New Microsoft Tech Makes Battery Changes a Breeze

[SG1]

"Don McKenzie" <5V@2.5A> wrote in message
news:897ce6Fje0U1@mid.individual.net...

Tim Wescott wrote:
On 07/02/2010 02:55 PM, Don McKenzie wrote:
New Microsoft Tech Makes Battery Changes a Breeze

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2365995,00.asp

On Thursday, Microsoft announced a technology called InstaLoad, which
will allow you to insert a battery into electronic devices any way you
please.

The InstaLoad technology will be licensed on a royalty-free basis,
Microsoft said. Duracell was named as a partner for the technology, as
well as several manaufacturers of electronic devices, including
ClearSound's hearing aids, NovaTac's LED flashlights, and Black
Diamond's headlamps for mountaineering.

It doesn't quite meet the "not obvious" criteria -- it makes you wonder
why Microsoft is even bothering with a patent.

Just wonder how tested against little children and preying fingers they
are.

Did Micro$oft test them to the nth degree like they did with Vista?

Cheers Don...

Don it was tested as well as ME, only I think if you apply that to a human.
I am in worse shape.

--
Don McKenzie

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[Joe Pfeiffer]

Andrew Smallshaw <andrews@sdf.lonestar.org> writes:

On 2010-07-02, larwe <zwsdotcom@gmail.com> wrote:

Exactly... we use the same general 3D shape to provide battery reverse
polarity protection all the time, it's silly we never thought to do
this. So obvious once you see it!

No I can see why people never thought to do it - it depends on the
batteries themselves having the proprietrary ends. If you were
sat there considering a housign for a particular battery this would
not occur to you since it is not applicable.

From a brief read, this doesn't look like proprietary ends. It seems to
just depend on the standard geometry of normal cylindrical batteries.
--
As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should
be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours;
and this we should do freely and generously. (Benjamin Franklin)

 

[Paul Carpenter]

In article <14046eb0-14fb-40ea-98f1-
293ebbcd982e@e5g2000yqn.googlegroups.com>, zwsdotcom@gmail.com says...

On Jul 3, 1:12 pm, Paul Carpenter <p...@pcserviceselectronics.co.uk
wrote:

Considering the amount of battery operated equipment where I have had
to clean or re-bend the contacts to make it work, this looks like a
scheme with VERY flimsy mechanical mounting.

I think you need to look a bit closer. The contacts are mechanically
one-piece with no tangs sticking out. The spring force is provided by
the leads.

Not according to picture on MS site and their brouchure PDF, they are
small wires from the contacts (two types shown).

What isn't shown in the pictures - and I ASSUME this to be true - is
that once the lead hits the PCB it goes through a right angle and is
either soldered to a significant length of meaty PCB trace, or clamped

The ones I saw shots of require the moulding to hold them and no evidence
of a spring, and require tight tolerance battery length, with no spring
they will deform on a few changes.

to a contact area by the screws that keep the housing together. The
Wii controller uses a very similar mechanism (among other devices of
course), minus the polarity-agnosticism, and it seems very robust.
Passes all our tests anyway.

Considering the tolerances on an AA battery when I was last dealing with
a battery manufacturer (looking at size tolerance testing equipment), the
tolerances are quite large. Especially when you have to deal with almost
any manufacturer.

I suspect this will be another tie in, 'only works with batteries made by
company X and Y' who of course will work out to be the most expensive or
lowest performance.

--
Paul Carpenter | paul@pcserviceselectronics.co.uk
<http://www.pcserviceselectronics.co.uk/> PC Services
<http://www.pcserviceselectronics.co.uk/fonts/> Timing Diagram Font
<http://www.gnuh8.org.uk/> GNU H8 - compiler & Renesas H8/H8S/H8 Tiny
<http://www.badweb.org.uk/> For those web sites you hate

 

[Andrew Smallshaw]

On 2010-07-02, larwe <zwsdotcom@gmail.com> wrote:

Exactly... we use the same general 3D shape to provide battery reverse
polarity protection all the time, it's silly we never thought to do
this. So obvious once you see it!

