Multiple-interface selection system for computer peripherals
Contents
1. nnsennnenenenrenn 235 462 5 222 164 6 1993 Bass Sr et al 439 488 5 250 792 10 1993 Swartz et al 235 472 Primary Examiner John Shepperd Attorney Agent or Firm Lyon amp Lyon 57 ABSTRACT An interface selection and configuration system for a computer peripheral in which configuration for the peripheral and or the host interface is at least in part accomplished by the interface connector cable In a preferred embodiment the computer peripheral is equipped with one or more hardware interfaces The interface connector cable has a first end connector for attaching to the computer peripheral The first end connector of the interface connector cable is typically a multiple pin connector constructed and arranged to be properly physically and electrically connectable only to a specific computer peripheral or class of computer peripherals the first end connector including at least one electrical connection between two pins for com pleting a circuit within the computer peripheral thereby enabling the computer peripheral Where the peripheral is a data reading device such as a laser scanner alternate or additional configuration may be provided by read ing with data reading device a label on the intercon nect cable The label which may for example be a bar code contains information or instructions by which the data reading device and or the host is configured 16 Claims 5 Drawing Sheets U S Patent Sep 13 192. Edge contacts 1 and 3 are also jumped while edge 5 20 25 30 35 40 45 35 65 4 contacts 2 4 and 6 are used for communication When the interconnect cable 38 is plugged into the printed circuit board 20 edge contacts 1 and 3 of the edge connector 21 are thereby electrically connected and edge contacts 5 and 7 are also electrically con nected By so electrically connecting these electrical contacts certain circuits within the circuit board 20 become electrically connected resulting in a desired configuration The scanner 10 becomes configured to accept a particular host computer 15 The user has configured the scanner merely by plugging in the cor rect interconnect cable 38 A similar configuration selection system may alter nately or in combination be applied to the host com puter connection side The edge connector 40 has cer tain of its edge contacts 42 electrically connected in the illustrated example pins 5 and 7 of the edge connec tor 40 are jumped When the edge connector 40 is plugged into the edge connector 18 of host computer 15 edge contacts 5 and 7 within the edge connector 18 become electrically connected completing a circuit within the host computer 15 thereby configuring the host computer 15 for the particular peripheral The user may therefore configure the host computer 15 for the particular scanner 10 by merely selecting and plugging in the correct interconnect cable 38 I
3. a network interface into which the connector cable is plugged which is in turn connected to the host com puter There are myriad of potential hosts for a given pe ripheral By way of another example FIG 13 illustrates a system in which a handheld bar code scanner 210 is connected to a key entry terminal 230 The interconnect cable 220 has a first end connector 222 plugged into the handheld bar code scanner 210 The second end con nector 224 is actually plugged into a translator module 235 sometimes called a wedge which converts the signal transmitted from the scanner 210 into a signal of the same form as that produced by the key entry termi nal 230 The key entry terminal 230 is in turn connected by a suitable communication link 237 to the central processing unit 240 In this arrangement the host is literally the wedge 24 but may be also be considered to comprise a host assembly contained within the dashed lined box and designated by numeral 250 FIGS 5 8 illustrate a preferred alternate embodi ment in which the peripheral is a handheld data reading device 110 such as a bar code laser scanner a CCD reader or other device The scanner 110 is attached to a host diagrammatically illustrated as a data terminal 140 by a connector cable 120 with a first end connector 122 plugged into the scanner 110 and the second end con nector 124 plugged into the data terminal 140 The connector cable 120 is provided with a label 135 which
