Abstract:
The present device is a programmable breadboard matrix interconnection box capable of receiving data from a computer or controller and automatically establishing connections between contact points. A conductor layer, a magnetic layer, and a contact layer are used to automate the connections between contact points. The conductor layer provides conductors which move between ‘ON’ and ‘OFF’ positions and rows/columns which can receive electric current. The magnetic layer provides a necessary magnetic field. The contact layer connects the conductor to the designated contact point. A controller activates each conductor using the Laplace Force generated by the magnetic field and electric current.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable. 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to electrical breadboards, and more particularly to a programmable electrical breadboard. 
     DISCUSSION OF RELATED ART 
     In electronic circuit design, a circuit typically needs to be tested physically before production can begin. A breadboard is a device for designing and testing electronic circuits during the prototyping stage. Typically, a breadboard will have a plurality of contact points with spring clips to retain wires and electronic components. The user will insert various electronic components, such as LEDs, resistors, capacitors, and ROM modules into the individual contact points and will connect these contacts with other contact points using copper wire. Terminal and bus strips are used to efficiently wire the devices and provide power to the circuit. Because no soldering is required, breadboards are reusable and offer a quick and efficient mechanism to test simple and complicated electronics alike, from basic digital clocks to advanced processors. 
     Lorentz Force is the electromagnetic force exhibited when electric and magnetic fields are combined. Laplace Force is a type of Lorentz Force where a wire carrying an electric current reacts with a magnetic field and creates a force whose magnitude is related to the length of the wire and whose direction is along the wire and aligned with the direction of the current. A magnetic field sufficient to create a Laplace Force can be generated from permanent magnets or electromagnets. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,340 to Kihm et al. on Oct. 25, 1988, describes a carrier board having an array of contacts and an array of switches which are used to create electronic circuits. A plurality of conductor connectors overlap and are connected when a signal is sent to a deformable material to enable or disable a connection. While the device does incorporate a wireless breadboard, its mechanism for connecting the contact points is complicated, unreliable, and prone to failure due to the usage of pressure, heat, or other physical means to establish the connection. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 7,758,349 to Han et al. on Jul. 20, 2010, describes a breadboard device having contact pads and magnetic component connectors where connections between the contact pads and magnetic component connectors are made by magnetic force. While the device does incorporate magnetic force, it utilizes the attraction force of magnetism as opposed to the generally repulsive, or Laplace Force. Furthermore, it is not programmable by computer, still requires manual connection, and the circuit cannot be replicated easily. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,712,608 to Shimomura et al. on Jan. 27, 1998, describes a breadboard device having a plurality of latching relays arranged in a matrix and mounted on a base of an electrically insulative material. Each of the relays has a magnetically coupled excitation coil to open and close the relays. While the device does incorporate magnetic force, it utilizes the magnetic field generated by a current as opposed to the Laplace Force of a wire having current in an already-present magnetic field. Furthermore, the reference does not suggest that the breadboard device is programmable by a computer, or that it can be replicated on another device easily. 
     While several breadboards exist which attempt to improve upon the traditional model, they often involve manual wiring, they can be time consuming, they can be unreliable, the circuits may not be replicated quickly, and they cannot complement modern schematic programs in use today for creating electronic circuits. 
     Therefore, there is a need for a device that can replicate traditional breadboard wire connections, but can be programmed by a computer or controller, can be created quickly, can be replicated quickly, will eliminate human error present in manual wiring, and can handle more complex designs. The present invention accomplishes these objectives. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present device is a programmable breadboard matrix interconnection box capable of receiving data from a computer or controller and automatically establishing connections between contact points. The user simply inserts electronic components into the device and programs the connections, creating a the electronic circuit for physical testing. The unique method of establishing connections ensures durability and efficiency within the device. 
     The present invention comprises generally three layers: a conductor layer, a magnetic layer, and a contact layer. The conductor layer is responsible for providing a plurality of slidable conductors that each can switch between an ‘ON’ position and an ‘OFF’ position, and for passing current through rows and columns of such conductors. The magnetic layer is responsible for providing the magnetic field for reacting with the rows and columns of the conductor layer, creating the Laplace Force to move the slidable conductor between positions. The contact layer is responsible for connecting the slidable conductor to the designated contact point. A controller is electrically connected to the magnetic layer in order to generate the desired Laplace Forces at intersecting row and column positions, in sequence. Together, the layers and controller create the functionality of a programmable breadboard without the drawbacks of manually wiring each circuit design. 
