WO1995003642A1

WO1995003642A1 - A latching system

Info

Publication number: WO1995003642A1
Application number: PCT/US1994/006926
Authority: WO
Inventors: Brian J. Hassemer; Scott D. Beutler; Kenneth J. Roback
Original assignee: Motorola Inc.
Priority date: 1993-07-20
Filing date: 1994-06-20
Publication date: 1995-02-02
Also published as: FI951284A; FR2709032B1; GB2285657A; FR2709032A1; ITRM940463A1; KR100221522B1; ES2117552B1; ES2117552A1; ITRM940463A0; GB2285657B; CA2142722A1; PL308148A1; IT1272331B; CN1112382A; AU7113094A; NO950942L; BR9405523A; GB9504954D0; SE9500935D0; KR950703805A

Abstract

The latching system of the present invention uses a ribbed (301, 302) latch (300) molded into the battery housing, a depression latch (504) molded into the radiotelephone housing, and rail connectors (220, 320) molded into the radiotelephone housing to connect a battery (350) to a radiotelephone (200). The battery housing slides along the rail connectors until the battery housing latch (300) engages into the radiotelephone latch (210). The battery housing (350) is removed from the radiotelephone housing (200) by depressing the upper portion (300) of the battery housing latch, thus rotating it out of the depression latch (200) and allowing the battery housing to be slid off the radiotelephone housing (200).

Description

A LATCHING SYSTEM

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to the field of latches and particularly to battery housing latches.

Background of the Invention

To be used in a portable manner, electronic devices require batteries for power. Typically, the batteries are of the rechargeable type and are removable in order to be placed in a battery charger to be recharged or to be disposed of once depleted. In order to attach the battery, typically contained in a housing, to the electronic device, a latch mechanism must be used. This latch may be of the type requiring the housing and the latch be assembled after being molded separately. This type of latch requires greater complexity, labor, and cost to produce. There is a resulting need for a latch that is molded in the housing to reduce the cost of the device.

Summar of the Invention

The latching system of the present invention connects a first device to a second device. The system is comprised of a first latch coupled to the first device. The first latch comprising at least one protrusion that extends substantially perpendicular to a plane parallel to the first device. A second latch is coupled to the second device. The second latch is comprised of a pocket having a size such that the protrusion rests within the pocket when the first device is brought into contact with the second device. At least two sides of each of the first and second devices are coupled by means for coupling. Brief Description of the Drawings

FIG. 1 shows a typical radiotelephone that incorporates the latching system of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the radiotelephone housing incorporating the latch of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the battery housing incorporating the latch of the present invention.

FIGs. 4-1, 4-2, and 4-3 show cross-sectional/operational views of the latches of the battery housing and the telephone housing.

FIGs. 5-1, 5-2, and 5-3 show cross-sectional/operational views of an alternate embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Prefe-π-ed Embodiment

The latch system of the present invention is molded into the housings of the battery and radiotelephone. This reduces the complexity and thus the cost of the radiotelephone. The subsequent discussion of the present invention utilizes a typical radiotelephone, such as is illustrated in FIG. 1. However, the present invention can be used on any radio or other battery powered device that would benefit from a molded latching system. FIG. 3 illustrates the battery housing latch (300) of the present invention. This latch (300) is comprised of two ribs (301 and 302) that, in the preferred embodiment, extend the length of the latch (300). The ribs (301 and 302) are substantially perpendicular to the back of the housing. However, minor angling of these ribs (301 and 302) in alternate embodiments would not affect the performance of the latch (300). Also in the preferred embodiment, these ribs (301 and 302) are angled such that their height above the battery housing back increases as they extend from the housing top (303). Alternate embodiments would use one or more ribs.

At the point farthest from the battery housing top (303), the ribs (301 and 302) have protrusions (304 and 305) that are in the same plane as the ribs (301 and 302) but extend slightly above the height of the ribs (301 and 302). The protrusions (304 and 305) extend from the ribs (301 and 302) via an angled surface. This surface is angled back at a 45° angle from the vertical. Alternate embodiments could change this angle or have the protrusion at a 90° angle to the rib. The portion of the protrusion facing the end of the latch drops off at a 90° single to the end of the latch (300). This angle could also be different for other embodiments. The battery housing latch (300) is surrounded by a cut¬ out area (310) so that it is attached to the battery housing only by a thin, controlled section of material (311) extending along a crosswise axis, slightly angled in the preferred embodiment, through the latch (300). This material (311) is molded into the latch (300) and battery housing (350).