No I can see why people never thought to do it - it depends on the
batteries themselves having the proprietrary ends. If you were
sat there considering a housign for a particular battery this would
not occur to you since it is not applicable.

I suspect this is actually going to incovenience people in the long
run. Instead of spending a few seconds getting the batteries the
right way round they are goign to have to stock twice as many
batteries - existing types and the ones with the new terminals.
Most consumers have got it into their heads that the flat end of
the battery goes to the spring so it is not that big a deal.

That leads me to a final observation - just how much play is
permissable with those contacts? A sprung contact permits fairly
wide tolerances in battery housings and still make a good connection.
Less than perfect mouldings (or simply the battery not being full
inserted) look like they could cause non-contact or worse, short
the battery.

--
Andrew Smallshaw
andrews@sdf.lonestar.org

 

[who where]

On Sat, 03 Jul 2010 19:34:56 +0100, Baron
<baron.nospam@linuxmaniac.nospam.net> wrote:

Don McKenzie Inscribed thus:

larwe wrote:
On Jul 2, 5:55 pm, Don McKenzie <5...@2.5A> wrote:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2365995,00.asp

On Thursday, Microsoft announced a technology called InstaLoad,
which will allow you to insert a battery into electronic devices any
way you please.

People where I work are kicking themselves that we did not think of
this. It's such an obvious idea.

After sending this info onto to a few private associates, some didn't
understand how it worked, I found this page to be a much better
explanation:

http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/licensing/instaloadoverview.mspx

this is brilliant, takes a bit of reading to understand how it works,
but it allows batteries to be inserted into any gear either way
around.

all done in the connection contacts, no circuitry involved.

Cheers Don...


This technique was tried 20 years ago. It requires precision moldings
with sprung ends which make it expensive.

and the Chinese versions we will be flooded with will (of course) NOT
have that precision, so it will turn into a real clusterfuck on
cheaper appliances.

 

[Oldus Fartus]

Rod Speed wrote:

Oldus Fartus wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Don McKenzie wrote
Tim Wescott wrote
Don McKenzie wrote

New Microsoft Tech Makes Battery Changes a Breeze

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2365995,00.asp

On Thursday, Microsoft announced a technology called InstaLoad,
which will allow you to insert a battery into electronic devices
any way you please.

The InstaLoad technology will be licensed on a royalty-free basis,
Microsoft said. Duracell was named as a partner for the
technology, as well as several manaufacturers of electronic
devices, including ClearSound's hearing aids, NovaTac's LED
flashlights, and Black Diamond's headlamps for mountaineering.

It doesn't quite meet the "not obvious" criteria -- it makes you wonder why Microsoft is even bothering with a
patent.

Just wonder how tested against little children and preying fingers they are.

Just how many children do you know with preying fingers ?

G'day Rod. do you need a couple of whooooooshers to use?

Fraid not, Joyce.

I'm praying some of those prying fingers aren't preying on the unfortunate.

Down, fart.

How the fuck are you Rod, long time no speak.

--
Cheers
Oldus Fartus

 

[Andrew Smallshaw]

On 2010-07-03, Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> wrote:

Andrew Smallshaw <andrews@sdf.lonestar.org> writes:

No I can see why people never thought to do it - it depends on the
batteries themselves having the proprietrary ends. If you were
sat there considering a housign for a particular battery this would
not occur to you since it is not applicable.

From a brief read, this doesn't look like proprietary ends. It seems to
just depend on the standard geometry of normal cylindrical batteries.

Good point. On re-reading the article I see you're right.

--
Andrew Smallshaw
andrews@sdf.lonestar.org

 

[bigbrownbeastie]

isn't this a solution to a non-problem. How many people see the
embossed image and still get it wrong?

The cost of the royalty could be as much as a lossless rectification,
if one really cared about such a feature.

