Charging system

Abstract

Charging system for charging batteries or accumulators arranged in electrical or electronic devices (2), such as mobile phones, cordless phones, notebook computers, wireless mice, MP3 players, remote controls and minicomputers, wherein a housing part (1) of the device (2) to be charged is provided with contact elements (3, 4) and with at least two magnetic parts (5, 6) of opposite polarity or with at least two ferromagnetic elements and with a charger (7) which is provided with mating contact elements (8, 9) and with at least two magnetic parts (10, 11) of opposite polarity or with at least two ferromagnetic elements, wherein in any case either in the housing part (1) or in the charger (7) at least two magnetic parts are provided by means of which the contact elements (3, 4) of the housing part (1) can be directly connected to the mating contact elements (8, 9) of the charger (7), and wherein the contact elements (3, 4) and / or the magnetic parts (5, 6 or 7) are10,11) or the ferromagnetic elements and / or the counter-contact elements (8,9) are designed as optical information carriers.

Description

The invention relates to a charging system for charging batteries or accumulators arranged in electrical or electronic devices, such as mobile telephones, notebook computers, radio mice, remote controls, wireless telephones, MP3 players and minicomputers.Batteries or rechargeable batteries which are arranged in mobile electrical or electronic devices for the operation thereof are charged by means of chargers which are connected on the one hand via a cable connection to the plug contact arranged in the device to be charged and on the other hand via a cable to an electric generator. For this purpose, the charging device is either connected to a "conventional" power grid, wherein a conversion of the grid voltage into the required low voltage voltage for the device to be charged is converted in the charging device. There are likewise also charging devices which are connected to the on-board power supply system of a vehicle and which likewise transform the 12V voltage customary in this case to the usually lower charging voltage of the device to be charged. Other types of chargers are operated via a USB port.However, the disadvantage here is that there is no standard and that different plug contacts are present for the devices to be charged, which therefore can only be connected to specific plugs and cables with chargers. This is so far that in some cases even in cases in which the devices to be charged originate from the same manufacturer, such as mobile telephones, different plug connections and charging devices are required by different plug contacts. This means that users having different electrical or electronic devices must keep a correspondingly high number of chargers with different plugs in stock or carry them with them when used out of home.In another type of charging system, the devices to be charged are placed in a charging station or placed on a charging station, wherein the dead weight of the device to be charged determines the positioning and the contact force of the electrical connection. The electrical connection is usually established via spring-loaded contacts in the charging station and fixed mating contacts in the device to be charged.However, a disadvantage of this solution is that the positioning of the device to be charged is often inaccurate, so that electrical contact is not always established. A further disadvantage is that the contact force is often not sufficient for a reliable electrical connection.Regarding the further prior art, reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,729 A, U.S. Pat. No. 5,812,356 A, DE 20 03 391 A and EP 1 865 581 A2, which disclose charging systems and chargers, respectively.The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a charging system which avoids the disadvantages of the prior art, in particular with which the number of charging devices can be significantly reduced, or else the reliability of the charging process is increased.According to the invention, this object is achieved by the features described in claim 1.A charger for direct connection according to the invention to the device to be charged is evident from claim 9.By virtue of the housing part of the device to be charged, which is provided according to the invention with contact elements and with at least two magnetic parts of different polarity or with at least two ferromagnetic elements, and the configuration thereof, the device to be charged can be placed directly on the charger for charging.The contact elements attached to the outside of the housing part are to be connected only on the inside to the batteries or rechargeable batteries arranged in the device. On the outside, the contact elements of the housing part and the magnetic parts or the ferromagnetic elements are to be arranged, designed uniformly in shape and size for devices which are to be charged according to the system according to the invention and also to be adapted or aligned to the mating contact elements and the magnetic parts of the charging device according to the invention for connection to the latter, so that correspondingly also different devices can be connected to the same charging device and thus charged.Since the housing part designed according to the invention can be connected directly to the charger or the device for charging can be placed directly on the charger, separate cable connections can be dispensed with. Overall, therefore, only a single cable is required, which connects the charger to a current or voltage source. In the event that the charger is provided for a charging process from a power supply network, a cable connection can optionally be completely omitted if the charger itself is provided with contact pins for insertion into a socket.In practice, this means that the user can generally manage with two chargers, namely a charger for 230 V (or 110 V for the USA) and a charger for the usual on-board voltage of 12 V in motor vehicles.A further substantial advantage of the charging system according to the invention is that the housing part and the charging device are each provided with at least two magnetic parts of different polarity or with at least two ferromagnetic elements. In