lIlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllIlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
Contents
1. a plurality of specific connector cables which correspond to the possible scanner host pairs which the customer may have When plugged into the scanner the cable 420 itself selects a certain configuration scheme in the scanner 410 The cable 420 may also configure the host interface The cable 420 may be equipped with physical connector elements to ensure that only the correct cable may be even physically plugged into the host Once plugged into the scanner and the host using the scanner itself the operator then scans the label on the cable which completes or confirms scanner host con figuration Besides the bar code label there are other types of labels or tags containing information which may be obtained by a reader device One such label or tag is an RFID tag radio frequency identification tag The RFID tag is normally passive but when activated or prompted by a signal from interrogator the RFID tag emits a signal with its information to a receiving device In one alternative embodiment the cable 320 may include a label 336 comprising an RFID tag instead of a bar code The scanner 310 may comprise an RFID tag interrogator receiver either exclusively or in combination with a bar code scanning mechanism which prompts the RFID tag 336 for its data and receives the data The data is then used to set internal configuration function 10 20 25 30 35 45 50 55 65 10 or the like The programming RFID tag proces2. proper operation Such an operation requires the user to correctly input information into the host computer identifying the particular peripheral Alternately means are provided for scanning a code on the outside of the peripheral which informs the computer of the type of peripheral Some peripherals actually include identifying signals which again inform the particular host of the type of peripheral and software provides the desired configuration Many of these systems still require correct interface hardware In another configuration technique the peripheral includes interface hardware for more than one host com puter When configuring the printed circuit board of the peripheral requires certain hardware configuration in order to be correctly linked to a host computer Such hardware configuration may be effectuated by manually actuable external switches or by internal switches or jumpers within the printed circuit board and or within the host computer which activate or deactivate certain components Such an operation typically requires the expertise of an electronics technician or skilled user and is not a desirable field operation to be performed by the typical user It is desirable to have an inexpensive and easy to use intercon nection system which can be effectively used by the average user 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 2 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an inte
3. 14 and 13 and by electrical connector 163 connecting edge contacts 1 and 17 In the preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in FIG 14 the data reader device 310 is further or alternately configured by reading a label having encoded data thereon such as a configuration bar code 335 which is placed on the interconnect cable 320 By reading the con figuration code 335 the scanner 310 and or the host 340 is configured for the particular application on the basis of the encoded instruction data by means of an internal configu ration routine within the scanner 310 or the host 340 U S Pat Nos 4 866 257 and 4 861 972 herein incorpo rated by reference disclose examples on how a scanner may be configured by scanning a bar code or by downloading information from a host computer Once the bar code has been scanned or the control information the configuration information is stored in a memory preferably a non volatile memory such as EEPROM in the scanner so that repetitive configuration is not required and the configuration of the scanner is not lost when power is turned off Typically the bar codes are contained in the user manual and the user must 10 20 25 35 40 50 55 60 65 8 obtain the manual and then select the correct bar code to be scanned However according to the preferred embodiment shown in FIG 14 the user 305 need only select the correct interconnect cable 320 and the correct bar
4. 4 will be correctly physically connectable to the host computer 15 An interconnect cable 38 without the correct tab con figuration cannot physically be plugged into the host com puter 10 Therefore in order to connect a particular peripheral such as a laser scanner 10 to a particular host computer a cable having the correct tab configurations at both end connectors must be selected The unique physical configurations ensures that the user must select the correct cable for the host computer and peripheral pair The preferred embodiment may only require tab configuration on the host computer end because it is not anticipated that the various handheld scanners will require the dedicated interconnect cables but tab configurations on the peripheral end may be desired in other peripheral applications Further the tab configurations illustrated are but one example means for ensuring proper interconnect cable selection The tabs and slots are readily added to conventional end connectors The design illustrated does not prevent end connectors without tabs from connect ing to the peripheral 10 and the host computer 15 but such design may be modified by one skilled in the art such as by reversing the positions of the slots tabs to prevent such connection Referring to FIGS 3 and 4 the printed circuit board 20 located within the scanner 10 includes an edge connector 21 shown with seven edge contacts 22 numbered 1 through 7 Though there is
