Abstract:
In a preferred embodiment, a multiconfigurable communication terminal, including: a terminal housing; electronic circuitry disposed within the housing; at least one selected functional electronic module removably disposed in the housing and releasably attached to the electronic circuitry.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to communication devices generally and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a novel communication terminal which can be configured or reconfigured in the field to provide a variety of functions. 
     2. Background Art 
     Communication terminals are widely used to input information to and/or to receive information from other communication devices and/or host computers for such applications, for example, as controlled access and facilities monitoring, interfacing to wands/scanners and identification printers/machine controllers, personnel identification, and networking with other such terminals. Such communication terminals are typically designed and manufactured to perform a specific function or to be programmable within defined limits. Consequently, manufacturers, integrators, and/or resellers have to inventory a range of completed instruments or have to have trained technical personnel available to program or custom design the terminals. 
     Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a multiconfigurable communication terminal which can be configured or reconfigured without the need for trained personnel or special tools. 
     It is a further object of the invention to provide such a multiconfigurable communication terminal which can be configured or reconfigured in the field. 
     It is an additional object of the invention to provide such a multiconfigurable communication terminal is economically manufactured and easily used. 
     It is another object of the invention to provide such a multiconfigurable communication terminal which can be configured or reconfigured in the field to accommodate changes or advances in technology. 
     Other objects of the present invention, as well as particular features, elements, and advantages thereof, will be elucidated in, or be apparent from, the following description and the accompanying drawing figures. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention achieves the above objects, among others, by providing, in a preferred embodiment, a multiconfigurable communication terminal, comprising: a terminal housing; electronic circuitry disposed within said housing; at least one selected functional electronic module removably disposed in said housing and releasably attached to said electronic circuitry. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
     Understanding of the present invention and the various aspects thereof will be facilitated by reference to the accompanying drawing figures, submitted for purposes of illustration only and not intended to define the scope of the invention, on which: 
     FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a communication terminal including the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the lower housing of the terminal of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is an isometric view of a functional module for insertion in the lower housing of FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, side elevational view of the module of FIG. 3 mounted in the lower housing of FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the interconnection of of the upper housing of the terminal of FIG. 1 with a module disposed in the lower housing. 
     FIG. 6 is a top plan view of one embodiment of a communications module for use in the terminal of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 7 is a top plan view of another embodiment of a communications module for use in the terminal of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 8 is a top plan view of a communications converter module for use in the terminal of FIG.  1 . 
     FIGS. 9A and 9B are isometric views of a local area network (LAN) communications module for use in the terminal of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 10 is a top plan view of an uninterruptible power supply module for use in the terminal of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 11 is a top plan view of an auxiliary control module for use in the terminal of FIG.  1 . 
     FIGS. 12A-E are top plan views of various configurations of functional modules in the terminal of FIG.  1 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference should now be made to the drawing figures, on which similar or identical elements are given consistent identifying numerals throughout the various figures thereof, and on which parenthetical references to figure numbers direct the reader to the view(s) on which the element(s) being described is (are) best seen, although the element(s) may be seen also on other views. 
     FIG. 1 illustrates a communication terminal, constructed according to the present invention, and generally indicated by the reference numeral  100 . Terminal  100  includes an upper housing  102  and a lower housing  104  joined by locking means (not shown on FIG.  1 ). Upper housing includes on the upper surface thereof an LCD display  110 , an alphanumeric keypad  112 , and a slot reader  114  which may be of the type to read a magnetic stripe and/or optical indicia on an identification card. Other conventional input and/or output elements may be provided in association with upper housing  102  instead of, or in addition to, those shown, or, for example, an element such as slot reader  114  may be omitted. Lower housing  104  contains one or more insertable modules as are described below. Upper housing  102  contains (not shown) electronic circuitry and memory elements for receiving inputs, providing outputs, and performing calculations in connection with the elements on the upper housing and to support the modules in lower housing  104 . 
     Upper housing  102  and lower housing  104  are shown configured in a desk-top-mount arrangement, with the upper surface of the upper housing sloping downwardly toward a user. Lower housing  104  may be rotated 180 degrees from its position shown on FIG. 1 to configure terminal  100  in a wall-mount arrangement. Suitable access and mounting openings (not shown) are provided in lower housing  104  for either type of mounting. 
     FIG. 2 illustrates lower housing  104  and shows a conventional cylinder lock  120  which secures upper housing (FIG. 1) to the lower housing when the lock is in its locked position. Lower housing  104  includes a grounding bus  130  running along a rear wall  132  and having a grounding terminal  134  disposed at one end thereof for attachment to a suitable earth ground. It will be noted that a bottom wall  136  and a front wall  138  of lower housing meet at an angle of about 90 degrees at  140 . 
     Referring also to FIG. 3, there is illustrated a typical electronic module, generally indicated by the reference numeral  150 . Module  150  includes a housing  152  containing electronic circuitry suitable for the purpose of the module and has a plurality of connector ports, as at  154 . A flat plate  160  forming the base of module  150  extends outwardly from the lower edge of the module, while a grounded spring clip  162  extends from the upper side of the housing. 
