Abstract:
A modified standard SATA data connector is provided with a power supply circuit. The connector includes male and female data connectors. A male signal interface has seven male data connection pins, consisting of four data, a power supply, and two ground pins, the power supply pin replacing one of three original ground pins and connecting with a power line of a circuit board. A corresponding female signal interface has seven female data connection pins consisting of four data, a power receiving, and two ground pins. While the female and male data connectors are engaged, power can be supplied from the power line of the circuit board to an applied device connected with the female data connector via the power supplying and receiving pins. Thus, the SATA data connector can work without an external SATA power cable, and the volume of the cable can be reduced.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a SATA data connector, and more particular to a SATA data connector with a power supply circuit. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In accordance with the progressing of the computer development, the storage device plays a most important role. A hard disk is used to be the storage device provided within the computer, having with the communication interface, which was conformed to the specification of the Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment (PATA), and further, the recent communication interface thereof has been advanced to conform to the specification of the Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA). The recent data transmission speed is getting higher substantially through the SATA communication interface, such as more than 150 Mb/s, the volume of the transmission line fitted in with the SATA communication interface is getting smaller, and the length thereof is getting longer, such as 100 cm. 
     Referring to the  FIG. 1  is a three-dimensional diagram of the prior art SATA transmission interface. The SATA data connector  12  comprises a male data connector  11  and a female data connector  13 , wherein the male connector  11  is set on a computer system, a motherboard, or a circuit board  10  to connect with other devices on the circuit board  10 . The female data connector  13  is set on the end of the SATA data cable  135 , and another end of the SATA data cable  135  can be connected with an external device  15 , such as the hard disk, the DVD ROM, the memory device, or other devices. Regarding to the external device  15  cannot have the operating power through the SATA data cable  135 , the external device  15  has to be connected to a power supply  17  through the SATA power connector  18  or a SATA power cable  175  for being supplied by the operating power. 
     According to the demand of various voltages for supplying the SATA external device  15 , the specification of the SATA defines the operating voltages, including 12V, 5V, 3.3V, 0.7V, and 250 mV. Due to the consideration of that, the volume of the SATA power cable  175  has to be larger. 
     In general, the conventional SATA data connector  12  has seven connection pins (S 1 -S 7 ) that consist of three ground pins (GND), and four data pins, and the SATA power connector  18  has fifteen connection pins (P 1 -P 15 ). 
     However, there are many problems of the SATA communication interface still, although many advantages have mentioned previously.
     1. Due to there is nothing relative to the power line designed internally within the SATA data connector, a SATA power cable is used to connect with a power supply externally, however, once a device simply requires to be supplied power by 5V or 3.3V only, such as a Solid State Disk (SSD), the SATA power cable will be used inconveniently due to the structure of which is too complex because that supports a lot of operating powers.   2. The connection between the male data connector and the female data connector within the SATA data connector is very unstable. Once an external force is applied on the male data connector or the female data connector, the link thereof should be failure, therefore, the hardware should be damaged or the data should be lost.   3. The conventional SATA male data connector and the SATA female data connector are connected each other with single contact mode, and the data transmission speed is about 3.0 Gb/s. As the connection between the SATA male data connector and the SATA female data connector is loose by an external force, the transmission data must be damaged.   

     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a SATA data connector, wherein one of three ground pins of the SATA data connector can be used to be a power supplying pin, such that the SATA data connector can work without the external SATA power cable, and the amount and volume of the cable can be reduced. 
     It is a secondary object of the present invention to provide a SATA data connector, wherein the connection between the female data connector and the male data connector will not be loosened easily by an external force, since the female data connector and the male data connector can be respectively a female header and a pin header to ensure the stability and correction during data transmission. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a SATA data connector, wherein the male data connector on the circuit board comprises a male signal interface and a power supplying line, and the female data connector of the SATA data connector comprises a female signal interface and a power receiving line, such that the male data connector can supply operating power and transmit data to the female data connector, and the SATA data connector can work without the external SATA power cable. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a SATA data connector, wherein a power supply circuit can be provided between the circuit board and the female data connector according to the layout of the power supplying line and the power receiving line, and the connection between the male data connector and the female data connector can be tighter to prevent the loose between link thereof. 
     To achieve the previous mentioned objects, the present invention provides a SATA data connector, comprising: a male data connector comprising seven male connection pins having a power supplying pin, two ground pins, and four data pins, the power supplying pin being electrically connected with a power line of a circuit board; and a female data connector comprising seven female connection pins having a power receiving pin, two ground pins, and four data pins, wherein the female data connector can connect with the male data connector, and the power receiving pin of the female data connector can contact the power supplying pin of the male data connector, such that the power line of the circuit board, the power supplying pin of the male data connector, and the power receiving pin of the female data connector can form a power supply circuit. 