 

[Jon Kirwan]

On Sun, 4 Jul 2010 09:16:11 -0700 (PDT), bigbrownbeastie
<bigbrownbeastiebigbrownface@googlemail.com> wrote:

isn't this a solution to a non-problem. How many people see the
embossed image and still get it wrong?

My wife. Despite knowing well and trying hard, still gets it
wrong at times. Not every device has symbology that is
entirely legible, either. A few have given me a struggle
just to find them.

The cost of the royalty could be as much as a lossless rectification,
if one really cared about such a feature.

From the OP's post: "The InstaLoad technology will be
licensed on a royalty-free basis, Microsoft said."

Jon

 

[Jon Kirwan]

On Sun, 4 Jul 2010 10:17:28 -0700 (PDT), rich12345
<aiiadict@gmail.com> wrote:

On Jul 2, 3:36 pm, Don McKenzie <5...@2.5A> wrote:
it allows batteries to be inserted into any gear either way around.

all done in the connection contacts, no circuitry involved.



People who don't understand how to read the clearly imprinted battery
insertion diagrams on electronic devices shouldn't be using electronic
devices!

Despite knowing well and trying hard, my wife still gets it
wrong at times. As one gets older, eyesight changes.

Besides, not every device has symbology that is entirely
legible, either. A few have given me a struggle just to find
them. Some are quite easy to read. But not all by any
means.

Not that I'm arguing for or against, here. I just don't find
the above a particularly good argument against it.

Like putting an automatic choke and electric start on a chainsaw.
Watch how many people cut their limbs off.

I lost a limb (finger tip) using a device I'd been using
safely for more than 12 years of routine and regular use and
knew extremely well.

I'm not supporting automoatic chokes and electric starts on
chainsaws, either. But your argument here is non sequitur.

Jon

 

[Joe Pfeiffer]

bigbrownbeastie <bigbrownbeastiebigbrownface@googlemail.com> writes:

isn't this a solution to a non-problem. How many people see the
embossed image and still get it wrong?

I've hit the age (53) where my near-vision is going. Seeing that
embossed image (especially when its only embossed and there's no
black-on-white or white-on-black outline) is getting more and more
difficult. So yes, there are a bunch of us to whom that embossed image
is becoming less and less of a useful guide...

While I think this idea is pretty cool, it isn't clear to me
that, in practical terms, it's actually better than the various holder
designs that make it hard to put the batter in backwards or that won't
make contact if you do.
--
As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should
be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours;
and this we should do freely and generously. (Benjamin Franklin)

 

[rich12345]

On Jul 2, 3:36 pm, Don McKenzie <5...@2.5A> wrote:

it allows batteries to be inserted into any gear either way around.

all done in the connection contacts, no circuitry involved.

People who don't understand how to read the clearly imprinted battery
insertion diagrams on electronic devices shouldn't be using electronic
devices!

Like putting an automatic choke and electric start on a chainsaw.
Watch how many people cut their limbs off.

R

 

[Rod Speed]

Oldus Fartus wrote:

Rod Speed wrote:
Oldus Fartus wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Don McKenzie wrote
Tim Wescott wrote
Don McKenzie wrote

New Microsoft Tech Makes Battery Changes a Breeze

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2365995,00.asp

On Thursday, Microsoft announced a technology called InstaLoad,
which will allow you to insert a battery into electronic devices
any way you please.

The InstaLoad technology will be licensed on a royalty-free
basis, Microsoft said. Duracell was named as a partner for the
technology, as well as several manaufacturers of electronic
devices, including ClearSound's hearing aids, NovaTac's LED
flashlights, and Black Diamond's headlamps for mountaineering.

It doesn't quite meet the "not obvious" criteria -- it makes you
wonder why Microsoft is even bothering with a patent.

Just wonder how tested against little children and preying
fingers they are.

Just how many children do you know with preying fingers ?

G'day Rod. do you need a couple of whooooooshers to use?

Fraid not, Joyce.