this way, magnetic attractive forces are used for an exact connection of the two parts to one another, for which purpose it is of course necessary for at least one of the two parts, namely the charger or the housing part, to be provided with magnetic parts.The magnetic parts according to the invention can be configured and arranged without problems in such a way that they generate magnetic forces that are so high or strong that even larger or harder to charge devices are securely held on the charger during a charging process. This is particularly advantageous in particular when used in a vehicle in which vibrations occur during driving operation.If, in a very advantageous embodiment of the invention, both parts are provided with magnetic parts of different polarity, wherein the magnetic parts of the housing part and of the charger opposite one another for a connection must have opposite polarities, faulty connections between the two parts are avoided, because in this way it is always ensured that the correct contact elements are assigned to one another. The different polarities can be achieved by two separate magnets or magnets arranged at a distance from one another, of which one is designed as north pole and the other as south pole, or by magnets which are designed as so-called "coded" magnets with magnet parts of different polarity which are directly adjacent to one another or adjoin one another. Such a configuration is described, for example, in EP 0 819 327 B1.The charging system according to the invention, via the housing part and the charging device, which can be used practically as a standard part or standardized part, achieves a type of docking station with high energy efficiency, since a large number of different charging devices can be saved in this way.The charging device can also have different designs. For example, it can be designed very flat and integrated into other devices such as computer keyboards, mouse pads, multimedia devices such as televisions, CD players, etc.A very advantageous embodiment of the invention can consist in the contact elements in the housing part being designed as flat contacts which can be brought into charging connection with flat contacts in the charger.The use of flat contacts on the one hand makes the connection between the housing part and the charger simpler and on the other hand, if necessary, it is also possible here to transmit larger currents on account of the higher contact surface, as a result of which the charging process can be shortened.The use of flat contacts in conjunction with the magnetic parts or the ferromagnetic parts is particularly advantageous, since in this case no plug connection with plugs and sockets is necessary. The magnetic forces ensure a perfect and secure connection between the flat contacts.This is advantageous in particular during operation in a vehicle, since the driver does not have to handle a connection in a cumbersome manner in this way and is thus distracted from road traffic. The contact elements and the counter contact elements are self-contained.The flat contacts can be independent parts. However, it is also possible for them themselves to be designed as magnetic parts or ferromagnetic parts.According to the invention, it is provided that the contact elements and / or the counter contact elements and / or the magnetic parts or the ferromagnetic elements are designed as optical information carriers.In this way, these parts can additionally also perform an advertising or information function. For example, a logo, e.g. a company logo, a type or type designation and the like can be applied to these parts or these parts can be formed accordingly.In a special embodiment of the invention, it can be provided that the housing part of the appliance to be loaded is designed as an adapter part arranged interchangeably in the applianceThis embodiment is particularly suitable for mobile telephones whose rear wall is generally removable without problems. The housing part designed as a rear wall according to the invention can be supplied as a type of adapter directly by the manufacturer as an alternative to a conventional rear wall or it is subsequently exchanged for the original rear wall, wherein then a contact connection to the conventional contact connections must naturally be created in the interior of the device. In this way, for example, "older" devices already previously marketed can also be charged with the charging device according to the invention.If the device to be loaded has, in addition to charging connections, also further connections in the form of data interfaces, such as mobile telephones or computers, the data interface can-if necessary-also be ground through the housing part as the adapter part, whereby the data interfaces can also be used when the device to be loaded is connected to the adapter part.Advantageous embodiments and refinements emerge from the exemplary embodiment described in principle below with reference to the drawing.It shows: FIG. 1 shows a rear view of a device to be loaded with a housing part according to the invention as a rear wall; FIG. 2 is a side view of the apparatus of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a front view of a charger; FIG. 4 shows a three-dimensional representation of a device according to the invention according to FIG. 1 placed on the charger according to FIG. 3.The housing part according to the invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is designed as a rear wall 1 of a mobile telephone 2 and is provided with contact elements 3 and 4, which are connected on the inside of the rear wall to charging connections or rechargeable batteries of a mobile telephone 2 when the device is already delivered by the manufacturer with a rear wall provided with contact elements 3 and 4.In the exemplary embodiment according to FIGS. 1 and 2 for a mobile telephone 2 whose batteries or rechargeable batteries are to be charged, the housing part 1 thus forms the rear wall of the mobile telephone 2, which correspondingly replaces the original rear wall or at least a part thereof.If the rear wall as an adapter part is to be replaced subsequently by the original rear wall, a contact connection to the contact connections in the interior of the device must be ensured.The housing part