Interface mechanism for connecting external equipment

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD [Detailed description of the invention]

【0001】

[Technical field to which the invention belongs]

The present invention relates to an interface mechanism for connecting an external device, and more particularly to an interface mechanism for connecting an external device that connects a computer device and an external device.

【0002】

[Conventional technology]

The conventional interface mechanism for connecting external devices can increase the number of connecting connectors to be mounted when multiple external devices connected to a computer device each require a dedicated connection connector. Since it is impossible, it is provided for the purpose of sharing the connector for connection. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-33228 states that "one input / output device connection connector, a switching means capable of selectively switching a plurality of types of input / output interfaces for the connector, and the switching means are controlled. By providing a control means for inputting and a non-volatile storage means for storing information related to switching of the input / output interface, a single input / output device connection shared connector can be used for a plurality of input / output interfaces. Personal computers that are selectively connected are listed.

【0003】

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

The conventional interface mechanism for connecting an external device described above is provided with a switching means capable of selectively switching a plurality of types of input / output interfaces for one input / output device connecting connector, and controls the switching means. Since the control means and the non-volatile storage means for storing the information related to the switching of the input / output interface described above are provided as a part of the personal computer, the control means for controlling the switching means and the central processing unit Resources on the same bus will be shared, and if this point is not always taken into consideration, there is a problem that processing may conflict and the operation of the computer device may become unstable.

【0004】

An object of the present invention is an external device connection that enables connection with a plurality of external devices with one shared connector for connecting an external device, reduces the mounting scale, and can be controlled independently of the central processing unit of the main unit. To provide an interface mechanism for use.

【0005】

[Means for solving problems]

The interface mechanism for connecting an external device of the present invention is an interface mechanism for connecting an external device that electrically connects a computer device and a plurality of types of external devices that function by connecting to the computer device. A shared connector for connecting an external device that connects the connector to the connection connector via a connection cord, a plurality of input / output interfaces that meet the interface conditions of the plurality of types of external devices provided in advance, and the above. A switching circuit unit that selects and connects a shared connector for connecting an external device and one of the plurality of input / output interfaces, and a selector circuit unit that identifies the type of the external device to be connected and controls the switching circuit unit. It is a configuration including.

【0006】

In the interface mechanism for connecting an external device of the present invention, the selector circuit unit may identify the type of the external device by detecting the potential state of the identification terminal predetermined in the shared connector for connecting the external device.

【0007】

In the interface mechanism for connecting an external device of the present invention, the selector circuit unit may identify the type of the external device by detecting the impedance characteristic of the identification terminal predetermined in the shared connector for connecting the external device.

【0008】

In the interface mechanism for connecting an external device of the present invention, the selector circuit section detects at least one of the potential state and the impedance characteristic defined in advance in the identification terminal defined in advance in the shared connector for connecting external devices. May be in the active state.

【0009】

In the interface mechanism for connecting an external device of the present invention, one shared connector for connecting an external device may be provided in common to a plurality of types of external devices.

【0010】

In the interface mechanism for connecting an external device of the present invention, the selector circuit unit and the switching circuit unit may operate independently of the control unit in the computer device.

【0011】

[Action] In the interface mechanism for connecting an external device of the present invention, the selector circuit unit identifies the type of the external device by detecting the potential state or the impedance characteristic of the identification terminal predetermined in the shared connector for connecting the external device. , Control the switching circuit section to select and connect one of the multiple input / output interfaces to the shared connector for connecting external devices.

【0012】

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

【0013】

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

【0014】

The interface mechanism 10 for connecting an external device of the present invention electrically connects a computer device and a plurality of types of external devices that function by connecting to the computer device, and is a connector 6 for connecting a plurality of types of external devices. External device connection shared connector 1 that connects to and from via a connection cord, multiple input / output interfaces 4 and 5 that meet each of the interface conditions of multiple types of external devices, and external device connection sharing A switching circuit unit 3 that selects and connects the connector 1 and one of a plurality of input / output interfaces 4 and 5, and a selector circuit unit 2 that identifies the type of external device to be connected and controls the switching circuit unit 3. Consists of.

【0015】

Further, the shared connector 1 for connecting an external device and the connector 6 on the device side for connecting an external device are identified terminals 7 and 8 for inputting an identification signal 20 for identifying the type of the external device in addition to the input / output signals, respectively. Is provided.

【0016】

The selector circuit unit 2 receives the identification signal 20 input from the identification terminal 7, and outputs the switching circuit control signal 22 to the switching circuit unit 3. The switching circuit unit 3 receives the switching circuit control signal 22, and performs a process of exclusively switching the input / output interface 4 and the input / output interface 5.

【0017】

At this time, the input / output signal 21 is selectively transmitted by the switching circuit unit 3 as either the input / output signals 23 and 24.

【0018】

Since the selector circuit unit 2 and the switching circuit unit 3 operate independently without being restricted by the central processing unit and the storage device in the computer device (not shown), the user is aware of the existence of the circuit according to the present invention. You don't have to.

