Polarity control for a flat connector

• US 9,583,893 B2
• Filed: 10/18/2012
• Issued: 02/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/18/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Atkinson, Lee Warren, Mann, James M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Duverne, Jean F
• Application Number:
  US14/434,177
• Publication Number:
  US 20150263460A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,594 Days
• Field of Search: 439/620.21
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/6205 Two-part coupling devices held in engagement by a magnet
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/64 Means for preventing incorrect coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/6691 with built-in signalling means H01R13/717 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/70 with built-in switch
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 2103/00 Two poles
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 29/00 Coupling parts for selective co-operation with a counterpart in different ways to establish different circuits, e.g. for voltage selection, for series-parallel selection, programmable connectors

Abstract

A polarity control circuit receives signals from contacts of a flat connector when the flat connector is connected to a port, where the port is engageable with the flat connector in any of plural orientations of the flat connector. The polarity control circuit applies polarity processing to the input signals to produce output signals at a target polarity.

Claims

1. A sink device, comprising:

a port comprising a profile to engage with a flat connector including a power contact and a reference contact, wherein the port is engageable with the flat connector in any of plural orientations of the flat connector, wherein the port has a plurality of contacts, the plurality of contacts to;

electrically connect to the power contact and reference contact of the flat connector; and

electrically connect to data contacts of the flat connector;

a polarity control circuit connected to the port to apply polarity processing to signals corresponding to the power and reference contacts to produce output power signals at a target polarity regardless of an orientation of the flat connector when connected to the port; and

a switching circuit to apply polarity processing to signals corresponding to the data contacts to produce output data signals at a target data polarity regardless of the orientation of the flat connector when connected to the port.

2. The sink device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of contacts of the port comprise a first contact and a second contact to engage with respective ones of the power contact and the reference contact of the flat connector.

3. The sink device of claim 2, wherein the polarity control circuit includes a full-wave rectifier to receive signals from the first and second contacts of the port, and to produce the output power signals at the target polarity.

4. The sink device of claim 2, wherein the first contact is laterally spaced from the second contact in just one direction.

5. The sink device of claim 1, wherein the port is a non-coaxial port.

6. The sink device of claim 1, further comprising a magnet to magnetically attract the flat connector to the port for engaging the flat connector to the port.

7. The sink device of claim 1, wherein the switching circuit has switches to selectively connect the output data signals to the signals corresponding to the data contacts in a first arrangement in response to detecting a first orientation of the flat connector, and to connect the output data signals to the signals corresponding to the data contacts in a second, different arrangement in response to detecting a second, different orientation of the flat connector.

8. The sink device of claim 7, wherein the switches are controllable by a signal corresponding to one of the power and reference contacts of the flat connector.

12. The sink device of claim 1, wherein the switching circuit comprises switches controllable by a first input power signal of the signals corresponding to the power and reference contacts, the first input power signal when connected to the power contact to set the switches to first positions, and the first input power signal when connected to the reference contact to set the switches to second positions different from the first positions, the switches to receive the signals corresponding to the data contacts, and to produce the output data signals at the target data polarity.

13. The sink device of claim 12, wherein the data contacts of the flat connector comprise a positive data contact and a negative data contact that together make up a signal pair, and wherein the port has a first data contact and a second data contact that connect respectively to the positive data contact and the negative data contact of the flat connector when the flat connector is engaged to the port in a first orientation, and the first data contact and second data contact connect respectively to the negative data contact and the positive data contact of the flat connector when the flat connector is engaged to the port in a second, different orientation.

14. The sink device of claim 13, wherein the switches when set to the first positions connect a first of the output data signals to the first data contact and a second of the output data signals to the second data contact, and the switches when set to the second positions connect the first output data signal to the second data contact and the second output data signal to the first data contact.

9. A system comprising:

a power adaptor comprising a flat connector including a power contact, a reference contact, a positive data contact, and a negative data contact;

a sink device comprising a port engageable with the flat connector in any of plural orientations of the flat connector;

a polarity control circuit comprising a rectifier to receive input power signals connected to the power contact and the reference contact of the flat connector, the rectifier to apply rectification to the input power signals to produce output power signals at a target power polarity; and

switches controllable by a first input power signal of the input power signals, the first input power signal when connected to the power contact to set the switches to first positions, and the first input power signal when connected to the reference contact to set the switches to second positions different from the first positions, the switches to receive input data signals connected to the positive and negative data contacts, the switches to provide output data signals at a target data polarity regardless of an orientation of the flat connector when engaged with the port of the sink device.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the polarity control circuit is part of the sink device.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the polarity control circuit is to produce the output power signals at the target power polarity regardless of the orientation of the flat connector when engaged with the port of the sink device.

15. A method comprising:

receiving, by a switching circuit, input signals from port contacts of a port when the port is engaged with a flat connector, wherein the port is engageable with the flat connector in any of plural orientations of the flat connector; and

applying, by the switching circuit, polarity processing to the input signals to produce output data signals at a target polarity regardless of the orientation of the flat connector when engaged to the port, wherein the polarity processing is based on detecting a state of a power-related contact of the flat connector, the switching circuit comprising switches that are controllable by an input power signal connected to the power-related contact of the flat connector.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the input power signal when connected to a power contact of the flat connector is to set the switches in first positions, and the input power signal when connected to a reference contact of the flat connector is to set the switches in second positions different from the first positions.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the port contacts comprise data port contacts to provide a positive data signal and a negative data signal that make up a signal pair.