4. It is frequently desirable that a particular handheld scanner be usable with a variety of different host computers Conversely it is also desirable that the host computer be able to support a variety of different handheld scanners Heretofore there have been several systems for achieving proper configuration between the host com puter and the peripheral In a typical system a particu lar peripheral is configured to work with a particular host computer that is the peripheral has contained a single dedicated interface Similarly the host computer was configured to accept only a particular type of pe ripheral Any time the peripheral was moved to a differ ent host computer it was necessary to replace the inter face software and hardware in the peripheral The host computer may include a software selection program in which the user inputs information identify ing the particular peripheral enabling the system to have proper operation Such an operation requires the user to correctly input information into the host com puter identifying the particular peripheral Alternately means are provided for scanning a code on the outside of the peripheral which informs the computer of the type of peripheral Some peripherals actually include identifying signals which again inform the particular host of the type of peripheral and software provides the desired configuration Many of these systems still re quire correct interface hardware In anoth
5. according to claim 14 further comprising equipping the data reader with at least two internal configuration selection switch settings the data reader being selectively configured for a given host by actuation of a given one or more of said internal configuration selection switch settings wherein the step of attaching the interconnect cable to the data reader actuates the given one or more of said internal configuration selection switch settings by closing an electrical circuit between contacts in the multiple contact connector of the data reader 16 A method for internally configuring a data reader according to claim 14 wherein the step of connecting the interface connector cable to the data reader com prises establishing electrical connection between certain contacts in a mating connector on the data reader thereby actuating a given one or more internal configu ration selection switches within the data reader to select a desired internal configuration of the data reader for the given application
6. illustrated cable fiber optic cable radio frequency link infra red light link or other transmission medium The cable configuration system described may be combined with other configuration systems some of which have been previously described For example the interconnect cable system described herein may be used to automatically select a configuration for a certain class or group of peripherals The peripheral may addi tionally include external or internal switches identify 10 25 ing the particular peripheral within the group thereby completing the described configuration In practice a computer peripheral such as a laser scanner 10 will be equipped with hardware and firm ware so that it may be used with a plurality of different host computers or computer terminals To provide ini tial configuration or change configuration when switch ing host computers the peripheral is configured merely by selecting the correct interconnect cable 38 The electrically connected pins in the end connector of the interconnect cable provide the switching necessary within the scanner 10 activating or deactivating certain circuits thereby configuring the scanner 10 for the particular host computer The interconnect cable 38 may be designed in any suitable manner In FIGS 3 and 4 illustrate jump con nections between the respective edge contacts 32 of edge connector 30 or edge contacts 42 of edge connec tor 40 other electrical connec
7. 94 Sheet 1 of 5 _ 5 347 113 U S Patent Sep 13 1994 Sheet 2 of 5 5 347 113 21 N OO B WP 20 99 aD OF En ON NI 52 U S Patent Sep 13 1994 Sheet 3 of 5 5 347 113 122B 122 122A Lia O SHIELD se GROUND C U S Patent Sep 13 1994 Sheet 4 of 5 5 347 113 _ _ SHIELD f St BROWN 162a 162 CC 164b CEN RIN CC_IN a 64a PWR_ENABLE Lia 11 U S Patent Sep 13 1994 Sheet 5 of 5 5 347 113 5 347 113 1 MULTIPLE INTERFACE SELECTION SYSTEM FOR COMPUTER PERIPHERALS RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation in part of applica tion Ser No 08 034 189 filed Mar 22 1993 which is a continuation of application Ser No 07 788 267 filed Nov 4 1991 now abandoned BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The field of the present invention relates to intercon nection systems for computers and computer peripher als or more specifically methods and devices for select ing proper interface between a computer peripheral and its host interface such as may include a computer Host computers need to be interconnected to a wide variety of peripheral devices including printers scan ners monitors and controllers among others When the host computer is being connected to a certain type of peripheral for example a handheld laser scanner the computer typically has a single input output connector to which the scanner may be connected by an intercon nect cable