5. 5 1993 Pat the interface connector cable In a preferred embodiment No 5 347 113 which is a continuation in part of Ser No the computer peripheral is equipped with one or more 34 189 Mar 22 1993 Pat No 5 330 370 which is a S continuation of Ser No 788 267 Nov 4 1991 abandoned hardware interfaces The interface connector cable has a first end connector for attaching to the computer peripheral The 51 G06K 7 10 first end connector of the interface connector cable is typi 52 US Ct 235 436 235 462 439 489 cally a multiple pin connector constructed and arranged to 439 620 be properly physically and electrically connectable only to a 58 Field of Search occ 439 488 489 specific computer peripheral or class of computer peripher 439 491 620 502 235 462 436 als the first end connector including at least one electrical connection between two pins for completing a circuit within 56 References Cited the computer peripheral thereby enabling the computer U S PATENT DOCUMENTS peripheral Where the peripheral is a data reading device such as a laser scanner or RFID reader alternate or addi 4 579 407 4 1986 Shimada 439 620 tional configuration may be obtained with data reading 4 678 288 7 1987 Lonsdale et al 350 432 device from the label on the interconnect cable The label 4 694 182 9 1987 Howard wu 250 566 which may for example be a bar code or RFI
6. D tag contains 4 699 447 10 1987 Howard we 350 6 9 4 820 193 4 1989 Noorily 439 488 4 861 972 8 1989 Eliott et al 235 462 4 866 257 9 1989 Elliott et al 235 436 4 868 375 9 1989 Blanford 235 462 11 Claims 5 Drawing Sheets information or instructions by which the data reading device and or the host is configured U S Patent octs 1996 Sheet 1 of 5 5 563 402 U S Patent Oct 8 1996 Sheet 2 of 5 5 563 402 21 NO Rw 20 9 52 OO N U S Patent Oct 8 1996 Sheet 3 of 5 5 563 402 UT CC_IN LE U S Patent Oct 8 1996 Sheet 4 of 5 5 563 402 SHIELD VN is BROWN RAN 162 164b 164a C VCC OUT CLKIN_RTN VCC_IN PWR_ENABLE Lea 14 U S Patent Oct 8 1996 Sheet 5 of 5 5 563 402 5 563 402 1 MULTIPLE INTERFACE SELECTION FOR COMPUTER PERIPHERALS RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation in part of application Ser No 08 039 606 Mar 25 1993 now U S Pat No 5 347 113 which is a continuation in part of 08 034 189 filed Mar 22 1993 now U S Pat No 5 330 370 which is a continuation of application Ser No 07 788 267 filed Nov 4 1991 abandoned BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The field of the present invention relates to interconnec tion systems for computers and computer peripherals or more specifica
7. MBONA OT AAA TOO TAK RK BRO VODY RI TN HG US005563402A United States Patent ns 11 Patent Number 5 563 402 Reddersen et al 45 Date of Patent Oct 8 1996 54 MULTIPLE INTERFACE SELECTION FOR 4 902 244 2 1990 Endo et al eccrine 439 488 COMPUTER PERIPHERALS 4 915 639 4 1990 Cohn et al ui 439 488 4 941 845 7 1990 Eppley et 1 439 505 75 Inventors Brad R Reddersen Phillip W Bane y ieee ae F ms Meet 5040 ea RR ar ie d Tera Da Jon P C 5 092 793 3 1992 Stephan Li 235 472 MMams At or Bugene ep 5 181 858 1 1993 Matz et al sses 439 489 6 5 200 597 4 1993 Eastman et al 235 472 73 Assignee Spectra Physics Scanning Systems 5 214 268 5 1993 Doing ee 235 462 Inc Eugene Oreg 5 222 164 6 1993 Bass Sr et al 438 488 5 250 792 10 1993 Swartz et al 235 472 Notice The term of this patent shall not extend 5 330 370 7 1994 Reddersen et al 439 502 beyond the expiration date of Pat No 5 347 113 9 1994 Reddersen et al eessesssseeee 439 489 5 330 370 Primary Examiner John Shepperd Attorney Agent or Firm Lyon amp Lyon 57 ABSTRACT 21 Appl No 305 517 22 Filed Sep 13 1994 An interface selection and configuration system for a com Related U S Application Data puter peripheral in which configuration for the peripheral CU and or the host interface is at least in part accomplished by 63 Continuation in part of Ser No 39 606 Mar 2
8. a distinction between edge contacts and pins for the purposes of the present invention they are interchangeable a pin connector with its mating plug con nector may be interchanged for an edge connector pair or any other suitable electrical contact pair The board 20 is designed and constructed to be operable with a number of host computers by way of an externally activated hardware configuration provided by the intercon nect cable 38 As viewed in FIG 4 in the edge connector 30 the edge contacts 5 and 7 are electrically connected illustrated as being jumped Edge contacts 1 and 3 are also jumped while edge contacts 2 4 and 6 are used for 15 20 30 45 50 55 60 65 4 communication When the interconnect cable 38 is plugged into the printed circuit board 20 edge contacts 1 and 3 of the edge connector 21 are thereby electrically connected and edge contacts 5 and 7 are also electrically connected By so electrically connecting these electrical contacts cer tain circuits within the circuit board 20 become electrically connected resulting in a desired configuration The scanner 10 becomes configured to accept a particular host computer 15 The user has configured the scanner merely by plugging in the correct interconnect cable 38 A similar configuration selection system may alternately or in combination be applied to the host computer connec tion side The edge connector 40 has certain of its edg
