Field

[0001 ] The present disclosure relates to battery packs, and more particularly to portable or handholdable battery packs. Background

[0002] Battery packs are widely used as back up or stand-by power supplies or sources. With the rapid proliferation of mobile electronic devices such as mobile smart phones and tablet computers and their applications, portable battery packs, commonly known as power banks, have become an almost essential accessory for people with mobile devices.

[0003] Typical power banks comprise a battery or a plurality of batteries, typically a rechargeable battery, a power output port (or a plurality of power output ports), a power input port and a battery management device to facilitate operational management of the power bank during charging and discharging operations. When in use, a user will connect one end of a power cable to the power output port of the power bank and another end to a device to provide 'resuscitative' power to the device.

Disclosure

[0004] A battery pack comprising a battery assembly, a battery receptacle on which the battery assembly is mounted, a main housing on which the battery receptacle is received and a hand operable cable movement mechanism is disclosed. The battery assembly comprises a battery arrangement, a battery management device and a power cord. The power cord comprises a power connector end which is connected to a power connector. The power connector end is movable between a retracted position which is inside the main housing and an extended position which is outside the main housing. The power cord comprises a battery connected end which is distal to the power connector end and which is connected to the battery assembly. The cable movement mechanism is hand operable to move the power connector end of the power cord between the retracted position and the extended position.

[0005] Therefore, the power cord comprises a first power cord end (or the battery connected end) which is connected to the battery assembly and a second power cord end which is the power connector end, the power connector end being distal to the first power cord end.

[0006] In some embodiments, the cable movement mechanism comprises a cable mover which is attached to the power cord at a location intermediate the first power cord end and the second power cord end, and the cable mover is for moving the power cord end between the extended and retracted positions when the cable movement mechanism is in operation. [0007] In some embodiments, the power cord is stored on a cable storage device and is dispensable from the main housing by operation of the cable storage device with or without a cable mover.

[0008] In some embodiments, the main housing comprises a first housing portion and a second housing portion which is rotatable relative to the first housing portion about a central axis of the battery receptacle. Rotation of the second housing portion in a first rotation direction about the central axis drives the cable movement mechanism to move the power connector end towards the retracted position. Rotation of the second housing portion about the central axis in a second rotation direction opposite to the first rotation direction drives the cable movement mechanism to move the power connector end towards the extended position.

[0009] In some embodiments, the one of the first housing portion or the second housing portion is fixedly attached to the battery receptacle and the other one of the first housing portion or the second housing portion which is not fixedly attached to the battery receptacle is to receive the battery assembly or a substantial or major portion of the battery assembly.

[0010] In some embodiments, the main housing is shaped and dimensioned for single palmed holding and single handed operation.

[001 1 ] In some embodiments, the first and second housing portions are movable into relative rotation by thumb-and-finger operation when held on a palm of a user.

[0012] In some embodiments, the first power cord portion is a semi-flexible or semi-flexible flat cable comprising a pair of flexible conductors spaced held together space apart by a semi- flexible or semi-flexible insulator.

[0013] In some embodiments, the battery pack has a lip-stick shape and/or size when in the retracted state.

[0014] In some embodiments, batteries are stacked along a longitudinal axis to form a battery assembly and length of the cable channel is approximately or comparable to the length of the stacked batteries.

[0015] The first housing portion may be an outer housing of the battery pack and the second housing portion may be a top collar member.

[0016] In some embodiments, the first housing portion is a top collar member and the second housing portion is an outer housing.

Figures

[0017] The disclosure will be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying Figures, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view showing an example power pack according to the present disclosure with its power connector in a first, retracted, configuration,

Figure 1 A is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the example power pack of Figure 1 taken along a longitudinal dividing plane A-A' and viewed in direction B,

Figure 1 A1 is the cross-sectional view of Figure 1 A without hatching lines,

Figure 1 B is a perspective view of an example cable assembly according to the disclosure,

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the example power pack of Figure 1 in an alternative configuration with the power connector in a second, extended, configuration and projected outside of a main housing,

Figure 3 is a perspective view showing an example battery assembly according to the disclosure with a power connector in a first, retracted, configuration,

Figure 3A is a perspective view of the battery assembly of Figure 2 with the power connector in a second, extended, configuration,

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the battery assembly of Figure 3 with its top collar member removed,

