KEY CODED POWER ADAPTER CONNECTORS
First Claim
1. A power connector comprising:
- a first housing, coupled to a power source, to shield the power connector from external conditions;
a second housing, coupled to the first housing, having at least one electrical contact to receive at least one mating electrical contact;
at least one physical key element to couple the at least one electrical contact to the at least one mating electrical contact; and
a plurality of visual key elements, each visual key element of the plurality of visual key elements being provided to visually indicate a range of power which may be output by the power source, to visually indicate whether the at least one electrical contact and the at least one mating electrical contact are properly connectable, and to visually indicate proper alignment and orientation for coupling the at least one electrical contact with the at least one mating electrical contact.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A key coded power connector and a system and method for making key coded power connections are disclosed. A power connector such as a power adapter connector is configured with a visual and physical keying system. The physical keying system prevents a user from connecting a host device to a connector of the power source which does not support that host device. The visual keying system provides the user with an early indication that the particular device is not supported by a power source. The user can visually compare a marking key on the host device with the making key on the power connector and determine whether or not the power source is capable of outputting sufficient power to operate the device. The combination of the visual and physical keying systems prevents a user from improperly connecting a host device to a power source which does not support that device.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A power connector comprising:
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a first housing, coupled to a power source, to shield the power connector from external conditions;
a second housing, coupled to the first housing, having at least one electrical contact to receive at least one mating electrical contact;
at least one physical key element to couple the at least one electrical contact to the at least one mating electrical contact; and
a plurality of visual key elements, each visual key element of the plurality of visual key elements being provided to visually indicate a range of power which may be output by the power source, to visually indicate whether the at least one electrical contact and the at least one mating electrical contact are properly connectable, and to visually indicate proper alignment and orientation for coupling the at least one electrical contact with the at least one mating electrical contact. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A power connection system comprising:
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a first power connector having at least one electrical contact to receive at least one mating electrical contact, wherein lie first power connector is coupled to a power source and the first power connector is configured with a plurality of visual key elements and at least one physical key element; and
a second power connector having at least one mating electrical contact, the second power connector being configured with a mating visual key element and at least one mating physical key element wherein the second power connector is coupled to a device, the mating visual key element visually indicates whether the at least one electrical contact and the at least one mating electrical contact are properly connectable, and visually indicates a proper alignment and orientation for coupling the at least one electrical contact of the first power connector with the at least one mating electrical contact of the second power connector, and the at least one mating electrical contact of the second power connector is prevented from coupling to the at least one electrical contact of the first power connector unless the at least one mating physical key element of second power connector corresponds to the at least one physical key element of the first power connector. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for preventing an improper power connection comprising:
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configuring a first power connector with at least one physical key element and a plurality of visual key elements, wherein the first power connector is coupled to a power source capable of generating a power signal and includes at least one electrical contact to receive a mating electrical contact;
configuring a second power connector with at least one mating physical key element and a mating visual key element, the second power connector having at least one mating electrical contact;
providing a visual indication of whether the at least one electrical contact and the at least one mating electrical contact are properly connectable based on a comparison of the mating visual key element and the plurality of visual key elements;
providing a visual indication of a proper alignment and orientation for coupling the at least one electrical contact of the first power connector with the at least one mating electrical contact of the second power connector by aligning the mating visual key element with a corresponding visual key element of the plurality of visual key elements; and
restricting coupling of the at least one electrical contact of the first power connector to the at least one mating electrical contact of the second power connector unless the at least one physical key element corresponds to the at least one mating physical key element. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A multi-connection power connector, comprising:
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a plurality of power connectors, wherein each power connector of the plurality of power connectors is configured with at least one electrical contact to receive at least one mating electrical contact, each power connector of the plurality of power connectors is configured with a plurality of visual key elements, and a physical key element, each of the visual key elements being provided to visually indicate whether the at least one electrical contact and the at least one mating electrical contact are properly connectable, and to visually indicate proper alignment and orientation for coupling the at least one electrical contact with the at least one mating electrical contact and each power connector of the plurality of power connectors is coupled to a power source. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification