Citing the need to preserve battery structural integrity by guarding against user attempts to jam a non-compliant battery into a BlackBerry device, a just-published BlackBerry patent app calls for a type of a streamlined battery pack to ensure that the user is inserting a compatible device into their BB.

In the case of this SLIM LINE BATTERY PACK (all-caps are RIM's) invention, the Abstract tells us how the device will look and feel. But to really understand how the functionality I referenced is being advanced, you'll want to read on after the jump.

But let us not get ahead of ourselves here. Let's start with the Abstract:

"A battery pack is configured to reduce weight, enhance battery identification, ensure proper placement of a lid retaining the battery, and facilitate battery pack removal. The battery pack has one or more cells that lack an outer coverage except for a polymer sheathing," the Abstract notes.

"The battery pack includes a mating notch on a terminal plate and may include a fingernail notch and/or one or more guide rails," we're told. "The fingernail notch may be a single depression formed to allow a fingernail to slip onto the battery pack, may be a single depression and a ledge that are side-by-side, or may be formed of multiple ledges and/or depressions. There may be a single guide rail or multiple guide rails. Each guide rail preferably has a hollow interior section that is crossed by one or more ribs or segments.

The above illustrations show the front and rear of this Pack.

Now let's read BlackBerry's take on why these Battery Pack enhancements are necessary, and what exactly is going on here.

It is desirous that the battery pack powering a handheld device be made small and compact to achieve an overall lightweight device. At the same time, it is important that the handheld device be supplied with the correct battery pack for optimal performance and to prevent damage through a physical and/or electrical mismatch. Furthermore, a battery pack needs to be properly mountable for secure placement, easy removal, and reliable contact between the battery pack power and data terminals and the handheld mobile communication device contacts. The lid covering the battery pack should be sufficiently positioned with respect to the battery pack to sufficiently retain the battery pack terminals in contact with the terminals of the mobile communication device and, optionally, spaced to avoid shocks on the lid to be transferred to the battery pack.

Therefore, it would be desirable for a battery in a mobile handheld communication device to safeguard against the placement of an improper battery and the potential resultant damage to the device; to provide a mechanical guide mechanism for a cover or door to ensure proper placement of the door when secured to the device; to provide a mechanism on the battery body to facilitate removal of the battery; to provide a thinner battery package to provide greater ease of use; and to have the connector pins properly contact the battery terminals.

OK, now here is how this new functionality is supposed to work:

The battery pack of the present invention offers improvements over the prior art through a synergy of structural elements. The structural elements and their arrangement may be varied such that certain structural elements appear in one embodiment but not another. The improved battery pack arises from one or more of the following structural elements: 1) placing a notch on the bottom side of the battery aids in preventing placement of an improper battery and acts to retain the battery within the mounting compartment without unnecessary side to side movement; 2) placing guide rails (or guides) on the side of the battery opposite to the terminals, for example, the guides may be ribbed or solid and/or the guides may be molded with ribs or have the ribs removed; 3) a fingernail groove or notch that aids a user to remove the battery--instead of a single groove, there may be multiple parallel grooves in a corrugated manner--the fingernail groove may be flush with the side surface of the battery or may be indented into the battery body; 4) using the "hot melt" method of battery construction to minimize the battery pack size; and 5) the molding at one end of the pins is chamfered to facilitate full contact between the connector pin and the battery terminal