Patent ID: 9411614
Filing Date: 2016-08-09
CPC Classification: G05B,G06F,H01R,H05K,Y10T

Claim Text:
1. An industrial automation input/output (I/O) device configured to facilitate control of a process control field device, the I/O device comprising: a first component of the I/O device, wherein the first component comprises a first mating feature configured to communicatively and physically couple with a second mating feature of a second component of the I/O device; a first plurality of electrical connectors of the first mating feature, wherein the first plurality of electrical connectors is configured to couple with a second plurality of electrical connectors of the second mating feature; a first subset and a second subset of the first plurality of electrical connectors configured to electrically couple to a third subset and a fourth subset of the second plurality of electrical connectors, respectively, wherein the first subset and the third subset couple to complete a first circuit and the second subset and the fourth subset couple to complete a second circuit, and wherein the first circuit is distinct from the second circuit; at least one functionality feature of the first component, wherein the functionality feature is configured to perform one or more specific functions, locally within the first component; and an activation feature of the first component, wherein the activation feature is configured to activate or disable the at least one functionality feature based on an identification mechanism of the second component.