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the battery assembly of Figure 3 with outer housing moved away from the top collar member,

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the battery assembly of Figure 3 with its top panel removed and the power cord in an extended configuration,

Figure 6A is a perspective view of the battery assembly of Figure 3 with its intermediate housing removed,

Figure 6B is a perspective view of the intermediate housing of the battery assembly of Figure 3 ,

Figure 7 A is a schematic view depicting an example cable movement mechanism of the battery pack of Figure 1 with the power cord in a retracted configuration and with top collar member removed,

Figure 7B is a schematic view of Figure 7A with the top collar member intact,

Figures 8A and 8B are perspective views of example power packs according to the present disclosure,

Figure 9 is a perspective view of an example battery assembly according to the present disclosure, and Figure 9A is an exploded perspective view of a cable storage device of the example battery assembly of Figure 9.

Description

[0018] An example battery pack 100 comprises a battery assembly 120 and an outer housing 138 on which the battery assembly 120 is received. The battery assembly 120 is a battery arrangement comprising a battery 122, a battery management device 124 and a power cord 126 which are mounted on a battery receptacle, as depicted in Figures 1 , 1 A, 1 A1 and 2. The power cord 126 is electrically connected to the battery assembly at one end and is movable between a fully retracted state and a fully extended state. A power connector 127 is connected to a power cord end which is distal to the battery connected end for making power connection with an external device or arrangement. When the power cord 126 is in the fully retracted state, the power connector 127 seats in a power connector receptacle 139A at top end of the battery assembly. When the power cord is in an extended state, the power connector projects away from the power connector receptacle and extends away from the top end of the battery pack 100. A power cord mover 128 is attached to the power cord 126 for moving the power cord between a fully retracted configuration as depicted in Figures 1 , 1 A and 1 A1 and a fully extended configuration as depicted in Figure 2. The power cord mover is attached to the power cord 126 at a location intermediate the battery connected end and the power connector end.

[0019] The battery receptacle 130 comprises an internal support structure. The internal support structure comprises a base portion and a peripheral portion. The peripheral portion extends axially upwards from a periphery of the base portion. Referring to Figures 3, 3A, 4, 5, 6, 6A and 6B, the base portion comprises a base plane 132 having a central axis X. The central axis extends orthogonally through the base plane and passes through a centre of lateral or circular symmetry of the base plane 132. The peripheral portion includes a peripheral wall 134 which projects axially upwardly from the boundary periphery of the base plane 132 and cooperates with the base plane 132 to define a hollow receptacle for receiving a battery. In this example, the battery is a cylindrical battery and the peripheral wall 134 extends or curves along a substantially circular path to surround the cylindrical battery. Where the battery is a prismatic battery, the peripheral wall 134 may curve along a circular path or may extend along a non- circular path of rectangular or polygon shape to surround the battery without loss of generality.

[0020] The peripheral wall 134 of the battery receptacle 130 has an axial height (or an axial length) which is larger than the axial length of the battery to define a circuitry compartment for receiving the battery management device 124. The circuitry compartment has a compartment floor which is axially above the battery top and a compartment wall which is defined by the portion of the peripheral wall projecting above the compartment floor. The height of the peripheral wall 134 is defined by the longitudinal extent of the peripheral wall in the axial direction. The circuitry compartment, including portion of the peripheral wall forming the circuitry compartment, is surrounded by a top collar member which is in the form of a top collar member 137. The top collar member 137 is fixedly attached to the battery receptacle and the circuitry compartment, and is to cooperate with the outer housing 138 to forma main housing of the battery pack. The battery management device 124 includes, for example, charging and discharging circuits for regulating or conditioning charging and discharging operations of the battery and other useful control devices without loss of generality. The charging and discharging circuits are mounted on a printed circuit board and is mounted on the battery receptacle and inside the circuitry compartment.

[0021 ] The peripheral wall 134 does not complete a closed loop in the transversal direction, but stops short of or before forming a closed loop to define an open channel 136. The open channel 136 extends axially along the X direction and is defined by two opposite facing side edges of the peripheral wall. Each of the oppositely facing side edges of the peripheral wall is parallel to the axial direction of the central axis X and offset from the central axis X and the open channel 136 is an axially extending linear channel. The oppositely facing side edges of the portion of the peripheral wall forming the circuitry compartment stop earlier than their counterparts below to define a retracted connector receptacle for receiving the power connector 127 when the power cord is fully retracted. The power connector receptacle 139A includes a connector seat on which the power cord end sits when the power cord is fully retracted. An aperture is formed on the seat to permit passage of the power cord when moving between the fully retracted and fully extended configurations.

