Patent Publication Number: US-2010125692-A1

Title: Computer interface kit and computer interface device thereof

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This Application claims priority of Taiwan Patent Application No. 097147613, filed on Nov. 20, 2008, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The invention relates in general to a computer interface kit and in particular to a computer interface kit having low production cost and improved convenience of usage. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART 
     ExpressCard technology is the name of a new standard technology introduced by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) in spring 2003. The ExpressCard standard delivers thinner, faster and lighter modular I/O expansion for personal computer users. Since ExpressCard technology has high reliability and features of hot plug and play, it can be widely applied to desktop and notebook computers. 
       FIG. 1  depicts a conventional ExpressCard device  100  including an ExpressCard connector  110 , a circuit unit  120 , and an I/O interface unit  130 . The ExpressCard connector  110  and the I/O interface unit  130  are electrically connected via the circuit unit  120 . The I/O interface unit  130  usually comprises one or several external USB ports  131  to connect peripheral devices thereto. The ExpressCard connector  110  is connected to a computer for data communication between the computer and the peripheral devices. 
     In accordance with the limitations of the ExpressCard standard specification, the ExpressCard can only provide 1.5/3.3V DC power. However, the 1.5/3.3V DC does not meet the standard 5V DC power required for the Universal Serial Bus (USB). Thus, to solve this problem, an external adapter A is provided and to help supply 5V DC power. However, the adapter A may lead to inconvenience of usage and adversely increase production cost. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     The present invention provides a computer interface kit for communication between a computer and a peripheral device. The computer interface kit includes a computer interface device and a cable. The computer interface device includes an ExpressCard connector connected to the computer, an I/O interface unit connected to the peripheral device, and a circuit unit connecting the ExpressCard connector to the I/O interface unit. The cable electrically connects a DC port of the I/O interface unit with an internal USB port of the computer, whereby the I/O interface unit is powered by a DC voltage from the internal USB port. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
       The application can be more fully understood by reading the subsequent detailed description and examples with references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective diagram of a conventional computer interface device; and 
         FIG. 2  is perspective diagram of a computer interface kit according to an embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , an embodiment of a computer interface device  200  comprises an ExpressCard connector  210 , a circuit unit  220 , and an I/O interface unit  230 . The ExpressCard connector  210  and the I/O interface unit  230  are electrically connected via the circuit unit  220 . Here, the I/O interface unit  230  comprises at least one external USB port  231  to connect with at least a peripheral device. In some embodiments, the I/O interface unit  230  may comprise one USB hub and several external USB ports to communicate with several peripheral devices. 
     The computer interface device  200  may support both PCI Express (PCI-e) and USB 2.0/3.0 protocols. During usage, the ExpressCard connector  210  is electrically connected to a computer (not shown) for data communication between the computer and peripheral devices. In this embodiment, since the ExpressCard can only provide 1.5/3.3V DC power, a DC port  232  is provided on the I/O interface unit  230  to accept standard 5V DC power for the external USB ports  231 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , a cable C is provided to electrically connect the DC port  232  with an internal USB port of the computer (not shown), so that the I/O interface unit  230  can be directly powered by DC voltage from the internal USB port of the computer. 
     Since conventional computer usually has a plurality of internal USB ports, a first connector C 1  of the cable C can be electrically joined with the internal USB port of the computer during usage, while a second connector C 2  of the cable C is joined with the DC port  232 , so that standard 5V DC power is supplied from the computer to the I/O interface unit  230  in order to enable the external USB ports  231  of the I/O interface unit  230 . According to this embodiment, since the external USB ports  231  are enabled by 5V DC power from the computer through the cable C, a power adapter and embedded charge pump circuit are not necessary, thus reducing production cost and improving convenience of usage. 
     In some embodiments, the first connector C 1  of the cable C may be a standard A-type USB connector joined with an internal USB port of the computer. Furthermore, the second connector C 2  of the cable C may be a standard USB connector, Micro-USB connector, or Mini-USB connector. The type of the DC port  232  corresponds to that of the second connector C 2 , so that the I/O interface unit  230  is powered by 5V DC voltage through the cable C. 
     The I/O interface unit  230  may be a PCI-e to USB 2.0, PCI-e to USB 3.0, or USB 2.0 to USB 3.0 converter card for data communication between PCI-e and USB 2.0/3.0 interfaces. In some embodiments, the ExpressCard device  200  can be applied to a standard USB 2.0/3.0 interface adapter or hub, and also be applied to any I/O interface adapter which requires 5V DC power supply for data communication between a computer and peripheral devices. 
     The invention provides a computer interface kit including a computer interface device and a cable. The computer interface device is electrically connected to an internal USB port of a computer through the cable for receiving 5V DC power from the computer. The invention does not need an external adapter or an embedded charge pump circuit, thus reducing production cost and improving convenience of usage. 
     While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements (as would be apparent to those skilled in the art). Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded to the broadest interpretation to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.