9. a format settings parity stop bits data bits hardware handshaking CTS RTS software handshaking Xon Xoff intercharacter delay none 10 ms 20 ms etc UPC Data Format UPA A UPC E Check Digit Number System Digit system specific parameters prefixes suffixes symbology identifiers etc reading restrictions the instructions might restrict the set of codes options that the decoder may have to handle by restricting the reading options the operation speed 5 563 402 9 of the autodiscrimination algorithm the means by which the decoder figures out which code it is seeing may be increased as compared to requiring the algo rithm to consider all code types The preferred actual location on the cable for the encoded label will depend upon the particular application Referring to FIG 5 for example the label 135 is located adjacent the second end connector An alternate location is directly on the second end connector 124 as shown by symbol label 133 on end connector 124 If the second end connector 124 is too small to practically accommodate the label 133 or if the connection location to the data terminal 140 provides incon venient access the label 135 may preferably be located up the cable connector 120 at a suitable distance from the second end connector 124 In general it is impractical to locate the label 135 on the first end connector 122 or immediately adjacent thereto because when the first end connect
10. as identification information to assist the user in selecting the correct cable for the particular scanner and host pair Other or alternate selection means such as color coding may be provided to assist the user in selecting the correct interconnect cable for the particular application FIG 8 schematically illustrates an example cable connec tion scheme 150 for the cable connector 120 of FIG 5 Color 5 563 402 7 coded cable wires Brown Orange Black Yellow Green White provide desired electrical communication path between edge contacts nos 10 9 18 etc in the first end connector 122 and respective pin contacts nos 4 3 7 etc in the second end connector 124 The cable connector 120 also includes peripheral configuration selection by electrical connector 121 connecting edge contacts 14 and 13 and by electrical connector 123 connecting edge contacts 1 and 17 FIGS 9 12 illustrate another preferred alternate embodi ment in which the peripheral is a handheld data reading device 155 such as a bar code laser scanner a CCD reader or other device The scanner 155 is attached to a host diagrammatically illustrated as a data terminal 180 by a connector cable 160 with a first end connector 162 plugged into the scanner 155 and the second end connector 164 plugged into the data terminal 180 The connector cable 160 is provided with a label 175 which contains encoded data which may be read by the data reader 155 The label 175 m
11. ay for example be a separate tag on which a bar code is imprinted or the bar code label may be imprinted directly on the cable 160 itself As described in detail below if required the user may at least partly configure the scanner 155 merely by scanning the bar code label 175 An internal operation routine within the scanner 155 then configures the scanner itself on the basis of the configuration information provided by the bar code As best shown in FIG 10 the first end connector 162 is illustrated as an edge connector having a plurality of edge contacts including contacts 162a 162b for connection into a corresponding connector in the handle of the scanner 155 FIGS 9 and 11 illustrate the second end connector 164 as a plug connector similar to the type conventionally used on home telephones having a plurality of wire connectors including wire connectors 164a 164b for connection into a corresponding connector in the data terminal 180 FIG 12 schematically illustrates an example cable con nection scheme 190 for the cable connector 160 of FIG 9 Color coded cable wires Brown Orange Black Yellow Green White provide desired electrical communication path between edge contacts nos 10 9 18 etc in the first end connector 162 and respective contacts nos 1 2 3 4 in the second end connector 164 The cable connector 160 also includes peripheral configuration selection by electrical connector 161 connecting edge contacts
12. claim 1 wherein the function being set is a parameter selected from the group consisting of interface identification settings communication parameters commu nication baud rate data format settings system specific parameters reading restriction parameters 8 A handheld data reading device comprising a housing and a connector cable detachably connectable to the reading 5 563 402 11 device the connector cable being changeable by connecting to and being disconnected from the reading device wherein the reading device has an internal parameter which is changeable by changing the connector cable 9 A handheld data reading device according to claim 8 wherein the housing comprises a handle portion the con nector cable being connectable to the handle portion 10 A handheld data reading device according to claim 8 wherein the connector cable includes an RFID tag and the reading device includes an interrogator such that when the reading device is activated the reading device sends out an interrogation signal which prompts the RFID tag to emit the data used for setting the function of the data reader 11 A method for setting an internal parameter of a first electronic device to correspond for use with a second 5 10 12 electronic device being connected thereto by an interconnect cable comprising the steps of selecting an interconnect cable corresponding to the first electronic device and the second electronic device connectin