[0022] The main housing includes a top member which is a top panel member 139 forming ceiling of the circuitry compartment. A cord outlet aperture through which the power cord head moves in and out of the power cord head receptacle is defined on the top panel member 139. A socket aperture for receiving a power cord head is formed on another side of the cord outlet aperture. A plurality of indicators to display battery or charging condition is distributed on the top member intermediate the socket aperture and cord outlet aperture.

[0023] The peripheral wall 134 (or at least the portion of the peripheral wall 134 which is proximal or in abutment with the open channel 136) is spaced apart from the battery to provide a sufficient depth for receiving the power cord. In general, the radial thickness of the peripheral wall proximal or in abutment with the open channel 136 plus the radial separation or radial spacing between the peripheral wall 134 and the battery is slightly larger than the radial thickness of the power cord, and the width of the open channel, that is the transversal separation between the opposing side edges, is slightly larger than the width of the power cord, so that the power cord can seat inside the open channel 136 and freely translate along the open channel when moved by the cable mover 128.

[0024] A power cord storage compartment is defined in a space between the peripheral wall 134 and the battery. The power cord storage compartment is in abutment with the open channel 136 and is separated from the open channel by one of the two opposing side edges of the peripheral wall 134. Similar to the open channel, the power cord storage compartment extends in the axial direction and is offset from the central axis and from the battery axis. In the example battery pack of Figure 1 in which a cylindrical battery is used as an example, the power cord storage compartment and the open channel 136 are on adjacent or abutting concentric sectors about the central axis.

[0025] A cabling sub-assembly as depicted in Figure 1 B, comprising the power cord 126, the power cord head (i.e. power connector 127), and the cord mover 128 is depicted in Figure 1 B. The cable mover 128 comprises a main body, a top member protruding from a top surface of the main body and a pair of lateral members protruding from lateral surface of the main body. The lateral members are depressed from the top surface of the main body. The main body includes a first axial cabling end for receiving an end of a first power cord portion 126A, a second axial cabling end opposite to the first axial end for receiving an end of a second power cord portion 126B, and an internal network electrically interconnecting the first and second power cord ends so that the first and the second power cords are electrically connected across the cable mover 128.

[0026] The second power cord 126B defines a second power cord portion which extends between the power cord head and the cord mover 128. When in the fully retracted configuration, the cable mover 128 is located at or near bottom of the open channel 136, the power cord head 127 is received inside the circuitry compartment and the second power cord portion 126B extends substantially along the entire length of the open channel 136. In general, length of the second power cord portion is comparable to the axial length of the open channel 136 or of the battery.

[0027] The length of the second power cord portion may be in the range of 25%-100% of the battery length, for example, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, 45%, 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 100% of the battery length and/or any range or ranges selected from any of the aforesaid values, depending on the intended extendable length of the power cord.

[0028] In this example, the second power cord portion is a flat cable comprising a pair of conductors held in parallel separation by an intermediate insulating web which is formed of a semi-rigid or semi-flexible plastic power cord backing. A power cord having a semi-rigid or semi-flexible cord backing is beneficial since the power cord would be sufficiently strong to be driven alone and out of the open channel 136 in response to movement of the cord mover and at the same time flexible enough for flexible connection with power receiving devices at different angular orientations to the central axis.

[0029] When in the fully retracted configuration, the power cord head 127, the cable mover 128 and the second power cord portion is substantially aligned along the longitudinal direction.

[0030] The first power cord 126A defines a first power cord portion which extends between the cord mover 128 and the first power cord end. A substantial portion of the first power cord portion is stored inside the power cord storage compartment when in the fully retracted configuration. The first power cord portion extends downwards from the cable mover and bends upwards to enter into the power cord storage compartment. The first power cord portion comprises two resiliently flexible insulated conductors and the length of the first power cord portion inside the power cord storage compartment is dependent on the instantaneous axial position of the cable mover 128. A bent portion of the first power cord portion transits between the open channel 136 and the power cord storage compartment and the bent portion reciprocates with the reciprocating movement of the cable mover 128. When in the fully retracted configuration, the first power cord portion substantially extends in the longitudinal direction and is parallel to the second power cord portion.

