High performance rechargeable battery pack for toy vehicles

Abstract

A battery pack for high performance, radio-controlled toy vehicles, such as high speed vehicles with highly sensitive steering and / or driving (known as “digital proportional”) or other types of high performance toy vehicles / features requiring high voltage / high current. The battery pack provides improved performance for the toy, an improved layout of the pack / battery arrangement, improved safety features, and improved piracy prevention.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application claims priority on U.S. Provisional Application No. 60 / 502,969 filed Sep. 16, 2003 and entitled “High Performance Rechargeable Battery Pack For Toy Vehicles,” the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The instant invention relates to toy vehicles, such as remote control water and land vehicles, such as boats, cars, trucks, snowmobiles and the like. More particularly, this invention relates to an improved battery pack for high performance, radio-controlled toy vehicles, such as high speed vehicles with highly sensitive steering and / or driving (known as “digital proportional”) or other types of high performance toy vehicles / features requiring high voltage / high current. [0003] The improved battery pack of the instant invention has several advantages over prior art battery packs, such as improved performance for the toy, an improved layout of the pack / battery arrangement, improved safety featu...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0006] Toy vehicles have proven to be very popular toys for children and adults of all ages. Many different types of toy vehicles have been provided in the past. For example, toy vehicles have been provided in the form of toy boats, toy cars, toy trucks, toy construction equipment, toy motorcycles, toy snowmobiles and the like. Toy manufacturers are constantly trying to find ways to improve the operation of toy vehicles so that they look and function in a manner that is as real as possible, while also keeping the cost of the toy as low as possible. Many toy vehicles are made as miniaturized replicas of real full-size vehicles. Many such toys also include battery-driven motors that enable the toy to be self-propelled, thereby providing greater realism and further enjoyment for the user. Toy manufacturers are constantly looking for ways to make the toys less expensive and more reliable, while still providing a fun, exciting and safe toy. Toy manufacturers are also trying to provide improved performance for the toys in order to further enhance enjoyment of the toy.

[0009] The instant inventors have found that the conventional battery packs need improvements in order to enable mass-market toy vehicles to include high performance features found in the hobby trade. Thus, a need exists for an improved battery pack that is suitable for powering toys with high performance features, while still enabling the vehicle and the battery pack to be inexpensive, reliable and safe. The instant invention addresses this need by providing an improved battery pack particularly suited for use in toy vehicles with high performance features, such as a high performance radio-controlled snowmobile or the like. The battery pack of the invention incorporates an improved layout of the pack / battery arrangement, improved safety features, and improved piracy prevention.

[0010] The layout of the battery pack arrangement enables a large number of direct current rechargeable cells to be efficiently incorporated into the pack. The number of individual cells can vary depending on the specific current / voltage desired for the particular application in which the pack is to be used. The instant inventors have come up with an advantageous layout design / battery arrangement that takes into account several factors that enable the pack to be economically and advantageously used in a variety of mass market toy vehicles. For example, the cell layout makes optimal use of the limited space available in the pack. The cell layout also facilitates economical manufacturing of the battery pack. In addition, because the increased voltage provided by the pack will generate additional heat, it is necessary to effectively dissipate the heat in a reliable and efficient manner. This instant inventors have found that this can be best achieved by arranging the individual cells in a two layer parallel configuration with a pair of gas relief vents located at a center position on the opposite ends of the pack, respectively. This design allows optimal air convection / flow. In addition, by providing a double layer, parallel configuration of the individual battery cells, the inventors have found that the battery pack fits best in a variety of battery compartments for different radio-controlled vehicles having different vehicle sizes / dimensions. In one preferred embodiment, sixteen individual cells are provided each generating 1.2 volts individually and 19.2 volts collectively. In this embodiment, the individual cells are arranged to two parallel, stacked rows of eight cells each. The increased power generated by this 19.2 volt pack enables increased performance for the toy vehicles, such as faster speed running speeds and / or the ability to climb up and over steeper obstacles. Thus, the invention enables mass-market toy vehicles to perform more like vehicles provided in the hobby trade. The invention is not limited to the above-described 19.2 volt embodiment; rather any number of individual cells can be used in accordance with the instant invention depending on the particular application in which the invention is used. In other words, more than sixteen or less than sixteen individual cells can be used to provide the desired voltage / current for a specific toy vehicle, in addition to the other features of the invention described herein.

[0011] The improved safety features in the battery pack include the incorporation of gas relief vents in a hard plastic case which houses the individual battery cells. The vents are preferably formed by providing cut-out portions on each end of both a first and second outer casing portion used to house the battery cells, such that when the first and second casing portions are mated together the vents are defined in the casing. The vents prevent air pressure from building within the case due to air expansion from heat generated by the pack during operation. In other words, the air pressure is dissipated through the vents so that the air pressure can remain equalized inside and outside the pack. The vents also enable any gas emissions that may be generated from a damaged or decaying battery cell to be dissipated from the pack in order to further improve the safety of the battery pack.

[0012] Another safety feature is provided in the form of bulged and enlarged electrical contact terminals for the battery pack. The bulged and enlarged contact terminals are designed to contact corresponding terminals within the battery compartment of a vehicle in order to provide power from the battery pack to the electrical components of the toy vehicle, such as a motor and a radio frequency (RF) receiver. Unlike the conventional flat and smaller contact terminals provided on conventional battery packs, these improved electrical contacts assure that a completely closed electric circuit is achieved when the battery pack is positioned in the battery compartment of a toy to prevent the possibility of the potentially dangerous electrical phenomenon known as “arcing.” This feature is advantageous in the battery pack of the instant invention due to the increased voltage provided thereby.

Problems solved by technology

Unlike the traditional toy trade, the hobby trade has incorporated high performance features in its hobby quality radio-controlled vehicles, which are typically significantly more sophisticated and expensive as compared to the mass-marketed radio-controlled toy vehicles.

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