     Module  150  (FIG. 3) is inserted in lower housing  104  (FIG. 2) by placing the edge of plate  160  against the internal angle formed by the intersection of bottom wall  136  and front wall  138  at  140 , then rotating the module so that flat plate  160  is against bottom wall  136  and grounded spring clip  162  is in contact with grounding bus  130  and is compressed by the grounding bus, thus “snapping” the module in place into a releasably secure position in the lower housing. FIG. 4 illustrates in detail the compression of grounding spring clip  162  by grounding bus  130  and shows that the lower edge of the grounding bus intersects the grounding spring clip above an angle  170  formed in the latter, thus increasing the resistance against upward movement of module  150 . Other modules may be similarly inserted in lower housing  104  as required. 
     FIG. 5 illustrates some basic connections for terminal  100  and shows a communications module  180  inserted in lower housing  104 . Grounding terminal  134  has been connected to earth ground and a conventional flexible cable  182  extends from communications module  180  to a suitable port  184  on the rear surface of upper housing  102 . 
     FIG. 6 illustrates a communications module, generally indicated by the reference numeral  190  and having a housing  192 . Module  190  also has a flat plate  160  and a grounding spring clip  162  as described above (FIG.  3 ). Module  190  includes in housing  192  a test/use switch  194  for setup and diagnostics, an LED indicator  196  for diagnostics, and a port  198  for furnishing power to the module from a conventional DC power pack. Also included are port  200  for furnishing filtered voltage to and TLL level communication with upper housing  102  (FIG. 1) and/or another module, port  202  for RS232 or RS485 bi-directional communications with a host computer (not shown), port  204  for RS485 communications with additional terminals, and a port  206  for communications with a reading device such as slot reader  114  (FIG.  1 ). Power to module  190  can be provided by three different sources: (1) via port  198 , via host port  202 , or via port  200  from an internal uninterruptible power supply module which provides battery power in the event one of the main power sources fails. It will be understood that one or more of ports  198 ,  202 ,  204 , and  206  may be omitted depending on the application, or additional ports may be provided. 
     FIG. 7 illustrates a variation of module  190  (FIG.  6 ), generally indicated by the reference numeral  190 ′. Here, ports  202  and  204  have been replaced, respectively, by punch down termination connectors  202 ′ and  204 ′, with the functions of the module and the ports remaining unchanged. 
     FIG. 8 illustrates a communications converter module, generally indicated by the reference numeral  220  which contains an auto answer/auto connect modem to a host computer through a telephone port  208 . Module  220  also includes a power indicating LED  222 , and status indicating LEDs  224 ,  226 ,  228 , the latter LEDs indicating, respectively, “carrier detected”, “transmitting data”, and “receiving data”. 
     FIGS. 9A and 9B together illustrate an ethernet communications module, generally indicated by the reference numeral  240 . Module  240  includes, in addition to elements previously described above, a power on/off switch  242 , a power out port  244  to power an external device such as a media converter (not shown), a port  246  for connection to a host computer or one or more other terminals over a local area network (LAN) via TCP/IP, a port  248  for connection to an external reading device such as a bar code reading wand, a data in/data out (DI/DO) port  250 , and a token ring UTP connection  254 . The media converter would typically convert token ring UTP connection  254  to a fiber optic connection. Note that module  240  is twice as wide as modules  190 ,  190 ′, and  220  and has two grounding spring clips  162 . Module  240  also includes a plurality of LEDs, as at  252 , to indicate status. 
     FIG. 10 illustrates an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) module, generally indicated by the reference numeral  260 . Module  260  includes an on/off switch  262  and includes a battery (not shown) to provide power to other modules and to upper housing  102  (FIG. 1) directly or through another module, in the event of a failure of the main power supply. Module  260  includes an automatic low battery power disconnect (not shown). Only two ports  200  are included in module  260 , since the module will be connected only to other modules or to upper housing  102 . 
     FIG. 11 illustrates an auxiliary control module, generally indicated by the reference numeral  270 . Module  270  includes, in addition to elements described above, port  272  is provided for receiving power from and receiving and/or sending communications to or from a UPS or a communications module, port  274  is provided for sending power to and receiving and/or sending communications to or from upper housing  102  (FIG.  1 ), port  276  is provided for receiving digital data from compatible external devices such as wands, CCD scanners, and slot readers, port  278  is provided for auxiliary input and output support, and port  280  is a punch down DI/DO connector. 
     FIGS. 12A-E illustrate various configurations possible with some of the modules described above. On FIG. 12A, only communications module  190  is provided in lower housing  104 . On FIG. 12B, UPS module  260  is included with communications module  190 . On FIG. 12C, communications module  190  and auxiliary control module  270  are provided. On FIG. 12D, all three modules  190 ,  260 , and  270  are included. On FIG. 12E, LAN communications module  240  is provided. In all cases, the power and communications connections have been omitted. The modules are interconnected with conventional flexible cables. 
     It will be understood that the modules described above can be removed and/or inserted in the field by semi-skilled personnel without the use of tools and without the necessity for reprogramming any of the components. Thus, the function of a particular terminal may be easily and economically changed in the field by simply adding or replacing the functional modules in the terminal. 
     An important aspect of the present invention is that future changes or advancements in the field can be accommodated in a terminal by adding a new module to the terminal or by replacing an existing module with the new module. Again, no tools, reprogramming, or skilled personnel would be required to make the upgrade. 
     In the embodiments of the present invention described above, it will be recognized that individual elements and/or features thereof are not necessarily limited to a particular embodiment but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in any selected embodiment even though such may not be specifically shown. 
     It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those elucidated in, or made apparent from, the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown on the accompanying drawing figures shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense. 
     It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.