13. code label 335 to be scanned is automatically selected since it is on the cable itself Moreover being on the cable the bar code is readily accessible and locatable without having to locate the user manual Though once the system has been initially config ured the system will preferably store the configuration information if it becomes necessary to reconfigure the configuration bar code 335 remains readily accessible on the cable 320 In order to ensure that a scanner is not inadvertently reconfigured a configuration switch may be provided which must be actuated to place the scanner in programming mode Once the switch is actuated the scanner enters programming mode enabling the programming label 335 on the cable to be read and configure the scanner The switch may be a hardware switch such as a dip switch 312 see FIG 14 on the housing of the scanner 310 Alternately programming mode may be entered and exited if desired by a soft switch such as a switch label 337 located on the cable 320 Though the configuring bar code conveniently appears on the inter connect cable configuration bar codes i e the same bar code as appearing on the cable as well as additional bar codes may nonetheless be provided in the user manual to allow the user to configure the peripheral as desired such as to specific user optional settings Alternately the program ming label may be positioned on the host computer or terminal Such a location may be less
14. cting an interconnect cable corresponding to the data reader and a particular host device the interconnect cable having a label thereon containing data which may be obtained by the data reader connecting a first end of the interconnect cable to the data reader a second end to the host device activating the data reader and the host obtaining the data from the label on the interconnect cable setting the function of the data reader on the basis of the data obtained from the label 2 A method for setting a function of a data reader according to claim 1 wherein the data reader comprises a handheld laser scanner 3 A method for setting a function of a data reader according to claim 1 further comprising the step of ensuring a correct interconnect cable is selected for the particular host device and the data reader 4 A method for setting a function of a data reader according to claim 1 wherein the label comprises a bar code label and the data reader comprises a handheld bar code reader 5 A method for setting a function of a data reader according to claim 1 wherein the label comprises a radio frequency identification tag and the data reader comprises a radio frequency identification reader 6 A method for setting a function of a data reader according to claim 1 wherein the connector cable includes an end connector the label being located on the end con nector 7 A method for setting a function of a data reader according to
15. dentifying code 39 As described above the handheld data reader or other computer peripheral is generally connected by a connector cable to a given host or interface The host or interface is typically a host computer such as a central processing unit CPU or other intermediate device which in tum commu nicates with the CPU The host may be a communication module such as an RF transmitter which is provides a radio frequency communication link to the host computer In such an application the cable is nonetheless connected to the host computer or CPU albeit through the communication module If the peripheral is a printer for example the host may be a network interface into which the connector cable is plugged which is in turn connected to the host computer There are myriad of potential hosts for a given peripheral By way of another example FIG 13 illustrates a system in which a handheld bar code scanner 210 is connected to a key entry termina 230 The interconnect cable 220 has a first end connector 222 plugged into the handheld bar code scanner 210 The second end connector 224 is actually plugged into a translator module 235 sometimes called a wedge which converts the signal transmitted from the scanner 210 into a signal of the same form as that produced by the key entry terminal 230 The key entry terminal 230 is in turn connected by a suitable communication link 237 to the central processing unit 240 In this arrangement the
16. desirable since dif ferent scanners may be plugged into the same host possibly requiring different programming labels Alternately the pro gram switch label may be positioned on the host as shown by the label 342 on the host 340 of FIG 14 The user would then scan the label 342 to switch to programming mode and then scan the programming label 335 on the cable 320 Configuration on the basis of the encoded data instruc tions obtained by reading the label or bar code 335 may be accomplished by a suitable internal configuration routine For example the routine may configure by way of selecting proper internal switch settings or by selecting and running a given protocol program The data reader preferably stores its configuration parameters in a non volatile programmable memory such as EEPROM These parameters may be set by manual programming or reset by the configuration routine The instructions from the label may cause the software in the data reader to execute a series of commands resulting in the setting or resetting of the EEPROM stored parameters Configuration selection or parameters change or set a particular function for the peripheral Possible configuration selections or parameters may include by way of example for a handheld scanner interface identification for a laser scanner may include Undecoded IBM 4683 OCIA RS 232 Wand Emula tion etc communication parameters such as baud rate 2400 baud 9600 baud etc dat
