Hearing Aid Battery Contact Deflection Insulating Surface
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hearing devices face issues with battery contact reliability due to spring mechanisms that relax, causing contact elements to protrude and potentially lead to short circuits when inserting a new battery.
Innovation Solution
A contact element designed with a spring force and an obliquely arranged electrically insulating surface in the battery compartment, which deflects to prevent short circuits by sliding the battery along the inclined surface during insertion and ensures reliable contact when fully inserted.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If spring mechanisms are used to press contact elements against the battery, then reliable electrical contact is achieved, but the spring elements relax after battery removal causing contact elements to protrude and potentially cause short circuits
Solution Approach 1:
The harmful function of the contact element (protruding into the battery compartment) is extracted and separated from its useful function (making electrical contact). The contact element is designed with a rest position where the contact area protrudes into the battery compartment space, but this protrusion is prevented from causing short circuits by the insulating surface that guides the battery during insertion.
Solution Approach 2:
An electrically insulating surface is introduced as an intermediary between the protruding contact element and the battery. This insulating surface serves as a mediator that allows the contact element to protrude without causing harmful electrical contact, while still enabling the battery to be guided into the correct position for reliable contact.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If contact elements are designed to be tiltable like a rocker, then short circuits are prevented during insertion, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of making the contact element tiltable to prevent short circuits (complex mechanism), the invention inverts the approach by making the contact element stationary with a fixed rest position that protrudes into the battery compartment. The prevention of short circuits is achieved not by moving the contact element, but by providing an insulating surface that guides the battery during insertion.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transforms a dynamic solution (tiltable contact element) into a static one (fixed contact element with protruding rest position). The dynamics are transferred from the contact element itself to the battery insertion process, where the battery's movement along the inclined insulating surface achieves the same protective function with simpler mechanics.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a carrier with shield is used to swing the battery into the compartment, then short circuits are prevented, but the ease of operation and device simplicity are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The shield function is extracted from the carrier mechanism and integrated directly into the battery compartment structure as a fixed insulating surface. This eliminates the need for the complex swinging carrier mechanism while maintaining the short circuit prevention function.
Solution Approach 2:
The shield function and the battery compartment structure are merged into a single integrated component. The insulating surface is formed as part of the battery compartment housing, combining the protective shield function with the structural housing, thereby eliminating the need for separate carrier mechanisms.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution prevents short circuits during battery insertion and removal, eliminates the need for complex shielding, and enhances mechanical robustness, ensuring reliable electrical contact over the device's service life.
Implementation Method 1
when the battery compartment is empty, it has a rest position in which a contact area of the contact element protrudes into the space to be occupied by the battery. The contact area is held there by a spring force. When inserting the battery into the battery compartment, the contact area is deflected against the spring force.
Implementation Method 2
The contact element comprises a contact device made of an electrically insulating material, such as a small plastic plate. This has a surface which is arranged obliquely with respect to the insertion direction and on which the battery rests during insertion when the contact area is deflected.
Data Source
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AI summary
A hearing device may have a battery compartment in its housing for storing a battery (12). When closing the battery compartment, there is a risk that a contact element protruding into the compartment may cause a short circuit between the two poles (16, 28) of the battery (12). The object of the present invention is to provide a simple-to-manufacture contacting device for a battery in a hearing device. The hearing device according to the invention has a contact element (14) in a battery compartment (10) designed for electrically contacting the battery (12), which can be deflected against a spring force by inserting the battery (12). A contact area (18) of the contact element (14) thereby presses against the battery (12) when it is fully inserted.The contact element (14) additionally has a mounting device (L) made of an electrically insulating material with a surface (24) arranged at an angle with respect to an insertion direction (E) of the battery (12), against which the battery (12) rests when the contact area (18) is deflected.