The cut-out section (310), in conjunction with the material (311) connecting the latch (300) to the battery housing (350), allows the latch (300) to rotate a limited amount around the cross-wise axis. When the top (201) of the latch (300) is depressed on the rear of the housing (see FIG. 2, reference

201), the protrusion portions (304 and 305) of the latch (300) are raised up slightly due to the front portion of the latch (300) being depressed and the latch (300) pivoting on the ribs (301 and 302). As will be shown later, this rotation facilitates the removal of the battery housing (350) from the radiotelephone housing (200).

FIG. 2 shows a view of the radiotelephone housing latch (230) of the present invention. The radiotelephone housing back contains a depression (210) forming a pocket that is raised above the radiotelephone housing back. This depression

(210) is located towards the top of the radiotelephone housing back. The front edge of the depression (420 in FIG. 4-1) is angled 45° from the vertical. This is the edge that will contact the leading edge of the battery housing latch (300) as it is slid into place. The depression (210) is just large enough to accept the protrusions (304 and 305) of the battery housing latch (300). The tolerances of the depression's dimensions must be small since the battery housing latch (300) cannot have room to move around. This would cause a rattling noise when the radiotelephone is moved and would give the radiotelephone a low quality appearance to a user.

The sides of both the battery housing (350) and the radiotelephone housing (200) have rail connectors (220 and 320) to connect the sides of the housing to each other. The connectors (220 and 320) on each housing are thin, elongated protrusions from the side of the surfaces. The rail connectors (220 and 320) on each housing (200 and 350) are arranged such that the rail connectors (320) on the battery housing (350) are situated below the rail connectors (220) on the radiotelephone housing (200) when the two housings (200 and 350) are brought into contact. This permits the two housings (200 and 350) to move in only a back and forth direction along an axis extending through the length of the radiotelephone.

In operation, the battery housing (350) is brought into contact with the radiotelephone housing (200) so that the side rail connectors engage. The battery housing (350) is then slid along the back of the radiotelephone housing (200) so that the top (303) of the battery housing is moved towards the top of the radiotelephone housing (403). This movement is illustrated in FIG. 4-1. When the angled edges (410 and 420) of the protrusion

(411) and the depression (210) contact each other, as illustrated in FIG. 4-2, the battery housing latch is forced to rotate upwards on the protrusion end. The battery housing latch pivots about the point of contact of the front edge of the depression and the ribs of the battery housing latch. This illustration makes it apparent that the angled surfaces (410 and 420) provide smoother operation of the latch system of the present invention. If these surfaces were each at 90° angles, the user installing the battery would have to use greater force to engage the latching mechanism.

FIG. 4-3 shows the latches of the battery housing and the radiotelephone housing engaged. The protrusion of the battery housing latch rests in the depression of the radiotelephone housing latch. The vertical portion (430) of the rear of the battery housing latch contacts the vertical portion (431) of the rear edge of the radiotelephone housing latch. This makes it difficult to remove the battery housing since the rail contacts only permit movement in a back and forth direction. These angles resist such a movement. The top of the rear portion of the protrusion has a 77° angle to reduce latch deformation when the radiotelephone experiences impacts such as from a drop.

In order to remove the battery housing from the radiotelephone housing, the front portion of the battery housing latch is depressed. This causes the battery housing latch to pivot about the point of contact of the front edge of the depression and the ribs of the battery housing latch. This rotating action raises the protrusion from the depression and allows the battery housing to be slid back along the rail connectors and then lifted free of the radiotelephone housing. An alternate embodiment of the latching system of the present invention is illustrated in FIGs. 5-1 through 5-3. This embodiment uses the same depression (504) and rail connectors of the preferred embodiment. Additionally, the battery housing latch is coupled to the battery housing in the same rotational manner. The alternate embodiment, however, replaces the ribs that extend the length of the battery housing latch with at least two shorter, flexible ribs (500) that have approximately the same thickness as the preferred embodiment ribs. For clarity, only one rib (500) is shown in the figures. These ribs (500) get their flexibility from an angled cutout (501) extending lengthwise through a large portion of the rib (500).

