Slide 1 Slide 2 Slide 3 Slide 4 Slide 5 Slide 6 Slide 7 Slide 8 Product List
Battery Holders Slide 5

When designing a wireless device, it is important to remember that battery holders are often designed to antagonistic requirements. For example, when battery replacement is anticipated, it should be easy to install and remove a battery, but it should be held securely. At the same time, battery holders frequently are required to be small and lightweight, but need to survive drop and vibration tests. Product designers must juggle all of these competing requirements, but compromises are almost inevitable. For example, an application that utilizes coin-size batteries may call for a very secure battery holder with a tool required to remove the coin cell. A lower cost alternative could call for a looser fitting coin cell with finger notches underneath, making it easier to pry it out. A third solution could call for a latching mechanism that enhances performance, but the trade-offs are added size, weight and cost. One simple way to make a product design more robust is to make the enclosure and the battery holder work as a team. For example, if a design allows for a battery access door; ribs or similar features could be incorporated into the injection molding dies, which turns the inside surface of the door into a battery-holding device. This type of solution can be extremely effective for multiple-battery holders, including 4xAAA or AA holders, where the batteries can have a tendency to buckle if not secure.

PTM Published on: 2010-08-09