US 4,364,103 AGranted

Battery case for an electrically operated device

OwnerThad L. Harshbargerinventor

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

A battery housing is formed by a pair of side walls, a top wall and a bottom wall. One end of the battery housing is closed and an opposite end is open. The housing forms a compartment adapted to receive through the open end portion a multicelled planar battery of the type employed in a cassette film pack conventionally used in a self developing photographic camera. A pair of electrically conductive leaf spring terminals are secured to the battery housing top wall. Each of the leaf spring terminals has a first contact end portion positioned within the compartment and a second contact end portion projecting out of the compartment. A sliding switch is mounted on the battery housing. Electrical leads connect the leaf spring terminals to an electrically operated device and the switch. The electrically operated device has a voltage rating which corresponds to the voltage of the multicelled planar battery, for example, six volts. In a preferred embodiment, the electrically operated device is a light bulb mounted in the socket of a lens. The switch is operable between a first position and a second position to open and close the circuit and thereby illuminate the light bulb when desired for use as a flashlight. With this arrangement a cassette film pack is reusable after its use in a photographic camera as an energy source.

Claims11

Dependent claims

A battery case for an electrically operated device comprising,

a battery housing having a pair of side walls, a top wall, a bottom wall, and at least one open end portion,
said battery housing forming a low profile battery compartment of a preselected configuration as defined by said side walls and said top and bottom walls,
said battery compartment being accessible through said one open end portion,
an expended cassette film pack containing a multicelled planar battery of the type employed in self-developing cameras as a power source positioned in said battery compartment,
said expended cassette film pack including a housing having terminal ports for exposing electrical leads of said multicelled planar battery,
a pair of electrically conductive terminal strips secured to said top wall,
each of said terminal strips having a first contact end portion selectively positioned within said battery compartment and a second contact end portion projecting from said top wall externally of said battery compartment,
said terminal strips being spring biased to normally urge said first contact end portions downwardly from said top wall to securely make electrical contact with said multicelled planar battery and to securely retain said expended cassette film pack in an operative position within said battery compartment,
a switch mounted on the upper surface of said wall,
conductor means for electrically connecting said terminal strips to an electrically operated device in a circuit, and
said conductor means being connected to said switch with said switch being operable between a first position and a second position to open and close said circuit.

8 more elements

A flashlight comprising,

a battery housing having a pair of side walls, a top wall, a bottom wall, and at least one open end portion,
said battery housing forming a rectangularly shaped compartment,
an expended cassette film pack containing a multicelled planar battery of the type employed in self-developing cameras as a power source positioned in said battery compartment,
said expended cassette film pack including a housing having terminal ports for exposing electrical leads of said multicelled planar battery,
said battery compartment being accessible through said one open end portion for the insertion and removal of said expended cassette film pack,
a pair of leaf spring terminals secured to said top wall,
each of said leaf spring terminals having a first contact end portion selectively positioned within said battery compartment and a second contact end portion projecting from said top wall externally of said battery compartment,
said first contact end portions being urged downwardly from said top wall into said battery compartment to make electrical contact with said multicelled planar battery and simultaneously retain said expended cassette film pack in said battery compartment,
a switch mounted on the top surface of said top wall,
an electric light bulb mounted on the upper surface of said top wall,
conductor means for electrically connecting said leaf spring terminals to said electric light bulb in a circuit, and
said conductor means being connected to said switch with said switch being operable between a first position and a second position to open and close said circuit between said electric light bulb and said multicelled planar battery to turn said electric light bulb off and on.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.