     To achieve the previous mentioned objects, the present invention provides a SATA data connector, comprising a female data connector having a plurality of female connection pins and one of a power receiving line or a power receiving pin, wherein the female connection pins comprise at least one ground pin and a plurality of data pins. 
     To achieve the previous mentioned objects, the present invention provides a SATA data connector, comprising a female data connector having a plurality of female connection pins, an applied device, and a power connection hole, the applied device connecting with the female connection pins and the power connection hole, the female connection pins comprising at least one ground pin and a plurality of data pins, wherein the applied device can be one of a memory, a control device, a circuit board, or a combination thereof, and the power connection hole can connect with a power supply via a SATA power cable. 
     To achieve the previous mentioned objects, the present invention provides a SATA data connector, comprising: a male data connector comprising a plurality of male connection pins having at least one ground pin, a power supplying pin, and a plurality of data pins; and a female data connector comprising a plurality of female connection pins having at least one ground pin, a power receiving pin, and a plurality of data pins, wherein the female data connector can connect with the male data connector, such that the power supplying pin can contact with the power receiving pin to form a power supply circuit, and the male connector pin can be one of a gold finger, a pin header, or a female header, and the female connector pin can be one of a gold finger, a female header, or a pin header. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a three-dimensional diagram of the prior art due to that SATA transmission interface is applied. 
         FIG. 2  is a three-dimensional diagram of a preferred embodiment of the present invention regarding to a SATA data connector. 
         FIG. 3  is a three-dimensional diagram of another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a three-dimensional diagram of another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5A to 5D  are respectively the three-dimensional diagram of another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a three-dimensional diagram of another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  is a three-dimensional diagram of another embodiment of the present invention 
         FIG. 8  is a three-dimensional diagram of another embodiment of the present invention 
         FIG. 9  is a three-dimensional diagram of another embodiment of the present invention 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , a three-dimensional diagram of a preferred embodiment of the present invention regarding to a SATA data connector is showed. A SATA data connector comprises a male data connector  21  and a female data connector  22 , wherein the male data connector  21  set in a computer system, a motherboard, or a circuit board  20  has a male signal interface  211  that comprises a plurality of male connection pins  212 . In accordance with the male data connector  21 , the female data connector  22  has a female signal interface  211  that comprises a plurality of female pins  222 , and the female connection pin  222  can be electrically connected with the female connection pin  221 , since the female data connector  22  connects with the male data connector  21 . 
     In general, the SATA data connector has seven pins, as shown at  212  and  222  of the  FIG. 2 , wherein the first pin ( 2121 , S 1 ), the fourth pin ( 2122 , S 4 ), and seventh pin ( 2123 , S 7 ) are ground pins, and other pins ( 2142 , S 2 , S 3 , S 5 , S 6 ) are data pins (A+/A−/B+/B−). In the present invention, one of S 1 , S 4 , or S 7  within the male connection pin  212  can be defined a power supplying pin for supplying the operating power, such as the power supplying pin  2121  (S 1 ) is the power supplying pin in the embodiment. Besides, one of the ground pins (S 1 , S 4 , or S 7 ) within the female connection pin  222  can be defined a power receiving pin  2221  that corresponds to the position of the power supplying pin  2121  within the male connection pin  212 . 
     As the male signal interface  211  connects with the female signal interface  221 , the power supplying pin  2121 /power receiving pin  2221 , ground pin  2122 , 2123 / 2222 , 2223 , and data pin  2124 / 2224  can respectively connect each other. Due to the male data connector  21  is set on the circuit board  20 , the power supplying pin  2121  of the male data connector  21  is electrically connected with a power line  205  of the circuit board  20 . Therefore, the power line  205  of the circuit board  20 , the power supplying pin  2121  and the power receiving pin  2221  can form a power supply circuit to supply the operating power to the female data connector  22 . The female data connector  22  can work without the external SATA power cable, and the volume and the amount of the SATA power cable can be decreased. 
     The conventional female data connector ( 22 ) of SATA data connector doesn&#39;t have the power receiving pin ( 2221 ), and a ground pin is used to replace the power receiving pin ( 2221 ). Once a conventional female data connector ( 22 ) connects to the male data connector  21  with power supplying pin  2121 , the SATA data connector may be damaged. Thus, a protective device  213  set on the circuit board  20  is used to connect between the power supplying pin  2121  of the male data connector  21  and the power line  205  for protecting the SATA device and the external device. In another word, as the conventional SATA female data connector ( 22 ) connects with the male data connector  21  of the invention, the protective device  213  can break the power supply circuit, such that the conventional SATA female data connector ( 22 ) can work regularly. 
