Gadgetoid

gadg-et-oid [gaj-it-oid]

-adjective

1. having the characteristics or form of a gadget;
resembling a mechanical contrivance or device.

Charge And Store Your AA Batteries – Concept

I don’t know if anything like this exists, but I’ve always wanted something to keep my rechargeable batteries in check so that they’re always handy and charged batteries don’t get mixed with discharged ones.

If we can’t develop better battery technology, why not focus a little effort on making it more convenient to keep multiple AA (the most common) batteries charged and stored safely.

With 5 remotes, 4-6 wireless Xbox 360 controllers, up to 4 Wiimotes, and a bluetooth keyboard needing batteries in my gaming setup alone it’s pretty clear to see how such a solution, packing an absurd number of rechargeable AA batteries, would be useful.

And that’s without considering the miscellany of other devices that require AA batteries from time to time.

I’ve put together a very rough concept for which I chose to mimic eneloop branding as I think it particularly fits these batteries’ ability to retain a charge for a long period of time – hypothetically whilst being stored in the “hopper” of this desktop or wall-mountable mass battery charging solution.

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Sanyo or their eneloop brand. It just looks pretty, okay!

I’ve no idea how, or if such a solution will work and whether or not it could be made flexible enough to take AAA batteries. Successfully charging so many batteries at once without overcharging any, and whilst automatically ejecting fully charged batteries ready for use could be quite a challenge.

There is, of course, the idea that a simple standard AA charger that can take up to 20 batteries, charge them, and store charged batteries with no ill effect would suffice. But I think a solution such as that in my concepts would be far tidier and more elegant. I’m also not sure if there’s any way to safely store batteries connected to a charging circuit for any length of time.

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008, Blog.