[0031 ] The length of the first power cord portion may be in the range of 25%-100% of the battery length or second power cord portion length, for example, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, 45%, 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 100% of the battery length or second power cord portion length, and/or any range or ranges selected from any of the aforesaid values.

[0032] In some embodiments, the power cord comprises a single power cord which extends continuous to form the first power cord portion and the second power cord portion so that there is no physical discontinuity between the first and second power cord sections.

[0033] In some embodiments, the power cord may be single stranded, multi-stranded, flat cable, round cable or ribbon cable without loss of generality.

[0034] The lateral members of the main body of the cable mover are to function as alignment device for aligning the cable mover 128 so that the cable mover is translatable along the open channel 136 in the axial direction. The lateral members are received in the space between the peripheral wall 134 and the battery with the lateral sides of the main body in abutment or juxtaposing the opposite side edges of the peripheral wall to guide translation movement of the cable mover 128 along the open channel 136. [0035] The top member of the cable mover 128 is a protruding stud member which is to be driven by a hand-operable actuator to reciprocate along the open channel 136 in response to user actuated power cord extending and retracting operations.

[0036] In the example of Figure 1 , the hand-operable actuator is a rotatable outer housing 138 which extends axially between the top collar member 137 and the base plane 132. The outer housing has an internal wall which extends in a circular path transversal to the central axis and centring about the central axis. The outer housing 138 is mounted on the internal support structure of the battery arrangement and is rotatable about the central axis X as a rotation axis. The outer housing 138 resembles the body of a cylindrical can and defines a cylindrical internal compartment. The outer housing 138, the top collar member 137 and the top panel member 139 cooperate to form a cylindrical can body in the example of Figure 1 .

[0037] A helical track 135 is formed on an inside wall or an interior wall of the outer housing which is oppositely facing and surrounding the battery arrangement. The helical track 135 begins at an axial end proximal the base plane 132 and curls around the interior of the inside wall to progress towards a distal end proximal the top of the battery pack in the direction of the top collar member 137. The stud member of the cable mover is received inside the helical track. By rotating the outer housing about the central axis X relative to the battery arrangement, the cable mover 128 will be driven by the helical track to reciprocate or reciprocally translate along the open channel 136.

[0038] In the example of Figure 1 , the stud member is at bottom end of the helical track proximal the base plane 132 when in the fully retracted state and is driven to near top of the helical track proximal the top collar member 137 as depicted in Figures 2, 3A and 6 by rotating the collar in one rotary direction. The stud member, and also the power cord head 127 and the cable mover 128, is returned to the retracted position by rotating the outer housing in the opposite rotary direction for the same amount.

[0039] In the example helical track as depicted in Figures 7A and 7B, the track curls in an anticlockwise manner as it progress upwards towards the top end of the battery pack. By rotating the outer housing in a clockwise manner, the stud member will be translated upwards towards the top collar member 137. When the outer housing is rotated in an anticlockwise manner, the stud member will be translated downwards towards the base plane 132. When the track curls in a clockwise manner, the operations would be in an opposite manner.

[0040] While the helical track is formed on the outer housing in this example, it would be appreciated that the open channel may be formed on the outer housing and the helical track on the peripheral wall 134 without loss of generality. [0041 ] In use, a user holds the battery pack on a hand, with the outer housing gripped by a palm and the top collar member 137 gripped by a thumb and a finger. When the outer housing is rotated about the central axis and relative to the thumb-and-finger gripped top collar member 137, the power cord head 127 will reciprocate into and out of the power connector receptacle 139A.

[0042] An example power pack 200 depicted in Figure 8A comprises a main body having a square outer boundary. An example power pack 300 depicted in Figure 8B comprises a main body having a regular hexagonal boundary. Apart from having a non-circular outer boundary profile, each of the example power packs 200, 300 comprises the features and characteristics of the example power pack 100 and the description in relation thereto is incorporated herein by reference mutandis mutatis with the reference numerals increased by 100 and 200 respectively.

