positive electrode connectors <NUM> and the two negative electrode connectors <NUM> can be disposed in an exterior of the housing <NUM> or disposed in an interior of the housing <NUM>. Accordingly, the invention is not limited thereto. In addition, the housing <NUM> of the battery connector adapter <NUM> includes a waterproofing material, which can avoid a short circuit when water is sprayed to the battery connector adapter <NUM>.

Please refer to <FIG>, which is a profile diagram of the battery connector adapter in another embodiment of the invention. In the embodiment, the functions of all the elements are the same as the functions of the elements of the battery connector adapter <NUM> in <FIG>, but the difference is that the positive electrode terminal <NUM>, the negative electrode terminal <NUM>, the two positive electrode connectors <NUM>, and the two negative electrode connectors <NUM> are disposed in different positions of the housing <NUM>. Therefore, the positions of the two first transmission lines <NUM> and the two second transmission lines <NUM> disposed in the housing <NUM> respectively correspond to the positions of the two positive electrode connectors <NUM> and the two negative electrode connectors <NUM> and are disposed across in the housing <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>.

Please refer to <FIG>, <FIG> and <FIG>, <FIG> is a schematic diagram of a wire set connected to the battery connector adapter and the rechargeable battery, <FIG> is a circuit diagram showing that the battery connector adapter is connected to the rechargeable battery B by the wire set and the battery charger C, and <FIG> is a circuit diagram showing that the battery connector adapter is connected to the test instrument T by the wire set. The wire set 3a and wire set 3b are respectively connected between the positive terminal and the negative terminal of the rechargeable battery B and the two positive electrode connectors <NUM> and the two negative electrode connectors <NUM> of the battery connector adapter <NUM>. The wire set 3a and the wire set 3b have the same structure, and therefore, only the wire set 3a is labeled in <FIG>.

As shown in <FIG>, the wire set 3a has two terminals 31a, 32a and two polarity connectors 33a, 34a. The wire set 3b has two terminals 31b, 32b and two polarity connectors 33b, 34b. When the user wants to charge the rechargeable battery B, the two terminals 31a, 32a of the wire set 3a are connected to the positive terminal of the rechargeable battery B, and the two polarity connectors 33a, 34a of the wire set 3a are connected to the two positive electrode connectors <NUM> of the battery connector adapter <NUM>. The two terminals 31b, 32b of the wire set 3b are connected to the negative terminal of the rechargeable battery B, and the two polarity connectors 33b, 34b of the wire set 3b are connected to the two negative electrode connectors <NUM> of the battery connector adapter <NUM>. The positive electrode terminal <NUM> and the negative electrode terminal <NUM> of the battery connector adapter <NUM> are respectively connected to the positive terminal <NUM> and the negative terminal <NUM> of the battery charger C. Accordingly, the connection between the rechargeable battery B and the battery charger C is completed by the battery connector adapter <NUM> and the wire sets 3a, 3b.

Please refer to <FIG>, when the user wants to test the rechargeable battery B, the wire sets 3a, 3b respectively connected to the positive terminal and the negative terminal of the rechargeable battery B are stationary, that is, the two terminals 31a, 32a of the wire set 3a and the two terminals 31b, 32b of the wire set 3b maintain to be connected to the positive terminal and the negative terminal of the rechargeable battery B instead of being pulled from the rechargeable battery B. The user only needs to remove the battery connector adapter <NUM> connected to the two polarity connectors 33a, 34a, 33b, 34b of the wire sets 3a, 3b, and respectively connect the two polarity connectors 33a, 34a, 33b, 34b of the wire sets 3a, 3b to the positive terminal and the negative terminal <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> of the test instrument T to perform the connection for the test instrument T. Accordingly, the connection between the rechargeable battery B and the test instrument T is directly completed by the wire sets 3a, 3b.

