Patent Publication Number: US-6705878-B2

Title: Portable universal coupler for computer facility

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a universal coupler, and more particularly to a portable universal coupler combination for computer facilities. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Typical card readers are provided for receiving or plugging various kinds of cards, and are each designed for receiving a predetermined card only, such that the cards may not be plugged to different card readers. In addition, the card readers are required to be coupled to the computer facilities with a coupling cable or the like, such that the card readers may not be easily coupled to the other computer facilities while the card readers are carried to the other places. Furthermore, the typical card readers may each be coupled to a predetermined machine, such as the fax machine, the printer, etc., and may not be coupled to different machines. 
     The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional universal couplers. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a universal coupler combination for plugging various kinds of cards. 
     The other objective of the present invention is to provide a universal coupler combination for allowing various kinds of cards to be coupled to the computer facilities without additional coupling cables. 
     The further objective of the present invention is to provide a universal coupler combination for plugging or coupling to various kinds of peripheral or output facilities. 
     The still further objective of the present invention is to provide a universal coupler combination which is portable for plugging or coupling to the other computer facilities or machines. 
     In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a universal coupler combination for coupling to computer facilities and comprising a housing for coupling to the computer facility, a circuit board received in the housing, and including a front portion and a rear portion each having an IEEE coupler and a USB coupler attached thereon, and including a first coupler provided thereon, and including at least one processor device provided thereon and coupled to the IEEE couplers and the USB couplers and the first coupler, and a coupling box including a rear portion having a second coupler provided thereon, for detachably coupling to the first coupler of the circuit board, and including a front portion having at least one socket provided therein for receiving and plugging card members, such that various kinds of cards may be coupled or plugged to the computer facility with the coupling box only. The coupling box may also be detached or disengaged from the computer facility for coupling to various kinds of peripheral or output devices. 
     The circuit board includes an opening formed therein for receiving the rear portion of the coupling box. The housing includes a front portion, and a cap attached to the front portion thereof, the cap includes a groove formed therein and aligned with the opening of the circuit board for receiving the rear portion of the coupling box. 
     The cap includes a first aperture formed therein and aligned with the IEEE coupler for receiving the IEEE coupler, and includes a second aperture formed therein and aligned with the USB coupler for receiving the USB coupler. 
     The circuit board includes a third coupler provided thereon and having at least one row of pins provided thereon, for coupling to the other facilities or devices. 
     The housing includes a rear portion having a first and a second orifices formed therein and aligned with the IEEE coupler and the USB coupler respectively for receiving the IEEE coupler and USB coupler respectively. 
     The housing includes a base, and a cover secured on the base, the base includes a plurality of studs extended therein, and the circuit board is secured on the studs of the base. 
     Further objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a careful reading of a detailed description provided hereinbelow, with appropriate reference to accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a computer facility having a universal coupler combination in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the universal coupler combination; 
     FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the universal coupler combination; 
     FIG. 4 is a partial exploded view illustrating the attachment or engagement of coupling box to the universal coupler combination; 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating the operation of the universal coupler combination; and 
     FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the coupling of the universal coupler combination to various kinds of peripheral or output facilities. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to the drawings, and initially to FIGS. 1-3, a universal coupler combination in accordance with the present invention comprises a housing  20  for coupling or plugging into a channel  71  of a computer facility  70  or the like, and including a base  21  and a cover  22  secured together with fasteners or the like. The base  21  includes a number of studs  23  extended or provided therein for supporting and securing a circuit board  50  in the housing  20 . 
     The circuit board  50  may be a printed circuit board or the like, and includes a pair of plugs or couplers  51 ,  52  of institute of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE) 1394, for example, attached to the front and the rear portions of the circuit board  50  respectively, another pair of plugs or couplers, such as the universal serial bus (USB) couplers  53 ,  54  also attached to the front and the rear portions of the circuit board  50  respectively, and includes a notch or an opening  58  formed therein, such as formed in the front portion thereof for receiving a coupling box  60 . 
     The circuit board  50  includes a plug or a coupler  55  attached to the middle portion thereof and preferably extended inward of the opening  58  thereof for plugging or coupling to the coupling box  60 . Another plug or coupler  57  may further be provided and disposed on the circuit board  50  and includes one or more rows of coupler pins  59  extended therefrom for coupling to various kinds of computer facilities or the like. The circuit board  50  includes one or more micro-processors or the other processor devices  56  disposed thereon and coupled to the IEEE couplers  51 ,  52 , the USB couplers  53 ,  54 , and the other couplers  55 ,  57 . 
     In operation, the plugs or couplers  52 ,  54 ,  57  of the circuit board  50  may be coupled to the corresponding plugs or couplers (not shown) of the computer facility  70  when the housing  20  is plugged into the channel  71  of the computer facility  70  (FIGS. 1,  4 ). The housing  20 , such as the base  21  of the housing  20  may include one or more orifices  24  formed in the rear portion thereof (FIG.  3 ), for receiving the plugs or couplers  52 ,  54 ,  57  and for allowing the plugs or couplers  52 ,  54 ,  57  to be coupled to the corresponding plugs or couplers (not shown) of the computer facility  70 . 
     A cap  30  is attached or secured to the front portion of the housing  20 , and includes a groove  31  formed therein and aligned with the opening  58  of the circuit board  50 , for allowing the coupling box  60  to be engaged into the opening  58  of the circuit board  50  via the groove  31  of the cap  30 . The cap  30  further includes one or more apertures  32 ,  33  formed therein and aligned with the plugs or couplers  53 ,  51  respectively, for receiving the plugs or couplers  53 ,  51  respectively, and for allowing the plugs or couplers  53 ,  51  to be coupled to various kinds of computer facilities or the like. 
     The coupling box  60  may be engaged into the opening  58  of the circuit board  50  via the groove  31  of the cap  30 , and includes a socket or a coupler  64  provided in the rear portion thereof for coupling to the coupler  55  of the circuit board  50 , and includes a slot or a socket  61  formed or provided therein for coupling to the compact flash card, the microdrive card, or the like; and/or includes another slot or socket  62  formed or provided therein for coupling to the memory stick card, the secure digital card, the multi-media card, or the like; and/or includes a further slot or socket  63  formed or provided therein for coupling to the smart media card, or the like. 
     In operation, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the housing  20  may be plugged or engaged into the channel  71  of the computer facility  70 , and the coupling box  60  may be plugged into the opening  55  of the circuit board  50  via the groove  31  of the cap  30 . Various kinds of cards may be selectively plugged to the slots or sockets  61 ,  62 ,  63  of the coupling box  60 , and thus may be coupled to the computer facility  70  with only one coupling box  60 . 
     As shown in FIG. 5, the coupling box  60  may be detached and disengaged from the housing  20 , and may be carried with the users. As shown in FIG. 6, the coupling box  60  may be plugged or coupled to various kinds of peripheral or output facilities, such as the fax machines  80 , the printers  81 , the keyboards  82 , the monitors or the displayers  83 , the network machines  84 , the scanners  85 , the notebook computers  86 , the tape recorders  87 , the video games  88 , or the like. 
     Accordingly, the universal coupler combination in accordance with the present invention may be used for plugging various kinds of cards, and for allowing various kinds of cards to be coupled to the computer facilities without additional coupling cables, and may be plugged or coupled to various kinds of peripheral or output facilities, or may be plugged or coupled to the other computer facilities or machines. 
     Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example only and that numerous changes in the detailed construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.