17. e contacts 42 electrically connected in the illustrated example pins 5 and 7 of the edge connector 40 are jumped When the edge connector 40 is plugged into the edge connector 18 of host computer 15 edge contacts 5 and 7 within the edge connector 18 become electrically connected completing a circuit within the host computer 15 thereby configuring the host computer 15 for the particular peripheral The user may therefore configure the host computer 15 for the particular scanner 10 by merely selecting and plugging in the correct interconnect cable 38 In practice the user would be provided with a single peripheral such as a scanner and several interconnect cables To connect the scanner the user would merely select the interconnect cable corresponding to the particular host computer and plug it into the scanner The interconnect cable would then configure the scanner for the particular host computer To move the scanner to a different host computer the user would merely have to switch cables The intercon nect cable 38 may be provided with means for identifying such as identifying markings 39 imprinted directly on the interconnect cable 38 itself color coding a label with identification information connected to the cable 38 or the like to assist the user in selecting the correct interconnect cable for the given host The illustrated seven edge connector embodiment is a simplified example for a connector design Electrical contact co
18. figuration or change configuration when switching host computers the peripheral is configured merely by selecting the correct interconnect cable 38 The electrically connected pins in the end connector of the interconnect cable provide the switch ing necessary within the scanner 10 activating or deacti vating certain circuits thereby configuring the scanner 10 for the particular host computer The interconnect cable 38 may be designed in any suitable manner In FIGS 3 and 4 illustrate jump connections between the respective edge contacts 32 of edge connector 30 or edge contacts 42 of edge connector 40 other electrical connection mechanisms may be employed The contacts may be electrically connected by a simple hard wire connection The interconnect cable 38 itself may include a printed circuit board 50 preferably in a unitary structure which may provides the desired electrical connection between the pins The interconnect cable 38 or the printed 10 20 25 30 35 45 50 55 65 6 circuit board 50 thereon may itself be equipped with dip switches 52 dual inline package switches or some other type of switch An interconnect cable equipped with switches would have certain advantages as only one cable version need be manufactured The cable type correspond ing to a particular peripheral would be selected by setting the switches by the manufacturer or by the skilled user and the cable could then stamped with an i
19. g a first end of the interconnect cable to the first electronic device a second end to the second electronic device providing the first electronic device with circuitry which sets an internal parameter the internal parameter being changeable by changing the connector cable
20. host is literally the wedge 235 but may be also be considered to comprise a host assembly contained within the dashed lined box and designated by numeral 250 FIGS 5 8 illustrate a preferred alternate embodiment in which the peripheral is a handheld data reading device 110 such as a bar code laser scanner a CCD reader or other device The scanner 110 is attached to a host diagrammati cally illustrated as a data terminal 140 by a connector cable 120 with a first end connector 122 plugged into the scanner 110 and the second end connector 124 plugged into the data terminal 140 The connector cable 120 is provided with a label 135 which contains encoded data which may be read by the data reader 110 The label 135 may for example be a separate tag on which the bar code is imprinted or the bar code may be imprinted directly on the cable 120 itself As described below the label may also comprise an RFID tag containing the pertinent programming data As best shown in FIG 6 the first end connector 122 is illustrated as an edge connector having a plurality of edge contacts including contacts 122a 122b for connection into a corresponding connector in the handle of the scanner 110 FIGS 5 and 7 illustrate the second end connector 124 as a pin connector having a plurality of pins including pins 124a 124b for connection into a corresponding connector in the data terminal 140 The cable 120 may also include an identification label 139 which h
