Patent ID: 7824796

Claim:
A battery receptacle for receiving a plurality of batteries for providing a direct current to an electrical device, comprising: a first battery slot defined by a first positive terminal end wall, a first negative terminal end wall, and a first battery support surface between the first positive terminal end wall and the first negative terminal end wall, the first positive terminal end wall supporting a first positive lead for engagement with a positive terminal of one of the plurality of batteries, the first negative terminal end wall supporting a first negative lead for engagement with a negative terminal of the one of the plurality of batteries; a second battery slot defined by a second positive terminal end wall, a second negative terminal end wall, and a second battery support surface between the second positive terminal end wall and the second negative terminal end wall, the second positive terminal end wall supporting a second positive lead for engagement with a positive terminal of another of the plurality of batteries, the second negative terminal end wall supporting a second negative lead for engagement with a negative terminal of the another of the plurality of batteries, wherein the first and second negative leads are coupled to a common negative device lead; a first diode coupled to the first positive lead and to a common positive device lead; and, a second diode coupled to the second positive lead and to the common positive device lead, for connecting the first diode together with the one of the plurality of batteries and the second diode together with the another of the plurality of batteries in parallel between the common positive lead and the common negative lead to provide the direct current to the electrical device and for reducing any reverse current from any one of the plurality of batteries to another of the plurality of batteries when the plurality of batteries are placed in the first and second battery slots.