8. FIG 5 FIG 9 is a diagrammatic view of an alternate periph eral configuration system l FIG 10 is an end view of an end connector in FIG 9 taken along line 10 10 FIG 11 is an end view of an end connector in FIG 9 taken along line 11 11 FIG 12 is a connector schematic illustrating an exam ple cable connection scheme for the cable connector of FIG 9 FIG 13 illustrates an alternate cable connection em bodiment FIG 14 illustrates a cable scanning code operation and FIG 15 illustrates various peripheral host pairs DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The preferred embodiments will now be described with reference to the drawings In FIG 1 an example computer peripheral is illus trated as a handheld laser scanner 10 used for scanning 5 347 113 3 a bar code 11 The scanner 10 is operably connected to a host interface diagrammatically illustrated as a com puter 15 via an interconnect cable 38 The interconnect cable 38 includes an end plug or edge connector 30 which connects to a mating connector 21 on the end of a printed circuit board 20 within the scanner 10 The interconnect cable 38 provides a communication link between the host computer 15 and the laser scanner 10 and may also provide power to the scanner 10 Referring to FIG 2 the interconnect cable 38 has a first end connector 30 which plugs into the scanner 10 attaching to the edge connector 21 of the circuit board 20 and a second end c
9. LE A continued Pin Signal Name Data Direction s 22 BAR _CODE __ OUT 23 GOOD_READ_IN 24 START_OF_SCAN 25 MTR_FAIL 26 GROUND 27 CONFIG_1 28 CONFIG_2 29 CONFIG__3 30 CONFIG_4 The interconnect cable plug may use certain of the pins for communication or power Some of the pins may be unused and available for other applications it being desirable that the same pin design be usable for different configurations The last four pins 27 30 are dedi cated for providing the configuration for the peripheral The variations of configurations are limitless and may be designed to suit a particular application The exam ple in Table A is provided in part to show the wide variety of configurations that may be employed By the cable configuration scheme the peripheral may be con figured setting for example communication baud rate bit setting 8 bit 16 bit etc parity or some other pa rameter Though particular types of end connectors have been described the pin connector may be any suitable electri cal connector means for providing electrical contact including plugs pin connectors sockets edge connec tors and the like The end connector has multiple contacts the contacts providing the actual electrical contact surface The contacts may be pins edge contacts plugs sockets or any suitable electrical contact element The center of the interconnect cable 38 may comprise any suitable transmission medium including a wire as
10. United States Patent n Reddersen et al DAE US005347113A 11 Patent Number 5 347 113 45 Date of Patent Sep 13 1994 54 75 73 21 22 63 51 52 58 56 MULTIPLE INTERFACE SELECTION SYSTEM FOR COMPUTER PERIPHERALS Inventors Brad R Reddersen Phillip W Shepard Rockie D Moch all of Eugene Oreg Assignee Spectra Physics Scanning Systems Inc Eugene Oreg Appl No 39 606 Filed Mar 25 1993 Related U S Application Data Continuation in part of Ser No 34 189 Mar 22 1993 which is a continuation of Ser No 788 267 Nov 4 1991 abandoned Pints D E EEEE ET GO6K 7 10 LOA Oly E 235 462 235 436 439 489 439 620 Field of Search 439 488 489 491 620 235 375 436 462 174 268 References Cited U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 4 579 407 4 1986 Shimada 439 620 4 678 288 7 1987 Lonsdale et al 350 432 4 694 182 9 1987 Howard nanne 250 566 4 699 447 10 1987 Howard 4 820 193 4 1989 Noorily ene snoereenen 439 488 4 861 972 8 1989 Elliott et al 235 462 4 866 257 9 1989 Elliott et al 235 436 4 868 375 9 1989 Blanford 235 462 4 902 244 2 1990 Endo et al 439 439 4 915 639 4 1990 Cohn et al eeeeeeeee 439 488 4 941 845 7 1990 Eppley et al cesses 439 505 4 954 101 9 1990 Nelson nsnnenenenenen 439 502 5 040 993 8 1991 439 620 5 181 858 1 1993 Matz et al nn 439 489 5 214 268 5 1993 Doing
11. able internal configura tion routine For example the routine may configure by way of selecting proper internal switch settings or by selecting and running a given protocol program The data reader preferably stores its configuration parame ters in a programmable memory EEPROM These parameters may be set by manual programming or reset by the configuration routine The instructions from the label may cause the software in the data reader to exe cute a series of commands resulting in the setting or resetting of the EEPROM stored parameters Possible configuration selections or parameters may include by way of example interface identification for a laser scanner may in clude Undecoded IBM 4683 OCIA RS 232 Wand Emulation etc communication parameters such as baud rate 2400 baud 9600 baud etc data format settings parity stop bits data bits hardware handshaking CTS RTS software handshaking Xon Xoff intercharacter delay none 10 ms 20 ms etc UPC Data Format UPA A UPC E Check Digit Number System Digit system specific parameters prefixes suffixes symbol ogy identifiers etc reading restrictions the instructions might restrict the set of codes options that the decoder may have to handle by restricting the reading options the operation speed of the autodiscrimination algo rithm the means by which the decoder figures out which code it is seeing may be increased as com pared to requirin