     As mentioned above, each contact point will have two positions, an ‘OFF’ position and an ‘ON’ position. When in the ‘OFF’ position, no connection is made between contact points. To move the conductor to the ‘ON’ position from the ‘OFF’ position, for example, current is passed through the conductor&#39;s corresponding row and column in the conductor layer to establish a current through the conductor, Laplace Force is generated which moves the slidable conductor to the ‘ON’ position in accordance with the magnetic field of the magnet layer, thereby establishing a connection between contact points. This mechanism replaces the tedious and repetitious task of wiring electrical connections manually between many points on the breadboard. Furthermore, because only the core electronic components are required, the breadboard will be much cleaner and easier to analyze and debug. 
     Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the programmable breadboard matrix interconnection box in a typical setup; 
         FIG. 2  is a partial, exploded view of the programmable breadboard matrix interconnection box; 
         FIG. 3A  is a perspective view of a circular sliding conductor with an insulation layer; 
         FIG. 3B  is a perspective view of a rectangular sliding conductor with an insulation layer; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a wiring topology for rows and columns of conductors; 
         FIG. 5A  is a perspective view of the sliding conductor layer with contact points; 
         FIG. 5B  is a perspective view of the sliding conductor layer, the contact points omitted for clarity of illustration; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the sliding conductor layer, the contact points omitted for clarity of illustration; 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of an electromagnetic magnet in the magnetic field layer; 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a permanent magnet in the magnetic field layer; 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective view of a matrix of permanent magnets in the magnetic field layer, alternating in a predetermined way to facilitate assembly thereof; 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective view of the electrical connection layer and the conductor layer; 
         FIG. 11  is a schematic diagram of the programmable breadboard matrix interconnection box; and 
         FIG. 12  is a partial perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the conductor layer. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Illustrative embodiments of the invention are described below. The following explanation provides specific details for a thorough understanding of and enabling description for these embodiments. One skilled in the art will understand that the invention may be practiced without such details. In other instances, well-known structures and functions have not been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the description of the embodiments. 
     Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of “including, but not limited to.” Words using the singular or plural number also include the plural or singular number respectively. Additionally, the words “herein,” “above,” “below” and words of similar import, when used in this application, shall refer to this application as a whole and not to any particular portions of this application. When the claims use the word “or” in reference to a list of two or more items, that word covers all of the following interpretations of the word: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list and any combination of the items in the list. 
     The present invention discloses an interconnection board  10  for connecting electrically-unique contact points  22  on a breadboard  20  without wiring contact points  22  individually. This is accomplished by utilizing a conductor layer  30 , a magnetic layer  130 , and a contact layer  150  together to connect the individual contact points  22 . A controller  190  is used in conjunction with the layers  30 ,  130 ,  150  to create a programmable circuit, and an upper layer  87  is used for connecting electronic components to the breadboard  20 . 
     The conductor layer  30  comprises a plurality of cells  70  arranged in a grid of rows  50  and columns  60 . Each cell  70  comprises a confined space (See  70 ,  FIG. 6 ) in which an electrical slidable conductor  80  may slide between an ‘ON’  90  and an ‘OFF’  100  position. Each conductor  80  has a conductive lower layer  83  with a bottom side  82 , an electrically-insulated middle layer  85 , and a conductive upper layer  87 . As such, the upper layer  87  is electrically isolated from the lower layer  83 . The insulation layer  85  is critical in order to prevent short-circuits. The slidable conductors  80  may be cylindrical ( FIG. 3A ) or rectangular ( FIG. 3B ), although any suitable shape can be used. 
     The conductor layer  80  further comprises a plurality of row conductors  110 , each adapted to contact the bottom side  82  of each slidable conductor  80  in one row  50  proximate to one edge  81  of each conductor  80 , and a plurality of column conductors  120 , each adapted to contact the bottom side  82  of each slidable conductor  80  in one column  60  proximate to an opposing edge  84  of each conductor  80 . Current may flow between each row conductor  110  and each column conductor  120  through only one of the slidable conductors  80  in the grid regardless of the position of each slidable conductor  80 . 