【0019】

That is, when the power of the computer device is ON, the interface mechanism 10 for connecting an external device always keeps operating, and the user can always use the present invention.

【0020】

Next, the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

【0021】

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of the selector circuit section.

【0022】

In the case of this embodiment, the identification signal 20 input from the identification terminal 7 of the shared connector 1 for connecting an external device is the potential information of whether the ground potential or the open state. The selector circuit unit 2 includes a clamp resistor 12 that connects the selector input terminal 11 and one terminal to the power supply, an inverter 13 that connects the input side to the selector input terminal 11, and a selector input terminal 11. It consists of a selector output terminal 14 that is directly connected and a selector output terminal 15 that is connected to the output side of the inverter 13. What is displayed as the switching circuit control signal 22 in FIG. 1 is actually output from the two terminals of the selector output terminals 14 and 15. The switching circuit 3 that receives the switching circuit control signal has switches 16 and 17 that pass or block the input / output signals 21, and controls the passing or blocking of the switches 16 and 17 by the selector output of the selector circuit unit 2. This is performed according to the switching circuit control signal output from terminals 14 and 15.

【0023】

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a method of recognizing the type of the external device.

【0024】

The identification terminal 8 of the external device connection device side connector 6 is connected to a relay terminal 18 that can be connected or opened to the ground terminal inside an external device (not shown). Fig. 3 (A) shows the open state, and Fig. 3 (B) shows the connected state.

【0025】

Next, the operation will be described. Figures 1 to 3 are used for the explanation.

【0026】

First, the case of the open state shown in Fig. 3 (A) will be described. When the external device connection device side connector 6 and the external device connection shared connector 1 are connected, the identification terminal 8 is in the open state, so the voltage of the identification terminal 7 of the external device connection shared connector 1 becomes H level. .. Therefore, the selector output terminal 14 becomes the L level and the selector output terminal 15 becomes the H level, and this signal is inverted at the inlets of the switches 16 and 17, respectively, and the H level is supplied to the switch 16 and the L level is supplied to the switch 17. Switch 16 is ON and switch 17 is OFF. At this time, the external device and the input / output interface 4 are connected, and the input / output interface 5 is automatically disconnected.

【0027】

Similarly, in the connection state shown in Fig. 3 (B), when the external device connection device side connector 6 and the external device connection shared connector 1 are connected, the identification terminal 8 is in the connected state, so the external device The voltage of the identification terminal 7 of the connection shared connector 1 is at the L level. Therefore, the selector output terminal 14 becomes the H level and the selector output terminal 15 becomes the L level, and this signal is inverted at the inlets of the switches 16 and 17, respectively, and the L level is supplied to the switch 16 and the H level is supplied to the switch 17. Switch 16 is OFF and switch 17 is ON. The external device and the input / output interface 5 are connected, and the input / output interface 4 is disconnected.

【0028】

As described above, the present invention makes it possible to immediately and automatically switch the input / output interface simply by connecting an external device and a computer device.

【0029】

In the above explanation, the type of the external device is identified by the state of the identification terminal 8 being open or short-circuited, that is, the voltage of the identification terminal 7 being H level or L level. However, this means that only two types of external devices can be identified. In order to extend this and identify more than two types of external devices, impedance is provided inside the identification terminal 8 and the level changes depending on the value of this impedance from the identification terminal 7, so that more than two types can be identified. It is possible to identify an external device. Here, in order to obtain the level change depending on the impedance value, a method of providing a plurality of voltage comparators divided into levels instead of the circuit of the selector circuit unit 2 in FIG. 2 and discriminating by the output of these voltage comparators is used. is there.

【0030】

[Effect of the invention]

As described above, the present invention comprises a shared connector for connecting an external device that connects the connector for connecting a plurality of types of external devices via a connection cord, and the plurality of types of external devices provided in advance. Select and connect multiple input / output interfaces that meet each of the interface conditions, a shared connector for connecting external devices, and one of the multiple input / output interfaces, and the type of external device to be connected. By providing a selector circuit unit that identifies and controls the switching circuit unit, it is possible to connect to multiple external devices with one shared connector for connecting external devices, reducing the mounting scale and centrally processing the main unit. It has the effect of enabling control independently of the device.

[Simple explanation of drawings]

[Figure 1]

It is a block diagram which shows the 1st Embodiment of this invention.

[Figure 2]

It is a circuit diagram of a selector circuit part.

[Fig. 3]

It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the method of recognizing the type of an external device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Shared connector for connecting external devices 2 Selector circuit section 3 Switching circuit section 4,5 Input / output interface 6 Device side connector for connecting external devices 7,8 identification terminal 9 10 Interface mechanism for connecting external devices 11 Selector input terminal 12 Clamp resistor 13 Inverter 14,15 Selector output terminal 16,17 switch 18 Relay terminal 20 Identification signal 2123,24 I / O signals 22 Switching circuit control signal