     The protective device  213  can be an automatic resettable fuse, a diode, a switch device, such as a relay, or a circuit breaker to form a broken circuit, and the conventional SATA female data connector ( 22 ) can work regularly. 
     The efficacy of above mentioned broken circuit can be described as follows, for example, the power supplying pin  2121  can&#39;t supply power to the power receiving pin ( 2221 ), while the conventional SATA female data connector ( 22 ) connects to the male data connector  21  of the invention, since the protective device  213  is an automatic resettable fuse. At this time, the automatic resettable fuse  213  has to overload and trip, and the conventional SATA female data connector ( 22 ) can work normally. Once the female data connector ( 22 ) is removed from the male data connector  21 , the automatic resettable fuse  213  can connect with the power supplying pin  2121  again, and the theory thereof is according to the usual fuse for protecting the extended line. Of course, the other device or circuit that can form a broken circuit can be used in the present invention. 
     In another embodiment of the present invention, the protective device  225  can be set within the female data connector  22  to connect with the power receiving pin  2221 . As the female data connector  22  with the power receiving pin  2221  connects to the conventional male data connector ( 21 ) without the power supplying pin  2121 , the operating power can&#39;t transmit to the computer system or the circuit board  20  via the power receiving pin  2221  of the female data connector  22  and the ground pin  2121  of the male data connector ( 21 ) due to the protective device  225 , so the protective device  225  can protect the female data connector  22 , male data connector ( 21 ), or the circuit board. 
     The female data connector  22  can connect with an external device  24  or an applied device  223 ,  2235  via a transmission line  23 , wherein the applied device  223  or  2235  can be a memory, a control device, or a circuit board, and the transmission line  23  can comprise a power circuit and a data circuit. Besides, the protective device  225  can be set within the external device  24  or the applied device  223 ,  2235  to be another protective device  245 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , a three-dimensional diagram of another embodiment of the present invention is showed. Due to the volume of the applied device  323 , such as circuit board, control device, or memory, is more and more small, the previous mentioned external device ( 24 ) or applied device ( 223 ) can be set within the female data connector  32  to be an applied device  323  within the female data connector  32 . Therefore, the female data connector  32  can be a SATA applied device  32  that can be used to connect with the male data connector  21 , such that the volume and amount of the cable can be reduced. 
     For example, as the applied device  323  is a memory, the SATA applied device  32  can be as a storage device that is similar to a flash disk. On the contrary, as the applied device  323  is a circuit board or a control device, the SATA applied device  32  can be a device within a personal computer, an industry computer, or a small electric device. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , a three-dimensional diagram of another embodiment of the invention is showed. The male connection pin of the male data connector  41  can be a pin header  411  that is different from the foregoing gold finger ( 212 ). Besides, the female connection pin of the female data connector  42  can be a correlating female header  422  that is also different from the gold finger ( 222 ). As the male connector pin and the female connector pin are respectively the pin header  411  and the female header  422 , the contact area between that can be wider than the gold finger ( 212 ) leading to the link thereof can be tight and stable. Therefore, as the male data connector  41  connects to the female data connector  42 , the link of that can&#39;t be failure by an external force to ensure the stability and exactitude of the transmission data. 
     In above embodiment of the present invention, the SATA male data connector ( 21 ) has seven pins, and the power supplying pin  2121  can be one of the three ground pins of the prior art. As shown in the  FIG. 5A , in another embodiment of the present invention, the number of the male connector pin  512  of the SATA male data connector  51  can be eight, nine, ten or more than ten, such that the SATA male data connector  51  can comprise seven pins (three ground pins and four data pins) and the other pins that can be the power supplying pins ( 5121  or  5122 ) for supplying the operating power to the female data connector  52 . In accordance with the number of the male connector pin  512 , the number of the female connector pin  522  can be changed, as the number of the male connector pin  512  is larger than seven. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5B , the female data connector  52  comprises a device  5223 , and the position of male data connector  51  relative to the device  5223  doesn&#39;t set the male connector pin for having efficacy, as discussed earlier with reference to the “broken circuit” (note position of missing male connector pin  512  in male data connector  51 ). 
     Referring to  FIG. 5C  and  FIG. 5D , the female connector pin  522  of the female data connector  52  can be the pin header, and the male connector pin  512  of the male data connector  51  can be the female header. Of course, the male data connector  51  can comprise the foolproof device  5223 . 