[0043] An example battery assembly 420 depicted in Figure 9 and 9A comprises features and characteristics which are substantially identical to that of the battery assembly 120, except that it has a cable storage device 440. The description in relation to the battery assembly 420 is incorporated herein by reference mutandis mutatis with the reference numerals increased by 300 for the benefit of succinctness.

[0044] The cable storage device 440 comprises a roller cap 440A and a cable carrying roller 444. The cable carrying roller 444 is rotatable about a roller axle which protrudes from a roller base 440B and extends in an axial direction orthogonal or substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the battery 422 or the battery pack. The cable carrying roller 444 is connected to the roller axle by a leaf spring 442 which is helically wound on the axle. The roller cap 440A is fixedly attached to the battery receptacle and has electrical contact terminals connected to a portion of the power cord which is connected to the battery assembly 420. An axle receptacle for receiving a free end of the roller axle and to permit rotation of the roller axle relative to the roller cap 440A is formed on an inward facing base of the roller cap 440A. The roller cap 440A comprises electrical contact terminals for making electrical contact with contact terminals on the cable carrying roller 444 to facilitate making of electrical connection between the power cord portions 426A and 426B. In example embodiments, the contact terminals on the roller cap 440A are disposed at different axial levels to cooperate with contact rings at different axial levels on an axial end of the cable carrying roller 444 proximal the roller cap 440A. The example contact rings are conductive rings which are separately, respectively, and/or electrically connected to the conductors of the power cord portion 426B.

[0045] The cable carrying roller 444 is spring biased by the leaf spring 442 so that when the power connector is pulled away from its stowed position when it seats in the power connector receptacle, the spring energy stored in the leaf spring by compression of the leaf spring will pull the power cord portion back to the stowed position. Therefore, when a dispensing force is applied to pull the second power cord portion 426B in a direction to dispense the power cord out of the battery assembly 420, the dispensing force will act on the cable storage device 440 and to contract the leaf spring to unwind the second power cord portion 426B and the power cord will be released so that the cable storage device will function as a cable dispenser to dispense a length of the power cord. When the dispensing force is no longer present, the leaf spring will spring back to resume its pre-dispensing dimensions and expand back to its neutral state to retract and store the released power cord. In this example, a cable receptacle is formed intermediate the battery receptacle and the base plane 432 of the main housing.

[0046] In this example, the cable carrying roller 444 functions as a cable mover 428 to move the power connector in and out of the power connector receptacle without loss of generality.

[0047] The power connector is for making external power connection, for example, for charging and discharging the battery or the plurality of batteries forming the battery pack. Example power connectors which are suitable for this purpose would include USB connectors, for example USB A, USB B, USB C, micro USB-A, micro USB-B, USB Mini-b (4 pin), USB Mini-b (5 pin), USB 3.0 A, USB 3.0 B, USB 3.0 micro B, etc.; DC power jacks; connectors compatible with devices of Apple Inc., Cupertino, etc., without loss of generality.

[0048] While the disclosure has been explained with reference to examples described herein, it should be appreciated that the examples are non-limiting and are to assist understanding of the disclosure without loss of generality.

[0049] For example, while the flat cable 126 described above comprises two insulated conductors, a flat cable comprising four insulated conductors may be used, for example, to be compatible with devices of Apple, Inc, Cupertino, USA. For example, the first and second power cord portions may comprise four flexible insulated conductors to be compatible with devices of Apple, Inc, Cupertino, USA. In alternative embodiments, the flat cable may comprise a plurality of N insulated conductors, where N is an integer, and the first power cord portion 126A may have N-1 insulated conductors if the main housing is properly connected to the grounding of power management device 124.

[0050] For example, in some embodiments, the cable movement mechanism is arranged such that the power cord head 127 is moved upwards (or outwards) by anti-clockwise rotation of the outer housing 138 and moved downwards (or inwards) by clockwise rotation of the outer housing.

[0051 ] While a standard sized cylindrical battery (18650) has been used as an example herein, the example is only selected for benefit of popularity of the 1850 battery and it should be appreciated that cylindrical, prismatic batteries of other shapes and sizes, for example, AA, AAA, C, D, 9-volt, etc. can be used without loss of generality. Where a plurality of batteries is used, the batteries may be stacked along a battery axis or a central axis and the length of the cable channel would be approximately or comparable to the length of the multiple batteries.

[0052] List of numerals