21. lly methods and devices for selecting proper interface between a computer peripheral and its host inter face such as may include a computer Host computers need to be interconnected to a wide variety of peripheral devices including printers scanners monitors and controllers among others When the host com puter is being connected to a certain type of peripheral for example a handheld laser scanner the computer typically has a single input output connector to which the scanner may be connected by an interconnect cable It is frequently desirable that a particular handheld scanner be usable with a variety of different host computers Conversely it is also desirable that the host computer be able to support a variety of different handheld scanners Heretofore there have been several systems for achieving proper configuration between the host computer and the peripheral In a typical system a particular peripheral is configured to work with a particular host computer or terminal that is the peripheral has contained a single dedicated interface Similarly the host computer was con figured to accept only a particular type of peripheral Any time the peripheral was moved to a different host computer it was necessary to replace the interface software and hardware in the peripheral The host computer may include a software selection program in which the user inputs information identifying the particular peripheral enabling the system to have
22. nfigurations may of course be more or Jess than seven contacts and the two ends need not be the same In a preferred scanner application an interconnect cable plug with 30 pins is set forth in Table A as follows TABLE A Pin Signal Name Data Direction s 1 TEST_DATA 2 READ_DATA_WAND 3 START_DATA 4 CLOCKIN a CLOCKOUT gu 6 RDATA_RTN 2 we gt 7 SDATA_RTN secs 8 CLOCK_IN_RTN Pen 9 CLOCK_OUT_RTN 10 VCC iesise 11 VCC_OUT wren ene gt 12 VCC_IN 13 CLEAR_TO_SEND 14 TRANSMIT_DATA 15 RETURN_DATA 16 RETURN_S 17 DATA_PLUS 18 DATA MINUS 19 BEEP_IN 20 PWR_EN 21 TRIGGER 22 BAR_CODE_OUT 23 GOOD_READ_IN 5 563 402 5 TABLE A continued Pin Signal Name Data Direction s 24 START_OF_SCAN 25 MTR_FAIL 26 GROUND 27 CONFIG_1 28 CONFIG_2 29 CONFIG_3 30 CONFIG_4 The interconnect cable plug may use certain of the pins for communication or power Some of the pins may be unused and available for other applications it being desir able that the same pin design be usable for different con figurations The last four pins 27 30 are dedicated for providing the configuration for the peripheral The varia tions of configurations are limitless and may be designed to suit a particular application The example in Table A is provided in part to show the wide variety of configurations that may be employed By the cable configuration scheme the peripheral may be configured
23. nt inven tion FIG 2 is a diagrammatic view of an interface connector system according to the present invention FIG 3 is a detailed diagrammatic view of a printed circuit board of FIG 2 FIG 4 is a detailed diagrammatic view of an edge connector as in FIG 2 FIG 5 is a diagrammatic view of an alternate peripheral configuration system FIG 6 is an end view of an end connector in FIG 5 taken along line 6 6 FIG 7 is an end view of an end connector in FIG 5 taken along line 7 7 FIG 8 is a connector schematic illustrating an example cable connection scheme for the cable connector of FIG 5 FIG 9 is a diagrammatic view of an alternate peripheral configuration system FIG 10 is an end view of an end connector in FIG 9 taken along line 10 10 FIG 11 is an end view of an end connector in FIG 9 taken along line 11 11 FIG 12 is a connector schematic illustrating an example cable connection scheme for the cable connector of FIG 9 FIG 13 illustrates an alternate cable connection embodi ment FIG 14 illustrates a cable scanning code operation and FIG 15 illustrates various peripheral host pairs DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The preferred embodiments will now be described with reference to the drawings 5 563 402 3 In FIG 1 an example computer peripheral is illustrated as a handheld laser scanner 10 used for scanning a bar code 11 The scanner 10 is operably connected to a hos
24. or 122 is plugged into the scanner 155 the scanner 155 cannot be oriented to scan a label located immediately adjacent the first end connector 122 Nonetheless in certain applications it may be desirable to locate the label 135 near the first end connector 122 If the connector cable 120 is relatively long for example 50 feet 15 meters the label may be preferably positioned about 2 feet 60 cm from the first end connector 122 Such a position is close enough to be easily located but far enough to allow convenient access Such a location is illustrated in FIG 14 where the bar code label 335 is located on the cable 320 at a convenient distance from scanner 310 Though the cable connector configuration embodiment and the cable connector data reader configuration embodi ment may be used separately to configure the peripheral the embodiments may be combined together to provide a com prehensive and readily implemented configuration proce dure By way of example FIG 15 illustrates a peripheral shown as a laser scanner 410 is equipped with a multi interface architecture which allows any one of many differ ent types of host interfaces such as a data terminal 440 a fixed scanner or other point of sale unit 450 or a handheld key entry unit 460 to be selected for a particular scanner A cable 420 is selected corresponding to the particular scanner 410 and the desired host interface 440 450 460 pair In practice the user is supplied with