Please refer to <FIG>, which is a block diagram of the battery connector adapter of the invention. In the embodiment, the battery connector adapter <NUM> can further increase amounts of the terminals and the connectors. In details, the battery connector adapter <NUM> includes a thermal sensing terminal <NUM> and a thermal sensing connector <NUM>, connected to a peripheral temperature display(not shown in the figure), which are used to display a temperature value of the rechargeable battery B while the battery charger C or the test instrument T is connected to the rechargeable battery B. The thermal sensing terminal <NUM> can be disposed in the housing <NUM> or disposed in the rechargeable battery B. The thermal sensing connector <NUM> can be disposed in the housing <NUM> and connected to the thermal sensing terminal <NUM> by at least one third transmission line <NUM>. The at least one third transmission line <NUM> is disposed in the housing <NUM>. Furthermore, in the embodiment of the invention, the positive electrode terminal <NUM> and the negative electrode terminal <NUM> are a SAE terminal, and the two positive electrode connectors <NUM> and the two negative electrode connectors <NUM> are a banana connector. The invention is not limited thereto.

As mentioned above, the battery connector adapter <NUM> includes a rechargeable battery detecting circuit <NUM>, which is used to detect the voltage, the current, the temperature, the internal resistance and the conductance of the rechargeable battery B while the rechargeable battery detecting circuit <NUM> is electrically connected to the rechargeable battery B. The rechargeable battery detecting circuit <NUM> includes a thermal indicator <NUM>, which is used to detect the temperature of the rechargeable battery B while the battery charger C charges the rechargeable battery B. The battery connector adapter <NUM> includes a current indicator <NUM>, which is used to detect the current of the rechargeable battery B while the battery charger C charges the rechargeable battery B. The battery connector adapter <NUM> includes a voltage indicator <NUM>, which is used to detect the voltage of the rechargeable battery B while the battery charger C charges the rechargeable battery B.

As mentioned above, the battery connector adapter <NUM> includes a wireless communication element <NUM>, disposed in the housing <NUM> and electrically connected to the thermal indicator <NUM> of the rechargeable battery detecting circuit <NUM>. The wireless communication element <NUM> is used to wirelessly transmit the temperature of the rechargeable battery B to a smart device, a cloud network or a server. The wireless communication element <NUM> is electrically connected to the current indicator <NUM> of the rechargeable battery detecting circuit <NUM> to wirelessly transmit the current of the rechargeable battery B to the smart device, the cloud network or the server. The wireless communication element <NUM> is electrically connected to the voltage indicator <NUM> of the rechargeable battery detecting circuit <NUM> to wirelessly transmit the voltage of the rechargeable battery B to the smart device, the cloud network or the server. In the embodiment of the invention, the technology for wireless transmission includes ZeeBee/ bluetooth/ wifi/ GPRS/ GSM/ WiMAX/ Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC)/ Wireless Access in Vehicular Environments (WAVE), and so on. The smart device includes the smart phone and the tablet. The server includes the desktop and the notebook. Accordingly, the user can use the wireless transmission technology, the smart phone and the server to remotely monitor the state of the rechargeable battery B. Furthermore, the battery connector adapter <NUM> includes a hard-wire communication element <NUM>, electrically connected to the thermal indicator <NUM>, the current indicator <NUM> and the voltage indicator <NUM> mentioned above, is used to display the value of voltage, the value of current and the value of the temperature of the rechargeable battery B. It should be noted that there is only one hard-wire communication element <NUM> in <FIG>, simultaneously electrically connected to the voltage indicator <NUM>, the current indicator <NUM> and the thermal indicator <NUM>, but in fact, the battery connector adapter <NUM> can include a plurality of hard-wire communication elements <NUM>, separately electrically connected to the voltage indicator <NUM>, the current indicator <NUM>, and the thermal indicator <NUM>. The invention is not limited thereto. In the embodiment of the invention, the technology for hard-wire communication includes Controller Area Network (CAN BUS), Local Interconnect Network (LIN BUS), Flex Ray, Media Oriented Systems Transport (MOST), USB, General Purpose Input Output (GPIO), RS232, RS485 and Inter-Integrated Circuit (IIC Bus).