12. by scanning a bar code Once the bar code has been scanned the configuration informa 5 20 25 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 8 tion is stored in a memory in the scanner so that repeti tive configuration is not required Typically the bar codes are contained in the user manual and the user must obtain the manual and then select the correct bar code to be scanned However according to the pre ferred embodiment shown in FIG 14 the user 305 need only select the correct interconnect cable 320 and the correct bar code label 335 to be scanned is automati cally selected since it is on the cable itself Moreover being on the cable the bar code is readily accessible and locatable without having to locate the user manual Though once the system has been initially configured the system will preferably store the configuration infor mation if it becomes necessary to reconfigure the con figuration bar code 335 remains readily accessible on the cable 320 Though the configuring bar code conveniently ap pears on the interconnect cable configuration bar codes i e the same bar code as appearing on the cable as well as additional bar codes may nonetheless be provided in the user manual to allow the user to configure the pe ripheral as desired such as to specific user optional set tings Configuration on the basis of the encoded data in structions obtained by reading the label or bar code 335 may be accomplished by a suit
13. contains encoded data which may be read by the data reader 110 The label 135 may for example be a sepa rate tag on which the bar code is imprinted or the bar code may be imprinted directly on the cable 120 itself As best shown in FIG 6 the first end connector 122 is illustrated as an edge connector having a plurality of edge contacts including contacts 122a 122b for con nection into a corresponding connector in the handle of the scanner 110 FIGS 5 and 7 illustrate the second end connector 124 as a pin connector having a plurality of pins including pins 124a 1245 for connection into a corresponding connector in the data terminal 140 The cable 120 may also include an identification label 139 which has identification information to assist the user in selecting the correct cable for the particular scanner and host pair Other or alternate selection 5 347 113 7 means such as color coding may be provided to assist the user in selecting the correct interconnect cable for the particular application FIG 8 schematically illustrates an example cable connection scheme 150 for the cable connector 120 of FIG 5 Color coded cable wires Brown Orange Black Yellow Green White provide desired electrical communication path between edge contacts nos 10 9 18 etc in the first end connector 122 and respective pin contacts nos 4 3 7 etc in the second end connector 124 The cable connector 120 also includes peripheral configu
14. e of said internal configuration selection cir cuits and an interface connector cable having a first end con nectable to the data reader unit and a second end connectable to the given host interface said inter face connector cable including at least one electrical connection between two contacts which when the first end of said inter face connector cable is plugged into the data 45 reader completes the given one or more of said internal configuration selection circuits within the data reader unit thereby configuring the internal architecture of the data reader unit such that the data reader unit corresponds to the given host interface and a label with configuration data encoded thereon the configuration data comprising information used by the handheld data reader unit to config ure itself for the given host wherein the data reader includes an internal opera tion routine which provides for configuring the data reader for the given host on the basis of the information obtained by reading said label on 60 said interface connector cable 30 35 40 50 55 65 12 13 An interface connector cable for configuring a handheld data reader for a particular application or host comprising a first end connector connectable to the handheld data reader the first end connecting having at least one electrical connection between two contacts for completing an internal configuration selection cir cuit within the handheld data read
