US 5,741,305 AGranted

Keyed self-latching battery pack for a portable defibrillator

AssigneePhysio-Control, Inc.

InventorsStephen T. Vincent, Shawn R. Bertagnole, Richard J. Cardin

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Abstract

A battery pack (28) for a portable defibrillator (30). The battery pack has a latch (34) that is biased in an extended position. When the battery pack is inserted into a battery well (30) in the portable defibrillator, the latch automatically latches into a slot (124) to secure the battery pack in the battery well. Ridges (112) are provided on the floor (108) of the battery well to reduce the friction between the battery pack and the floor of the well as the battery pack is inserted into the defibrillator. A ridge (38) is also provided around the periphery of the top (36) of the battery pack to reduce the friction between the battery pack and the ceiling of the battery well. A right wall (44) of the battery pack is inclined from vertical so that a cross section of the battery pack is trapezoid in shape. The asymmetric cross-section prevents the battery pack from being incorrectly inserted into the battery well. The disclosed battery pack construction simplifies the replacement of the battery pack in the portable defibrillator.

Claims4

Dependent claims

A battery pack for use in a portable defibrillator having a battery well, the battery pack comprising:

(a) a parallelepiped body having a front and a back;
(b) a cell having a positive terminal and a negative terminal contained within the body;
(c) a pair of conductive contacts located on the back of the body, one of the pair of conductive contacts coupled to the positive terminal of the cell and the other of the pair of conductive contacts coupled to the negative terminal of the cell;
(d) a latch located on the front of the body, the latch having a latch member that is movable between an extended position wherein the latch member protrudes from the body, and a retracted position wherein the latch member does not protrude from the body;
and
(e) biasing means to bias the latch member in the extended position, wherein partial insertion of the battery pack into the battery well causes the latch member to move to the retracted position, the biasing means returning the latch member to the extended position after the battery pack is fully inserted in the battery well in order to secure the battery pack in the battery well of the defibrillator.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.