Contact arrangement having an auxiliary contact
First Claim
1. A contact arrangement for a power device comprising at least one cell, said contact arrangement comprising:
- an external positive contact coupled to a positive node of said at least one cell;
an external negative contact coupled to a negative node of said at least one cell; and
an external charging contact located at least partially outside an area occupied by said at least one cell.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A novel contact arrangement enables selective charging of battery packs or the transfer of information between a battery pack and an electronic device. According to one novel feature of the invention, a charging contact (408) is positioned in a region (410) outside of the area covered by the contacts of conventional cells. Therefore, a charging contact terminal of an electronic device will only apply charging current to rechargeable cells to avoid unintentional charging of any primary cells. According to alternate embodiments, battery contacts can be placed at different locations to selectively charge batteries depending upon the battery type. According to other embodiments, information or data transfer contacts (406) can be located at different locations to enable the transfer of information.
44 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A contact arrangement for a power device comprising at least one cell, said contact arrangement comprising:
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an external positive contact coupled to a positive node of said at least one cell; an external negative contact coupled to a negative node of said at least one cell; and an external charging contact located at least partially outside an area occupied by said at least one cell. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A contact arrangement for a power device comprising at least one cell, said contact arrangement comprising:
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a packaging encapsulating said at least one cell; an external positive contact coupled to a positive node of said at least one cell; an external negative contact coupled to a negative node of said at least one cell; and an external charging contact associated with said packaging and located on said packaging at least partially outside an area adjacent said positive node and said negative node of said at least one cell. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A contact arrangement for a battery pack comprising a plurality of cells encapsulated in a packaging, said contact arrangement comprising:
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a positive contact coupled to a positive node of a first cell of said plurality of cells; a negative contact coupled to a negative node of a second cell of said plurality of cells; a charging contact coupled to said negative contact; and a contact plate associated with said packaging and adapted to receive said positive contact and said negative contact, said contact plate further comprising a flange located at least partially outside an area adjacent said positive node of said first cell and said negative node of said second cell of said plurality of cells for receiving said charging contact.
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16. A contact arrangement comprising:
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a recess adapted to receive at least one cell; a positive contact thermal located in said recess and adapted to be coupled to a positive contact of said at least one cell; a negative contact terminal located in said recess and adapted to be coupled to a negative contact of said at least one cell; and a charging contact terminal located in an area at least partially outside the area occupied by said at least one cell. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. A contact arrangement comprising:
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a recess adapted to receive a plurality of cells encapsulated in a battery pack; a positive contact terminal located in said recess adapted to be coupled to a positive contact of said battery pack; a negative contact terminal located in said recess adapted to be coupled to a negative contact of said battery pack; and a charging contact terminal located in a region outside the area occupied by said plurality of cells and adapted to receive a flange of said battery pack. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. A contact arrangement comprising:
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a plurality of cells encapsulated in a packaging; a positive contact coupled to a positive node of a first cell of said plurality of cells; a negative contact coupled to a negative node of a second cell of said plurality of cells; a contact plate associated with said packaging and adapted to receive said positive contact and said negative contact, said contact plate further comprising a flange located at least partially outside an area occupied by said plurality of cells for receiving a charging contact; and a receiving terminal having a positive contact terminal coupled to said positive contact, a negative contact terminal coupled to said negative contact, and a charging contact terminal coupled to said charging contact.
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Specification