as rear wall 1 is further provided with two magnet parts 5 and 6, of which one magnet part is designed as north pole and the other magnet part as south pole. The two magnetic parts 5 and 6 can optionally also be arranged on the inside of the rear wall 1 for optical reasons, whereby only the two contact elements 3 and 4 protrude from the rear wall 1 on the rear side. Of course, in this case the rear wall must consist of a non-magnetic material, e.g. plastic.As can be seen, the two contact elements 3 and 4 are designed as rectangular flat contacts which, for a satisfactory electrical connection, can optionally also easily protrude beyond the rear wall side. For this purpose, they can optionally also be designed to be elastic or spring-mounted.By being embodied as flat contacts, they can also be provided as information carriers with company logos, type designations, letters, numbers and the like.As can also be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, the magnetic parts 5 and 6 are located between the contact elements 3 and 4, as a result of which the contact elements are at a greater distance from one another. In this way, a higher level of safety against false contacts or short circuits is achieved.FIGS. 3 and 4 show a charging device 7 by means of which the rechargeable batteries of the device 1 to be charged can be charged. For this purpose, it is correspondingly provided with counter-contact elements 8 and 9, which are arranged and designed such that they are flush or flush with the contact elements 3 and 4 when the device 2 is placed or placed on the charger 7. The same applies to magnetic parts 10 and 11 which are likewise arranged in the charger 7, wherein in this case the assignment to the magnetic parts 5 and 6 is of course to be selected such that the magnetic parts to be connected to one another have opposite polarities. This can also be seen in comparison with FIGS. 1 and 3.It is not absolutely necessary, of course, for both the magnetic parts 5 and 6 in the rear wall 1 of the device to be charged and the magnetic parts 10 and 11 in the charger 7 to be magnets. It is sufficient if only ferromagnetic elements are arranged in one of the two parts. This embodiment has the disadvantage, however, that precise contacting then does not necessarily take place between the contact elements 3, 4 and the counter-contact elements 8, 9. In order to avoid incorrect switching, mechanical centring or positioning members in the form of stops, indentations or noses and depressions should then be provided in this case, so that correct placement of the device to be loaded is always ensured.In addition or as an alternative to an elastic or spring-like mounting of the contact elements 3, 4, the counter-contact elements 8, 9 can also be designed to be correspondingly elastic or spring-mounted and, if necessary, likewise project slightly beyond the surface of the charger 7.If necessary, the magnetic parts 10, 11 and / or the counter-contact elements 8, 9 can serve as carriers of information, for example company logos, just as in the case of the rear wall 1.In the exemplary embodiment shown, the charger 7 is provided for a charging process via a socket of a power grid. For this purpose, it is correspondingly provided with contact pins 12 and 13 on the side facing away from the counter contact elements 10 and 11. In such a case, no cable connection at all is then required at all, because the charger 7 can be inserted directly into a socket of a power grid, after which the device 2 to be charged is placed directly on the charger 7 for charging. When charging from the power grid, the charger 7 is to be provided with a voltage conversion device in a known manner.If the charger 7 is provided for a charging process from the socket of a motor vehicle, instead of the contact pins 12 and 13 only a corresponding connection cable is to be provided for a connection to the socket of the motor vehicle.It is also not absolutely necessary for the flat contacts and the magnetic parts or ferromagnetic elements to each consist of two parts. Instead, it is also possible for the contacts designed as flat contacts to be magnets or ferromagnetic parts at the same time.The contact elements, the counter contact elements and the magnetic parts and / or the ferromagnetic elements can each be embodied as round, square or rectangular (as seen in plan view).If necessary, the rear wall 1 can also be designed such that one or more data interfaces (not shown) in the device to be loaded, for example the mobile telephone 2, can be looped through the rear wall 1 to the underside thereof. In this way, data interfaces can also be used in a conventional manner in a rear wall 1 according to the invention if they are not arranged at another location of the housing, for example the underside, independently of the rear wall 1, but rather in the region of the exchanged rear wall.Instead of an oblique arrangement of the charger 7, as shown in FIG. 7, on which the device to be charged is then placed, the charger can of course also be designed in a very flat construction. In such a case, it can be installed or integrated into other components, for example without any particular increase in overall height, or can be connected directly to a device by replacing a corresponding housing wall. This embodiment is suitable in particular for computer keyboards or mouse pads on which, for example, a radio mouse is placed for loading.The same applies, for example, to multimedia devices which are operated via remote controls, such as, for example, televisions, CD players, DVD players or the like. Use for iPo or iPhones, which are trademarks of Apple Computer Inc., is of course also possible. A further advantage of such a configuration and use of the charging device according to the invention is also that in this way, after use of the device to be charged, the device can always be stored at the same location, namely the charging device, and in this way searching for the device to be charged, for example the remote control, when used again is dispensed with.List of reference numbers:1 Adapter part 2 Device 3 Contact element 4 Contact element 5 Magnet part 6 Magnet part 7 Charger 8 Mating contact element 9 Mating contact element 10 Magnet part 11 Magnet part 12 Contact pin 13 Contact pin

