Ordinarily, when a battery is removed from the computer to insert a new one, there is a brief power gap (a time gap between when the first battery is removed and the second is inserted). One or more large capacitors may be used to keep power to the circuit during this time period. However, I found a better alternative, which solved various problems:
Figure 1: Combining the output of multiple batteries of possibly different
types. (a) A large number of batteries may be combined,
and in this way, there is also protection from accidental
polarity reversal. (b) Where only two batteries are
needed, a commercial bridge rectifier may be used.
In this case, only 2 of the 4 internal diodes are used.
The diodes dissipate some heat, and must also carry the full current of the maximum anticipated load. Thus it was found that a bridge rectifier, by virtue of its larger surface area, etc., could dissipate the heat, and also be easily sewn into the clothing. The bridge rectifiers used by the author were salvaged from equipment in disposal sites (dumpsters). If a new purchase is being made, the following, diode pairs (rather than bridges which contain 4 diodes) are preferred. The author prefers 32CTQ030-ND which has enough reverse voltage in case 2 batteries in series are both inserted backwards, and enough forward current capacity for electronic flash (e.g. 12 volt Lumedyne which is fused at 30 amps). The following is a list of diode pairs that are satisfactory:
pairs: 30a, 30vr, .4vf, 32CTQ030-ND, $35.04 for ten units 40a, 45vr, .43vf, 40CPQ045-ND, $103.76 for ten units singles (remember: twice as expensive as listed since you need twice as many): 9a, 15vr, .25vf, 95SQ015-ND, $42.14 for ten units 19a, 15vr, .32vf, 19TQ015-ND, $37.13 for ten units