Battery Pack Guide Rail Mechanism for Smooth Insertion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional battery pack housing structures in portable information-processing equipment, such as laptop PCs, experience high insertion/pulling resistance and surface damage due to dimension tolerances, leading to unstable housing and potential contact failures.
Innovation Solution
A housing section with guide means that engages with the battery pack's guided portions to maintain a predetermined gap between the mounting flat surface and the ceiling wall until a specific insertion value is reached, ensuring smooth insertion/pulling and stable housing by eliminating the gap for secure contact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the mounting flat surface of the battery pack is slid against the ceiling wall portion of the housing section during insertion/pulling, then the battery pack can be guided into position, but excessively large sliding resistances occur due to dimension tolerances, making insertion/pulling difficult and causing surface damage
Solution Approach 1:
A guide rail is introduced as an intermediary component between the battery pack's guided portion and the housing section's ceiling wall. The guide rail includes a guide surface that contacts the guided portion during insertion, maintaining a predetermined gap between the mounting flat surface and ceiling wall until the predetermined insertion value is reached. This mediator reduces sliding resistance and prevents surface damage while ensuring proper positioning.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a gap is provided between the mounting flat surface of the battery pack and the ceiling wall portion of the housing section, then surface damage is prevented during insertion/pulling, but the battery pack becomes unstable when housed and wear occurs in the connector portion
Solution Approach 1:
The guide rail is designed with different functional sections: a first guide portion that maintains a predetermined gap during most of the insertion process to prevent surface damage, and a second guide portion that eliminates the gap when the predetermined insertion value is reached to ensure stable housing. This dynamic adjustment of the gap resolves the contradiction between preventing surface damage and ensuring housing stability.
3Reliability
If the battery pack is repeatedly inserted/pulled with large sliding resistances, then the connector portion experiences excessive wear, but eliminating the gap entirely causes instability and contact failures
Solution Approach 1:
The guide rail dynamically adjusts the gap between the mounting flat surface and ceiling wall based on the insertion depth. During normal insertion operations, the gap is maintained to reduce wear on the connector portion. When the predetermined insertion value is reached, the gap is eliminated to ensure stable housing and reliable electrical connection, preventing contact failures.
Data Source
AI summary
Information-processing equipment includes a chassis having a housing section, the housing section including an opening portion for insertion of a battery pack, a back wall opposing a mounting end surface of the battery pack, a pair of side walls opposing a pair of side surfaces of the battery pack, and a ceiling wall opposing a mounting flat surface of the battery pack. The side walls having guide rails to engage slot portions on the side surfaces and to guide insertion of the battery pack. The guide rails engaging the slot portions, such that, until the amount of insertion of the battery pack reaches a predetermined value, a predetermined gap is ensured between the mounting flat surface and the ceiling wall, and when the amount of insertion of the battery pack has reached the predetermined value, the mounting flat surface is closer to the ceiling wall to eliminate the gap.