Claims

Charging system for charging batteries or rechargeable batteries arranged in electrical or electronic devices (2), such as, for example, mobile telephones, cordless telephones, notebook computers, radio mice, MP3 players, remote controllers and minicomputers, wherein a housing part (1) of the device (2) to be charged is provided with contact elements (3, 4) and with at least two magnetic parts (5, 6) of different polarity or with at least two ferromagnetic elements, and with a charging device (7) which is provided with countercontact elements (8, 9) and with at least two magnetic parts (10, 11) of different polarity or with at least two ferromagnetic elements, wherein in any case either in the housing part (1) or in the charging device (7) at least two magnetic parts are present, by means of which the contact elements (3, 4) of the housing part (1) can be directly connected to the counter contact elements (8, 9) of the charger (7), and wherein the contact elements (3, 4) and / or the magnetic parts (5, 6 or 10, 11) or the ferromagnetic elements and / or the counter contact elements (8, 9) are designed as optical information carriers.Charging system according to Claim 1, characterized in that at least two magnetic parts (5, 6 and 10, 11) with different polarities are arranged in each of the housing part (1) and the charger (7), wherein mutually opposite magnetic parts have opposite polarities in the housing part (1) and in the charger (7).Charging system according to either of Claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the contact elements (3, 4) in the housing part (1) and the mating contact elements (8, 9) in the charging device (7) are designed at least approximately as flat contacts.Charging system according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the magnetic parts (5, 6) or the ferromagnetic elements in the housing part (1) are situated between the contact elements (3, 4) and in that the magnetic parts (10, 11) or ferromagnetic elements in the charging device (7) are likewise situated between the mating contact elements (8, 9).Charging system according to one of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the contact elements (3, 4) and / or the mating contact elements (8, 9) and / or the magnetic parts (5, 6 or 10, 11) or the ferromagnetic elements are designed at least approximately as square or rectangular information carriers.Charging system according to one of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the housing part (1) of the device (1) to be charged is designed as an adapter part arranged in the device (1) in an exchangeable manner.Charging system according to claim 6, characterised in that the replaceable housing part as adapter part (1) is a replaceable rear wall or a part of the rear wall of the device (2) to be charged.Charging system according to Claim 6 or 7, characterized in that a data interface of the electrical or electronic device (2) can be looped through the adapter part (1).Charging device for an electrical or electronic device (2) to be charged, which is provided with counter-contact elements (8, 9) and with at least two magnetic parts (10, 11) with different polarities or with at least two ferromagnetic elements, wherein the counter-contact elements (8, 9) are aligned with magnetic parts or ferromagnetic elements arranged in a housing part (1) of the device to be charged and with magnetic parts or ferromagnetic elements arranged in the housing part (1) in the mounted state of the device (2) to be charged, and wherein the magnetic parts (10, 11) and / or the counter-contact elements (8, 9) are designed as optical information carriers.Charging device according to Claim 9, characterized in that at least two magnetic parts (10, 11) having different polarities are arranged in the charging device (7).Charger according to claim 9 or 10, characterised in that the counter-contact elements (8, 9) are at least approximately designed as flat contact elements.Charger according to one of Claims 9 to 11, characterized in that the magnetic parts (10, 11) are arranged between the mating contact elements (8, 9).Charger according to one of Claims 9 to 12, characterized in that the information carriers are at least approximately square or rectangular.Charging device according to one of claims 9 to 13, characterised in that it is integrated in computer keyboards, mouse pads, multimedia devices and the like or is directly connected thereto.Charging device according to claim 14, characterised in that the charging device is integrated into television sets, CD players, DVD players and the like as multimedia devices or is connected directly thereto.

Images