15. er configuration technique the peripheral includes interface hardware for more than one host computer When configuring the printed circuit board of the peripheral requires certain hardware configura tion in order to be correctly linked to a host computer Such hardware configuration may be effectuated by manually actuable external switches or by internal switches or jumpers within the printed circuit board and or within the host computer which activate or deactivate certain components Such an operation typi cally requires the expertise of an electronics technician or skilled user and is not a desirable field operation to be performed by the typical user It is desirable to have an inexpensive and easy to use interconnection system which can be effectively used by the average user 10 20 25 60 65 2 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an interface selection system for a computer peripheral in which configura tion for the peripheral and or its host is at least in part accomplished through the interface connector cable In a preferred embodiment the computer peripheral is equipped with one or more hardware interfaces The interface connector cable has a first end connector for attaching to the computer peripheral The first end connector of the interface connector cable is typically a multiple contact connector such as pin or edge connec tor constructed and arranged to be properly physically a
16. er thereby inter nally configuring the handheld data reader for the particular application or host a label with configuration data encoded thereon the configuration data comprising information used by the handheld data reader unit to configure itself for the given host and an identifying code located on an outer surface of the interface connector cable the identifying code corresponding to the particular application or host 14 A method for internally configuring a data reader for a given application comprising the steps of 1 identifying the data reader 2 identifying the given host application for which the data reader will be used 3 selecting a correct interface connector cable by identifying a connector cable having an identifying code corresponding to the data reader and the given host application identified in steps 1 and 2 4 connecting the interface connector cable selected in step 3 to the data reader and the host 5 reading encoded data contained on a label on the interconnect cable with the data reader 6 processing the encoded data which contains in structions for selection of configuration parameters for the data reader and 7 by means of an internal configuration routine configuring the data reader for the particular appli cation by selecting proper internal parameter set tings on the basis of the instructions from the en coded data 15 A method for internally configuring a data reader
17. er unit and con nectable at a second end thereof to a given host interface the interface connector cable having a label with configuration data encoded thereon the configuration data comprising information used by the handheld data reader unit to configure itself for the given host interface wherein the handheld data reader includes an internal operation routine which provides for configuring the handheld data reader for the given host inter face on the basis of the information obtained by reading said label on said interface connector cable 9 An interface configuration system according to claim 8 wherein the data reader comprises a handheld 5 10 laser scanner 10 An interface configuration system according to 20 tor cable includes a multiple contact connector con structed and arranged to be properly physically con nectable only to a specific host interface or class of host interfaces 11 An interface configuration system according to 25 claim 8 further comprising means for ensuring correct interface connector cable selection for the data reader 12 An interface configuration system for configuring a data reader unit for a given host interface comprising a data reader unit having a at least two internal configuration selection circuits and b having in ternal architecture such that the data reader unit may be configured for use with at least two differ ent host interfaces by actuation of a given one or mor
18. for the data reader by means of an internal configuration routine config uring the data reader for the particular host by selecting proper parameter settings on the basis of the instructions from the encoded data 6 A method for configuring a data reader according to claim 5 wherein the step of attaching the intercon nect cable to the data reader comprises actuating the given one or more of said internal configuration selec tion switch settings for configuring the data reader for a given application 7 A method for configuring a data reader according to claim 6 wherein the step of actuating the given one or more of said internal configuration selection switch settings for configuring the data reader for a given ap plication comprises closing an electrical circuit between contacts in the multiple contact connector of the data reader by attaching the first end connector of the matching interconnect cable to the data reader the first end connector having certain of its contacts electrically interconnected 8 A handheld data reader system which is configura ble to a plurality of host interfaces comprising a host interface a handheld data reader unit having internal architec ture such that the unit may be configured for use with at least two different host interfaces claim 8 wherein the second end of the interface connec 5 347 113 11 an interface connector cable connected at a first end thereof to the handheld data read