     The magnetic layer  130  is situated below the conductor layer  30  and comprises a plurality of magnets  140  vertically aligned with each cell  70  of the conductor layer  30 . In the preferred embodiment, the plurality of magnets  140  are electro-magnets  144 , each connected to a power source  28  and capable of producing a magnetic field. In an alternative embodiment, the plurality of magnets  140  are permanent magnets  142  oriented opposite in polarity to those laterally adjacent thereto, but not diagonally adjacent thereto (See  FIG. 9 ), so as to facilitate the assembly of the magnetic layer  130 . In a further alternative embodiment, a single electro-magnet  144  with a large coil can be used to generate the electric field. In yet a further alternative embodiment, a single permanent magnet  142  can be used to generate the magnetic field. If several magnets  142 ,  144  are used, the polarity of the magnetic field is equivalent to changing the polarity of the voltage source  28 . As such, if a magnet  142 ,  144  is oriented opposite in polarity to those laterally adjacent to it, the polarity of the voltage source  28  will also be opposite to those laterally adjacent to it. 
     The contact layer  150  is situated above the conductor layer  30  and comprises a pair of contacts  160  aligned with each ‘ON’ position  90  of each cell of the conductor layer  30 . The contacts  160  of each cell  70  are electrically connected through the top layer  87  of the slidable conductor  80  only if the slidable conductor  80  is in its ‘ON’ position  90 . Each contact  160  is electrically connected with one of the electrically-unique contact points  22  of the device  10 . 
     The conductor  30 , magnetic  130 , and contact layers  150  must be aligned in order to function properly. At least one vertical post  170  is cooperative with the conductor layer  30 , magnetic layer  130 , and contact layer  150  such that each layer is vertically mutually fixed in a stack  180 . At least one vertical post  170  keeps each layer  30 ,  130 ,  150  in vertical mutual alignment, ensuring that the slidable conductor  80  is moved by the appropriate cell  70 . In an alternative embodiment, the contact layer  30  is constrained for slidable movement between its lowered  210  and raised positions  220  only. 
     Any two points  22  on the breadboard  20  may be electrically connected by connecting each point  22  to the opposing contacts  160  of one cell  70 . A current is then applied to the row conductor  110  and column conductor  120  associated with the cell  70 , moving the slidable conductor  80  to its ‘ON’ position  90  through Laplace force in accordance with the magnetic field of the plurality of magnets  140  and the polarity of the current. The current must be sufficient enough to produce a Laplace force capable of overcoming the friction of moving within the cell  70  and of any contacts  160  contacting the conductor  80  such that the contacts  160  of the one cell  70  are electrically connected via the conductor  80 . 
     A controller  190  is electrically connected to each row  110  and column conductor  120  for activating and deactivating cells  70 . The controller  190  is adapted to change any of the positions of the conductors  80  by applying a current of the appropriate polarity to each unique pair of row  110  and column conductors  120  in turn to move each associated conductor  80  to either its ‘ON’  90  or ‘OFF’ position  100 . The controller  190  includes a programming interface  200  adapted for interfacing to a computer  200 , whereby the computer  200  may be used to establish any pattern of ‘ON/OFF’  90 ,  100  positions for each conductor  80  and then activate the controller  190  to program the interconnection board  10 . 
     In an alternative embodiment, the contact layer  150  is situated above the conductor layer  30  and comprises a pair of contacts  160  vertically aligned with each ‘ON’ position  90  of each cell  70  of the conductor layer  30 . When the conductor layer  30  is in contact with the contact layer  150 , each pair of contacts  160  of each cell  70  is electrically connected through the top layer  87  of the slidable conductor  80  if the slidable conductor  80  is in its ‘ON’ position  90 . Furthermore, each contact  160  is electrically connected with one of the electrically-unique points  22  of the breadboard  20 . The contact layer  150  is selectively positionable between a lowered position  210  in contact with the conductor layer  30  and a raised position  220  away from the conductor layer  30 . 
     In this embodiment, any two points  22  on the breadboard  20  may be electrically connected by connecting each point  22  to one of the contacts  160  of one cell  70 , placing the contact layer  150  in the raised position  220 , and then applying a current to the row conductor  110  and column conductor  120  associated with the cell  70 . Laplace force will move the slidable conductor  80  to its ‘ON’ position  90  in accordance with the magnetic field of the magnet  140  and the polarity of the current applied thereby. The contact layer  150  is then lowered to the lowered position  210  such that the contacts  160  of the cell  70  are electrically connected via the conductor layer  30 . 