25. rface selection system for a computer peripheral in which configuration for the peripheral and or its host is at least in part accomplished through the interface connector cable In a preferred embodi ment the computer peripheral is equipped with one or more hardware interfaces The interface connector cable has a first end connector for attaching to the computer peripheral The first end connector of the interface connector cable is typi cally a multiple contact connector such as pin or edge connector constructed and arranged to be properly physi cally and electrically connectable only to a specific com puter peripheral or class of computer peripherals and a specific host interface the cable connector including at least one electrical connection between two contacts for complet ing a circuit within the computer peripheral thereby enabling the computer peripheral In another preferred embodiment where the peripheral is a data reading device such as a laser scanner or an RF identification receiver alternate or additional configuration may be provided by obtaining with the data reading device information from the label on the interconnect cable The label which may for example be a bar code contains information or instructions by which the data reading device and or the host is configured BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG 1 is a diagrammatic view of a handheld laser scanner attached to a host computer according to the prese
26. s may be initiated for example by actuating the programming switch 312 on the device 310 Alternately programming may be automatically initiated upon power up or power down of the device 310 In the power up example when the device is powered up the programming frequency signal would be emitted and upon receipt the RFID tag would emit its signal transmitting programming data to the device Such a system would not require the user to perform any act except plug in the correct cable and turn on the data reader and the data reader itself would obtain the proper configuration informa tion for example from the RFID tag on the cable and in this example configure itself for the host device such as by selecting the proper internal parameter An RFID programming tag 343 may alternately be located on the host device itself By activating the program ming sequence the device 310 may receive the data from the tag 343 identifying the host device 340 allowing the periph eral device to be configured for that host device Thus a peripheral configuration system and method have been shown and described Though certain examples and advantages have been disclosed further advantages and modifications may become obvious to one skilled in the art from the disclosures herein The invention therefore is not to be limited except in the spirit of the claims that follow We claim 1 A method for setting a function of a data reader comprising the steps of sele
27. setting for example com munication baud rate bit setting 8 bit 16 bit etc parity or some other parameter Though particular types of end connectors have been described the pin connector may be any suitable electrical connector means for providing electrical contact including plugs pin connectors sockets edge connectors and the like The end connector has multiple contacts the contacts pro viding the actual electrical contact surface The contacts may be pins edge contacts plugs sockets or any suitable electrical contact element The center of the interconnect cable 38 may comprise any suitable transmission medium including a wire as illus trated cable fiber optic cable radio frequency link infra red light link or other transmission medium The cable configuration system described may be com bined with other configuration systems some of which have been previously described For example the interconnect cable system described herein may be used to automatically select a configuration for a certain class or group of periph erals The peripheral may additionally include external or internal switches identifying the particular peripheral within the group thereby completing the described configu ration In practice a computer peripheral such as a laser scanner 10 will be equipped with hardware and firmware so that it may be used with a plurality of different host computers or computer terminals To provide initial con
28. t interface diagrammatically illustrated as a computer 15 via an interconnect cable 38 The interconnect cable 38 includes an end plug or edge connector 30 which connects to a mating connector 21 on the end of a printed circuit board 20 within the scanner 10 The interconnect cable 38 provides a com munication link between the host computer 15 and the laser scanner 10 and may also provide power to the scanner 10 Referring to FIG 2 the interconnect cable 38 has a first end connector 30 which plugs into the scanner 10 attaching to the edge connector 21 of the circuit board 20 and a second end connector 40 which plugs into the host computer 15 attaching to the edge connector 18 The first end con nector 30 includes tabs 34 36 which slide into and mate with corresponding slots 24 26 in the body of the handle of the scanner 10 Different types of scanners may be equipped with different positions of the slots 24 26 Only an end connector 30 having the correct configuration of tabs 34 36 will be correctly physically connectable to the scanner 10 An interconnect cable 38 without the correct tab configura tion cannot physically be plugged into the scanner 10 Similarly on the host computer side of the interconnect cable 38 the second end connector 40 is equipped with a tab 44 which mates with a corresponding slot 17 at the mating edge connector 18 of the host computer 15 Only an end connector 40 having the correct configuration of the tab 4
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search
lIlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllIlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll