CONNECTOR INTERFACE SYSTEM FOR DATA ACQUISITION
First Claim
1. A data acquisition device comprising:
- circuitry configured to receive data acquired from one or more sensors coupled to an object;
a Universal Serial Bus (USB) plug having a plurality of pins operatively coupled to the circuitry, a first subset of the plurality of pins configured to receive data signals from the one or more sensors coupled to the object and a second subset of the plurality of pins configured to support standard USB communication with USB-compliant devices; and
a modification to the USB plug configured such that the modification facilitates interconnection of the USB plug both with standard USB-compliant devices and with an object-connected receptacle that is configured to prevent interconnection with standard USB plugs.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A data acquisition system includes a receptacle and a data acquisition device. The receptacle has a housing, sensor inputs to receive data signals from sensors coupled to an object, and a rib to block insertion of a standard Universal Serial Bus (USB) plug and facilitate insertion of a modified USB plug having a slot that mates with the rib. The data acquisition device includes circuitry to receive, store and process data, a USB plug having pins operatively coupled to the circuitry, a first subset of pins configured to receive data signals from the receptacle and a second subset of pins configured to support standard USB communication with USB-compliant devices, and a slot formed in the USB plug such that the slot facilitates interconnection of the USB plug both with standard USB-compliant devices and with the receptacle, the slot mating with the rib to facilitate interconnection.
-
Citations
30 Claims
-
1. A data acquisition device comprising:
-
circuitry configured to receive data acquired from one or more sensors coupled to an object; a Universal Serial Bus (USB) plug having a plurality of pins operatively coupled to the circuitry, a first subset of the plurality of pins configured to receive data signals from the one or more sensors coupled to the object and a second subset of the plurality of pins configured to support standard USB communication with USB-compliant devices; and a modification to the USB plug configured such that the modification facilitates interconnection of the USB plug both with standard USB-compliant devices and with an object-connected receptacle that is configured to prevent interconnection with standard USB plugs. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A data acquisition receptacle comprising:
-
a plurality of sensor inputs configured to receive data signals from one or more sensors coupled to an object; and a connection prevention mechanism that is configured to prevent insertion of a standard Universal Serial Bus (USB) plug and to facilitate insertion of and electrical connection with a modified USB plug having a feature that defeats the connection prevention mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A data acquisition system comprising:
-
(i) a receptacle including; (a) a housing; (b) a plurality of sensor inputs configured to receive data signals from one or more sensors coupled to an object; and (c) a rib that is configured to block insertion of a standard Universal Serial Bus (USB) plug and to facilitate insertion of and electrical connection with a modified USB plug having a slot that mates with the rib when inserted; and (ii) a data acquisition device including; (a) circuitry configured to receive, store and/or process data received via the receptacle from the one or more sensors coupled to the object; (b) a USB plug having a plurality of pins operatively coupled to the circuitry, a first subset of the plurality of pins configured to receive data signals from the receptacle and a second subset of the plurality of pins configured to support standard USB communication with USB-compliant devices; and (c) a slot formed in the USB plug such that the slot facilitates interconnection of the USB plug both with standard USB-compliant devices and with the receptacle, the slot mating with the rib to facilitate interconnection between the data acquisition device and the receptacle. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
-
26. A method of acquiring data, the method comprising:
-
establishing a connection between a receptacle to an object from which data is to be acquired via one or more sensors, the receptacle having a connection prevention mechanism that prevents connection of a standard USB plug to the receptacle; connecting a data acquisition device having a modified USB plug to the receptacle having the connection prevention mechanism, the modified USB plug being configured such that the modification defeats the receptacle'"'"'s connection prevention mechanism while facilitating interconnection of the modified USB plug with standard USB-compliant devices; and acquiring object-related data via the one or more sensors using the connected data acquisition device. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30)
-
Specification