     Furthermore, the contact layer  30  is mechanically coupled with at least one solenoid  230  such that the solenoid  230  may move between an extended position  238  wherein the contact layer  150  is in its raised position  220  and a retracted position  232  wherein the contact layer  150  is in its lowered position  210 . The controller  190  is electrically connected to each row  110  and column conductor  120  for activating and deactivating each cell  70  in turn and is further connected to the solenoid  230 . The controller  190  is adapted to change the positions of the conductors  80  by activating the solenoid  230  to raise the contact layer  150  above the conductor layer  30  and then applying a current of the appropriate polarity to each unique pair of row  110  and column conductors  120  in turn to move each associated conductor  80  to either its ‘ON’  90  or ‘OFF’ position  100 . The controller  190  then deactivates the solenoid  230  to lower the contact layer  150  onto the conductor layer  30 . 
     The contact layer  150  of this embodiment may further comprise a pair of disconnected contacts  165  vertically aligned with each ‘OFF’ position  100  of each cell  70  of the conductor layer  30 . When the conductor layer  30  is in contact with the contact layer  150 , each pair of disconnected contacts  165  of each cell  70  facilitates the holding of the conductor  80  in place by friction if the conductor  80  is in the ‘OFF’ position  100 . 
     In a further alternative embodiment, each cell  70  includes a confined space in which an electrical pivotal conductor  310  ( FIG. 12 ) may pivot between an ‘ON’ position  320  and an ‘OFF’ position  330 . Each pivotal conductor  310  has a top conductor  343 , a middle insulator layer  345 , and a bottom conductor  347  electronically isolated from the top conductor  343 . The bottom conductor  347  further includes a plurality of row conductors  350 , each adapted to contact the bottom conductor  347  of each pivotal conductor  310  on the row pivot leg  370 , and a plurality of column conductors  360 , each adapted to contact the bottom conductor  347  of each pivotal conductor  310  on the column pivot leg  380 . 
     Current may flow between each row conductor  350  and each column conductor  360  through only one of the pivotal conductors  310  in the grid regardless of the position of each pivotal conductor  310 . The pivotal conductor  310  is perpendicular  390  to the row conductor  350  and column conductor  360  associated with the cell  70  when in the ‘ON’ position  320 , and has an acute angle between the row conductor  350  and column conductor  360  associated with the cell  70  and the bottom conductor  347  when in the ‘OFF’ position  330 . 
     The conductors  80 ,  310  and other conductive materials  22 ,  50 ,  60 ,  82 ,  87 ,  110 ,  120 ,  160 ,  165 ,  343 ,  347 ,  350 ,  360 ,  370 ,  380  can be made from copper, aluminum, silver, graphite, or any other suitable conductive material. The insulation layers  85 ,  345  of the conductors  80 ,  310  can be made of rubber, plastic, insulator paint, or any other suitable insulator. All other materials not intended to carry a current can be made of plastic, silicone, or any other suitable non-conductive material. 
     While a particular form of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the conductors  80 ,  310  can be circular or rectangular. Furthermore, the conductors  80 ,  310  can be rotatable or otherwise movable so long as they can establish an “ON”  90 ,  320  and “OFF”  100 ,  330  position using Laplace Force. Accordingly, it is not intended that the invention be limited, except as by the appended claims. 
     Particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspects of the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology is being redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics, features, or aspects of the invention with which that terminology is associated. In general, the terms used in the following claims should not be construed to limit the invention to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification, unless the above Detailed Description section explicitly defines such terms. Accordingly, the actual scope of the invention encompasses not only the disclosed embodiments, but also all equivalent ways of practicing or implementing the invention. 
     The above detailed description of the embodiments of the invention is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed above or to the particular field of usage mentioned in this disclosure. While specific embodiments of, and examples for, the invention are described above for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the invention, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize. Also, the teachings of the invention provided herein can be applied to other systems, not necessarily the system described above. The elements and acts of the various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments. 
     All of the above patents and applications and other references, including any that may be listed in accompanying filing papers, are incorporated herein by reference. Aspects of the invention can be modified, if necessary, to employ the systems, functions, and concepts of the various references described above to provide yet further embodiments of the invention. 
     Changes can be made to the invention in light of the above “Detailed Description.” While the above description details certain embodiments of the invention and describes the best mode contemplated, no matter how detailed the above appears in text, the invention can be practiced in many ways. Therefore, implementation details may vary considerably while still being encompassed by the invention disclosed herein. As noted above, particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspects of the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology is being redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics, features, or aspects of the invention with which that terminology is associated. 
     While certain aspects of the invention are presented below in certain claim forms, the inventor contemplates the various aspects of the invention in any number of claim forms. Accordingly, the inventor reserves the right to add additional claims after filing the application to pursue such additional claim forms for other aspects of the invention.