As mentioned above, the battery connector adapter <NUM> further includes an indicator light <NUM>, disposed in the housing <NUM> and electrically connected to the rechargeable battery detecting circuit <NUM>. The indicator light <NUM> is used to display the state whether the battery connector adapter <NUM> is successfully electrically connected to the rechargeable battery B, or is used to send out an alert signal to warn the user while the rechargeable battery detecting circuit <NUM> is electrically connected to the rechargeable battery B and the rechargeable battery B cannot be successfully charged. In addition, the indicator light <NUM> includes a monitor (not shown in the figure), electrically connected to the wireless communication element <NUM>, the voltage indicator <NUM>, the current indicator <NUM> and the thermal indicator <NUM> of the rechargeable battery detecting circuit <NUM>. The monitor is used to display the state that the battery connector adapter <NUM> is wirelessly connected to the smart device, the voltage value, the current value, the temperature value, the internal resistance value and the conductance value of the rechargeable battery B.

As mentioned above, the battery connector adapter <NUM> further includes a switch <NUM>, disposed in the housing <NUM> and electrically connected to the wireless communication element <NUM>. The wireless communication element <NUM> controls the switch <NUM> by a wireless signal to swiftly turn on or turn off the rechargeable battery B electrically connected to the battery connector adapter <NUM> and wirelessly transmits the state that the rechargeable battery B is turned on or turned off to the smart device, the cloud network, or the server. In another embodiment of the invention, the switch <NUM>, disposed in the housing <NUM> and disconnected from the wireless communication element <NUM>, is used to swiftly turn on and turn off the battery connector adapter <NUM>. The method for turning on and turning off the rechargeable battery B includes the manual control and the remote control performed by the smart device or the server mentioned above.

In summary, the battery connector adapter of the invention provides a design of the adaptor, which facilitates the user not to repeatedly plug the wire set in the rechargeable battery and pull the wire set from the rechargeable battery. Instead, the wire set can be fixed on the positive electrode terminal and the negative electrode terminal of the rechargeable battery. Therefore, the actions for plugging the wire set in and pulling the wire set from the rechargeable battery are easy to perform by connecting the battery connector adapter of the invention. After that, the user can immediately switch the connection to the battery charger C or the test instrument T so that the user can swiftly perform charging and testing the rechargeable battery. Therefore, the accuracy for testing the rechargeable battery can be sustained.

Claim 1:
Use of a battery adapter (<NUM>) for detachably connecting a first wire set (3a), a second wire set (3b), a rechargeable battery (B) and a battery charger (C),
wherein the battery adapter (<NUM>) includes:
a housing
a positive electrode terminal (<NUM>), mounted to the housing (<NUM>), wherein the positive electrode terminal (<NUM>) is configured to connect to a positive terminal (<NUM>) of the battery charger (C);
a negative electrode terminal (<NUM>), mounted to the housing (<NUM>), wherein the negative electrode terminal (<NUM>) is configured to connect to a negative terminal (<NUM>) of the battery charger (C);
two positive electrode connectors (<NUM>), mounted to the housing (<NUM>) and electrically connected to the positive electrode terminal (<NUM>) respectively by two first transmission lines (<NUM>), wherein the two positive electrode connectors (<NUM>) are configured to detachably connect to two polarity connectors (33a, 34a) of the first wire set (3a);
two negative electrode connectors (<NUM>), mounted to the housing (<NUM>) and electrically connected to the negative electrode terminal (<NUM>) respectively by two second transmission lines (<NUM>), wherein the two negative electrode connectors (<NUM>) are configured to detachably connect to two polarity connectors (33b, 34b) of the second wire set (3b);
two fuses (<NUM>), respectively configured to electrically connect to the two first transmission lines (<NUM>) or configured to respectively electrically connect to the two second transmission lines (<NUM>);
wherein the two first transmission lines (<NUM>) and the two second transmission lines (<NUM>) are disposed in the housing (<NUM>);
wherein two terminals (31a, 32a) of the wire set (3a) are configured to connect to a positive terminal of a rechargeable battery (B) and two terminals (31b, 32b) of the wire set (3b) are configured to connect to a negative terminal of the rechargeable battery (B);