Patent ID: 7589493

Claim:
A charger comprising: a case that has a battery mounting portion for detachably mounting a rechargeable battery to be charged; a charging circuit, disposed inside the case, for charging the rechargeable battery mounted to the battery mounting portion; a first charging terminal that is electrically connected to the charging circuit, and contacts one of a positive terminal and a negative terminal of the rechargeable battery mounted to the battery mounting portion to charge the battery; and a second charging terminal that is opposite in polarity to the first charging terminal and is electrically connected to the charging circuit, wherein the first charging terminal has a nip portion that is formed by bending a metal plate in a folding manner such that parts of the metal plate are opposed, and a temperature sensor is disposed in the nip portion, wherein the temperature sensor disposed in the nip portion detects the battery temperature in a non-contact state with the terminal of the rechargeable battery through the intermediary of the metal plate of the first charging terminal in contact with the terminal of the rechargeable battery, and both surfaces of the temperature sensor are nipped by the nip portion of the first charging terminal.