Patent ID: 7375494

Claim:
A rechargeable battery assembly, the battery assembly comprising: a rechargeable battery unit; a data and power connector plug, the data and power connector plug constructed and arranged to be connectable to a USB port on a computing or peripheral device; recharging circuitry, the recharging circuitry constructed and arranged to control recharging of the rechargeable battery unit; and, a cap; the battery assembly having a deployed configuration in which the cap covers the data and power connector plug and the battery assembly has the general form of and functions as a conventional battery format, the conventional battery format being one of AAA, AA, C and D cylindrical battery types; the battery assembly having a recharge configuration in which the data and power connector plug is made accessible by moving the cap to enable said data and power connector plug to be connected to said USB port of a computing or peripheral device, wherein the recharging circuitry is configured to draw current from the computing or peripheral device via the data and power connector plug for recharging of the battery.