EP0392857A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Battery-powered apparatus
Assignee: Dell USA LP
•
Filing: 1990-04-12
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2010-04-12
Abstract
Abstract A battery-powered lap-top computer has a main battery (11) for ordinarily supplying power to the computer circuitry. A reserve battery (12) is connected through an automatic switch (20) to the circuitry. The circuitry is connected to a pair of contacts and the switch is connected to a contact. The main battery has positive (17) and negative (19) terminals, and a removal terminal (18) which is shorter in length than the positive and negative terminals. When the main battery loses its charge, it is removed by a sliding action which slides the terminals past the contacts, the removal terminal being the first terminals to lose contact. This activates the automatic switch, connecting the reserve battery into the circuitry so that when the positive and negative terminals are no longer contacted, the reserve battery will have been supplying and will continue to supply power to the circuitry. A charged main battery is then installed, deactivating the switch, removing the reserve battery from the circuitry. Provision is made for the main battery to slowly charge the reserve battery.
Inventors
- 👤 Gregory Neal Stewart
- 👤 John P. Busch
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-01 15:51
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F1/00; G06F1/16; G06F1/1613; G06F1/1633; G06F1/1635; G06F1/26; H; H01; H01M; H01M50/00; H01M50/20; H01M50/247; H01M50/296; H01M50/204; H01M50/207; H01M50/213; Y; Y02; Y02E; Y02E60/00; Y02E60/10
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 29
Claim 1
Independent Claim
136 words
Battery-powered apparatus which includes: (a) means for accommodating a replacement main battery and a reserve battery, and, (b) means for effecting electrical connection with the main battery, when that battery is in place, and for effecting electrical connection with the reserve battery when the main battery is not in place, in which the means for accommodating the main battery and for effecting electrical connections are capable of signalling that the main battery is being removed, before its electrical connection is broken, and of signalling that a main battery is being inserted, after its electrical connection is effected, and the arrangements for effecting electrical connections are capable of using the signals to effect switching between a main battery and the reserve battery without interruption of the electrical supply to the apparatus, during replacement of the main battery.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
136 words
Battery-powered apparatus which includes: (a) means for accommodating a replacement main battery and a reserve battery, and, (b) means for effecting electrical connection with the main battery, when that battery is in place, and for effecting electrical connection with the reserve battery when the main battery is not in place, in which the means for accommodating the main battery and for effecting electrical connections are capable of signalling that the main battery is being removed, before its electrical connection is broken, and of signalling that a main battery is being inserted, after its electrical connection is effected, and the arrangements for effecting electrical connections are capable of using the signals to effect switching between a main battery and the reserve battery without interruption of the electrical supply to the apparatus, during replacement of the main battery.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
38 words
Battery-powered apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means for effecting electrical connection with a main battery include positive, negative, and removal contacts, for effecting electrical connection with positive, negative, and removal terminals on a main battery.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
65 words
Battery-powered apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the means for accommodating a main battery are such that movement of a main battery is restricted to linear movement towards and away from the positive , negative, and removal contacts, and the positions of the contacts are such that the removal contact and terminal separate first, and engage last , during replacement of a main battery.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
56 words
Battery-powered apparatus comprising: (a) a main battery for supplying power to the apparatus circuitry, (b) a reserve battery for selectively supplying power to the apparatus circuitry, and, (c) an automatic switch, connected to the apparatus circuitry, for switching to the reserve battery upon removal of the main battery, to continuously maintain power to the apparatus circuitry.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
56 words
Battery-powered apparatus comprising: (a) a main battery for supplying power to the apparatus circuitry, (b) a reserve battery for selectively supplying power to the apparatus circuitry, and, (c) an automatic switch, connected to the apparatus circuitry, for switching to the reserve battery upon removal of the main battery, to continuously maintain power to the apparatus circuitry.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
52 words
Battery-powered apparatus as claimed in claim 4, further comprising means for maintaining power from the main battery to the apparatus circuitry during removal of the main battery until the reserve battery positively supplies power to the apparatus circuitry to provide continuous power to the apparatus circuitry during removal of the main battery.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
32 words
Battery-powered apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein the main battery comprises a positive terminal and a negative terminal, and a removal terminal connected to one of the positive and negative terminals.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
44 words
Battery-powered apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the means for maintaining power comprises a contact connected to the automatic switch for contacting the removal terminal and a pair of contacts connected to the device circuitry for contacting the positive and negative terminals, respectively.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
31 words
Battery-powered apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein the apparatus includes a housing, configured to contain the main battery and to allow removal of the main battery through a sliding motion.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
93 words