This alternate embodiment operates by the front edge (502) of the depression (504) forcing the ribs (500) to flex upwards as seen in FIG. 5-2. The battery housing is latched when the tip (503) of the rib (500) is resting in the depression as illustrated in FIG. 5-3. Due to the raised position of the depression (504), the rib (500) is not allowed to re-extend to its original position. The rib (500), therefore, is applying downward pressure on the inside edges of the depression (504), thus holding the battery housing in place.

The latching system of the present invention enables a latch to be molded into the material of the devices to be connected together. This reduces the labor required to assemble a device, thus reducing the cost associated with the device.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A latching system of a power device for connecting said power device to an electronic device, said power device comprising an outer housing having an inner surface and an outer surface, the latching system comprising: a latch member integrally associated with said outer housing of said power device, said latch member extending along a first axis from a distal end to a proximal end and including at least one rib member projecting from said inner surface of said outer housing along a second axis, said at least one rib member having a protrusion adapted to fit into a depression in said electronic device for positively coupling said power device to said electronic device; an attachment member integrally associated with said latch member for coupling said latch member to said outer housing and enabling rotation of said latch member; and coupling elements positioned along at least one edge of said outer housing, said coupling elements being adapted to intercouple with coupling elements of said electronic device.

2. The latching system according to Claim 1 wherein said latch member is adapted to rotate around a third axis when force is applied to said distal end of said latch member.

3. The latching system according to Claim 1 wherein said protrusion is adapted to be released from said depression in said electronic device when force is applied to said distal end of said latch member.

4. The latching system according to Claim 1 wherein said protrusion further includes at least a first edge being angled and wherein the depression further includes a first edge being angled such that, when the power device is coupled to the electronic device, the first edge of said protrusion at least temporarily contacts the first edge of the depression.

5. The latching system according to Claim 1 wherein said coupling elements are adapted to prevent movement of said power device along said third axis.

6. A latching system of a power device for connecting said power device to an electronic device, said power device comprising an outer housing having an inner surface and an outer surface, the latching system comprising: a latch member integrally associated with said outer housing of said power device, said latch member extending along a first axis from a distal end to a proximal end and including at least one rib member projecting from said inner surface of said outer housing along a second axis, said at least one rib member having a protrusion at said proximal end adapted to fit into a depression in said electronic device for positively coupling said power device to said electronic device, said protrusion being released from said depression in said electronic device when force is applied to said distal end of said latch; an attachment member integrally associated with said latch member for coupling said latch member to said outer housing and enabling rotation of said latch member around a third axis when force is applied to said distal end of said latch member; and coupling elements positioned along an edge of said outer housing, said coupling elements adapted to intercoupled with coupling elements of said electronic device for preventing movement of said power device along said third axis.

7. A latching system of a power device for connecting said power device to an electronic device, said power device comprising an outer housing having an inner surface and an outer surface, the latching system comprising: a latch member integrally associated with said outer housing of said power device, said latch member extending along a first axis from a distal end to a proximal end and including at least one rib member projecting from said inner surface of said outer housing along a second axis, said at least one rib member having a cut-out area extending through at least a portion of said at least one rib and being adapted to fit into a depression in said electronic device for positively coupling said power device to said electronic device; an attachment member integrally associated with said latch member for coupling said latch member to said outer housing and enabling rotation of said latch member around a third axis; and coupling elements positioned along at least one edge of said outer housing, said coupling elements being adapted to intercoupled with coupling elements of said electronic device.

8. The latching system according to Claim 7 wherein said latch member is adapted to rotate around a third axis when force is applied to said distal end of said latch member.

9. The latching system according to Claim 7 wherein said protrusion is adapted to be released from said depression in said electronic device when force is applied to said distal end of said latch member.

10. The latching system according to Claim 7 wherein said protrusion further includes at least a first edge being angled and wherein the depression further includes a first edge being angled such that, when the power device is coupled to the electronic device, the first edge of said protrusion at least temporarily contacts the first edge of the depression.