     The female data connector  52  further comprises at least one hook  520  that is set on the side of the female data connector  52 , and an opening  510  that is relative to the hook  520  is set on the male data connector  51 . Therefore, the hook  520  can lodge in the opening  510 , and the female data connector  52  can connect with the male data connector  51  stably. 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , the male data connector  61  further comprises a power supplying line  66 , and the female data connector  62  comprises a power receiving line  67  related to the power supplying line  66 . Therefore, the male data connector  61  can supply the operating power to the female data connector  62  via the power supplying line  66  and power receiving line  67 . Besides, the connection between the male data connector  61  and the female data connector  62  can be tighter due to the power supplying line  66  and the power receiving line  67 . 
     The male data connector  61  can connect with device  68 , such as CPU, set on the circuit board  60 . A male signal interface  611  is set within the male data connector  61 , and a shell  614  is set around the male data connector  61 . In addition, the shell  614  can comprise the power supplying line  66  that can receive the operating power form the circuit board  60  as the device  68 , and a foolproof groove  691  can be set on one side of the male data connector  61 . 
     In accordance with the male data connector  61 , the female data connector  62  comprises a female signal interface  621 , a power receiving line  67 , and a foolproof flange  692 . In the embodiment of the present invention, the power receiving line  67  can be made of a conductive material with elasticity, such as a metal leaf spring. 
     The female data connector  62  can plug in the female data connector  61  safely by means of the foolproof groove  691  and the foolproof flange  692 . Preferably, as the power receiving line  67  is made of the leaf spring, the power receiving line  67  of the female data connector  62  can connect with the power supplying line  66  of the shell  614  stably to form a power supply circuit for supplying power to the female data connector  62 . Moreover, the connection between the female signal interface  621  of the female data connector  62  and the male signal interface  611  of the male data connector  61  will be tighter to prevent the female data connector  32  loosing. 
     Referring to the  FIG. 7 , another embodiment of the invention is showed. The power supplying line  66  is set on one side of the SATA male data connector  61  or the shell  614 , and a power receiving line  77  that is relative to the power supplying line  66  is set on the SATA female data connector  72 , furthermore, a fixed leaf spring  75  is set on other side of the female data connector  72 . As the female data connector  72  connects with the male data connector  61 , both the female signal interface  721  and the power receiving line  77  of the female data connector  72  can respectively connect with the male signal interface  611  and the power supplying line  66  of the male data connector  61  tightly due to the fixed leaf spring  75 , such that the number of the SATA power cable can be reduced. 
     In another embodiment of the present invention, the fixed leaf spring  75  can be set on the male data connector  61  or be omitted. 
     Referring to  FIG. 8 , another embodiment of the present invention is showed. A base  893  is used to replace the shell  641 , and the SATA male data connector  81  can comprise the base  893 . A notch  815  is set on the base  893 , and a power supplying line  86  set within the notch  815  connect with the power supplying line  76  of the circuit board. Furthermore, the SATA applied device  82  has a power receiving line  87  that is formed by a leaf spring  824  with fixer  825 . 
     Once the SATA applied device  82  connects to the male data connector  81 , the fixer  825  of the SATA applied device  82  can insert to the notch  815  of the male data connector  81 , after that, the SATA applied device  82  can connect with the male data connector  81  tightly. Moreover, the fixer  825  can connect with the power supplying line  86  of the male data connector  81 , such that the male data connector  81  can supply the operating power to the SATA applied device  82  via the power supplying line  86  and the power receiving line  87 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 9 , a three-dimensional diagram of another embodiment of the present invention is showed. The SATA male data connector  91  has nothing relative to the power supplying line ( 66 ), such that the SATA male data connector  91  can be suitable for the conventional circuit board or computer system. The SATA applied device  92  comprises a power connection hole  927  that can be used to connect with a SATA power cable  928 , thus, a power supply  929  can connect with the power connection hole  927  of the SATA applied device  92  via a SATA power cable  928  for supplying the operating power to the applied device  923  within the SATA applied device  92 . 
     On another hand, once the SATA applied device  92  comprises a power receiving line or a power receiving pin for being used to connect with the power connection hole  927 /SATA power cable  928  and the applied device  923 . In another word, the power receiving line or the power receiving pin of the female data connector  92  can be as a connection line set between the power connection hole  927  and the applied device  923 . 
     In another embodiment of the present invention, as the SATA applied device  92  comprises a power receiving pin  2221 , a protective device  925  can be used to connect with the power receiving pin  2221  within the SATA applied device  92  to prevent the operating power from the power supply  929  damaging the computer system or the circuit board. 
     Although the SATA data connector is used to describe the structure of the invention in the previous mentioned embodiment, the feature and technique of the invention can be used in other type SATA data connector, such as the e-SATA data connector. 
     While this invention has been described with reference to illustrative embodiments, this description is not intended to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the illustrative embodiments, as well as other embodiments of the invention, which are apparent to persons skilled in the art to which the invention pertains are deemed to lie within the spirit and scope of the invention.