Battery-powered apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the means for maintaining power further comprises the formation of the positive and negative terminals as longer than the removal terminal and wherein the automatic switch is activated to connect the reserve battery to the apparatus circuitry when power from the removal terminal is removed, whereby removing the main battery by the sliding motion removes power from the removal terminal before power is removed from the positive and negative terminals, activating the automatic switch and ensuring a continuous supply of power to the apparatus circuitry.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
14 words
Battery-powered apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein the automatic switch comprises a relay.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
66 words
Battery-powered apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein the automatic switch further comprises a first, normally conducting transistor, and a second, normally cut-off transistor, wherein the first transistor is connected to keep the second transistor cut-off, and the second transistor is connected to the relay, so that when power is disconnected from the first transistor, the second transistor is turned on, and the relay is activated.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
34 words
Battery-powered apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a charging circuit connected from the main battery to the reserve battery for maintaining the reserve battery in a charged state.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
18 words
Battery-powered apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, which is a digital data handling device.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
66 words
A method of replacing the main battery in battery-powered apparatus without losing power to the apparatus circuitry, comprising the steps of: (a) connecting a reserve battery, through an open switch, to the apparatus circuitry, (b) removing the main battery, and (c) automatically closing the open switch so that the reserve battery supplies power to the apparatus circuitry whereby power is continuously maintained to the apparatus circuitry.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
66 words
A method of replacing the main battery in battery-powered apparatus without losing power to the apparatus circuitry, comprising the steps of: (a) connecting a reserve battery, through an open switch, to the apparatus circuitry, (b) removing the main battery, and (c) automatically closing the open switch so that the reserve battery supplies power to the apparatus circuitry whereby power is continuously maintained to the apparatus circuitry.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
33 words
A method as claimed in claim 14, further comprising the steps of: (d) installing the main battery, and (e) automatically opening the closed switch to disconnect the reserve battery from the apparatus circuitry.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
30 words
A method as claimed in claim 15, after the step of automatically opening the closed switch, further comprising the step of: (f) charging the reserve battery from the main battery.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
74 words
A battery system for battery-powered apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 13, comprising: (a) a main battery for supplying power from the battery system. (b) a reserve battery for selectively supplying power from the battery system, and, (c) an automatic switch for switching to the reserve battery as the source of power from the battery system upon removal of the main battery, to continuously maintain power from the battery system.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
45 words
A battery system as claimed in claim 17, further comprising means for maintaining power from the main battery during removal of the main battery until the reserve battery positively supplies power to provide continuous power from the battery system during removal of the main battery.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
32 words
A battery system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the main battery comprises a positive terminal and a negative terminal, and a removal terminal connected to one of positive and negative terminals.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
40 words
A battery system as claimed in claim 19, wherein the means for maintaining power comprises a contact connected to the automatic switch for contacting the removal terminal and a pair of contacts for contacting the positive and negative terminals, respectively.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
32 words
A battery system as claimed in claim 20, wherein the system includes a housing, configured to contain the main battery and to allow removal of the main battery through a sliding motion.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
90 words
A battery system as claimed in claim 21, wherein the means for maintaining power further comprises the formation of the positive and negative terminals as longer than the removal terminal, and wherein the automatic switch is activated to connect the reserve battery, when power from the removal terminal is removed, whereby removing the main battery by the sliding motion removes power from the removal terminal before power is removed from the positive and negative terminals, activating the automatic switch and ensuring a continuous supply of power from the battery system.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
15 words
A battery system as claimed in claim 22, wherein the automatic switch comprises a relay.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
67 words
A battery system as claimed in claim 23,wherein the automatic switch further comprises a first, normally conducting transistor, and a second, normally cut-off transistor, wherein the first transistor is connected to keep the second transistor cut off, and the second transistor is connected to the relay, so that when power is disconnected from the first transistor, the second transistor is turned on, and the relay is activated.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
36 words
A battery system as claimed in any one of claims 17 to 24, further comprising a charging circuit connected from the main battery to the reserve battery for maintaining the reserve battery in a charged state.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
43 words
Battery-powered apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, including a switch, which comprises a relay, capable of switching between a main battery and the reserve battery, in response to signals that a main battery is being removed or inserted.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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