I'm praying some of those prying fingers aren't preying on the
unfortunate.

Down, fart.



How the fuck are you Rod, long time no speak.

Pretty good, apart from it being winter, my least favorite season.

 

[Meindert Sprang]

"bigbrownbeastie" <bigbrownbeastiebigbrownface@googlemail.com> wrote in
message
news:8e23fff9-b39f-4ed4-bd01-5765a0f4db8d@j4g2000yqh.googlegroups.com...

isn't this a solution to a non-problem. How many people see the
embossed image and still get it wrong?

Well, if I have to replace the four batteries in my digital camera in a dim
environment, I really need my reading glasses to see where the + and -
markings are. Being able to just "throw" the batteries in the hole would be
a great thing.

Meindert

 

[Meindert Sprang]

"son of a bitch" <bitchin_2008@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:4c2ec084$1@dnews.tpgi.com.au...

Most Equip, works well below the Battery Volts.
Depending on the Power Req. can be .2 to .6 voltage drop X 2

Ehhhmm... a total drop of 1.2 - 1.4V on *each* battery voltage of 1.5V seems
quite a show stopper to me....

Meindert

 

[tim....]

"Meindert Sprang" <ms@NOJUNKcustomORSPAMware.nl> wrote in message
news:4c318b3e$0$22937$e4fe514c@news.xs4all.nl...

"bigbrownbeastie" <bigbrownbeastiebigbrownface@googlemail.com> wrote in
message
news:8e23fff9-b39f-4ed4-bd01-5765a0f4db8d@j4g2000yqh.googlegroups.com...
isn't this a solution to a non-problem. How many people see the
embossed image and still get it wrong?

Well, if I have to replace the four batteries in my digital camera in a
dim
environment, I really need my reading glasses to see where the + and -
markings are. Being able to just "throw" the batteries in the hole would
be
a great thing.

If you are "replacing" batteries isn't it just simpler to remember how the
ones you have just taken out were positioned?

tim

 

[Meindert Sprang]

"tim...." <tims_new_home@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:89dlp4Fa73U1@mid.individual.net...

If you are "replacing" batteries isn't it just simpler to remember how the
ones you have just taken out were positioned?

Not if they're inserted vertically. I'd have to feel which ones have the +
on top without glasses....

Meindert

 

[terryc]

On Mon, 05 Jul 2010 09:32:10 +0200, Meindert Sprang wrote:

Well, if I have to replace the four batteries in my digital camera in a
dim environment, I really need my reading glasses to see where the + and
- markings are. Being able to just "throw" the batteries in the hole
would be a great thing.

Could you work it out from the flats/bumps on the flap?

 

[terryc]

On Mon, 05 Jul 2010 10:09:06 +0100, tim.... wrote:

If you are "replacing" batteries isn't it just simpler to remember how
the ones you have just taken out were positioned?

For my canon EOS, four batteries in pairs and the second one falls over
when you take the first out. Then it is a case of reading the +/- signs.

 

[Joe Pfeiffer]

"tim...." <tims_new_home@yahoo.co.uk> writes:

"Meindert Sprang" <ms@NOJUNKcustomORSPAMware.nl> wrote in message
news:4c318b3e$0$22937$e4fe514c@news.xs4all.nl...
"bigbrownbeastie" <bigbrownbeastiebigbrownface@googlemail.com> wrote in
message
news:8e23fff9-b39f-4ed4-bd01-5765a0f4db8d@j4g2000yqh.googlegroups.com...
isn't this a solution to a non-problem. How many people see the
embossed image and still get it wrong?

Well, if I have to replace the four batteries in my digital camera in a
dim
environment, I really need my reading glasses to see where the + and -
markings are. Being able to just "throw" the batteries in the hole would
be
a great thing.

If you are "replacing" batteries isn't it just simpler to remember how the
ones you have just taken out were positioned?

One would think. But in my experience... no.
--
As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should
be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours;
and this we should do freely and generously. (Benjamin Franklin)