19. g the algorithm to consider all code types The preferred actual location on the cable for the encoded label will depend upon the particular applica tion Referring to FIG 5 for example the label 135 is located adjacent the second end connector An alter nate location is directly on the second end connector 124 as shown by symbol label 133 on end connector 124 If the second end connector 124 is too small to practi cally accommodate the label 133 or if the connection location to the data terminal 140 provides inconvenient access the label 135 may preferably be located up the 5 347 113 9 cable connector 120 at a suitable from the second end connector 124 In general it is impractical to locate the label 135 on the first end connector 122 or immediately adjacent thereto because when the first end connector 122 is plugged into the scanner 155 the scanner 155 cannot be oriented to scan a label located immediately adjacent the first end connector 122 Nonetheless in certain applications it may be desir able to locate the label 135 near the first end connector 122 If the connector cable 120 is relatively long for example 50 feet 15 meters the label may be preferably positioned about 2 feet 60 cm from the first end con nector 122 Such a position is close enough to be easily located but far enough to allow convenient access Such a location is illustrated in FIG 14 where the bar code label 335 is located on the cable 320 at a c
20. ion system and method have been shown and described Though certain exam ples and advantages have been disclosed further advan tages and modifications may become obvious to one skilled in the art from the disclosures herein The inven tion therefore is not to be limited except in the spirit of the claims that follow We claim 1 A method for configuring a data reader for a par ticular host comprising the steps of providing the data reader with sufficient internal hardware and or firmware so as to be configurable for at least two different hosts selecting a matching interconnect cable correspond ing to the data reader and the particular host the interconnect cable having a label thereon contain ing encoded data which may be read by the data reader connecting a first end of the interconnect cable to the data reader a second end to the host activating the data reader and the host selecting internal hardware and or firmware for the data reader by the steps of un 10 20 25 35 45 50 55 60 65 10 reading the encoded data contained on the label of the interconnect cable processing the encoded data which contains in structions for selection of internal hardware and or firmware for the data reader and by means of an internal configuration routine con figuring the data reader for the particular host on the basis of the instructions from the encoded data 2 A method for configuring a data
21. lug connector similar to the type conventionally used on home telephones having a plurality of wire connectors including wire connectors 164a 164b for connection into a corresponding con nector in the data terminal 180 FIG 12 schematically illustrates an example cable connection scheme 190 for the cable connector 160 of FIG 9 Color coded cable wires Brown Orange Black Yellow Green White provide desired electrical communication path between edge contacts nos 10 9 18 etc in the first end connector 162 and respective contacts nos 1 2 3 4 in the second end connector 164 The cable connector 160 also includes peripheral configuration selection by electrical connector 161 connecting edge contacts 14 and 13 and by electrical connector 163 connecting edge contacts 1 and 17 In the preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in FIG 14 the data reader device 310 is fur ther or alternately configured by reading a label hav ing encoded data thereon such as a configuration bar code 335 which is placed on the interconnect cable 320 By reading the configuration code 335 the scanner 310 and or the host 340 is configured for the particular application on the basis of the encoded instruction data by means of an internal configuration routine within the scanner 310 or the host 340 U S Pat Nos 4 866 257 and 4 861 972 herein incor porated by reference disclose examples on how a scan ner may be configured
22. n practice the user would be provided with a single peripheral such as a scanner and several interconnect cables To connect the scanner the user would merely select the interconnect cable corresponding to the par ticular host computer and plug it into the scanner The interconnect cable would then configure the scanner for the particular host computer To move the scanner to a different host computer the user would merely have to switch cables The interconnect cable 38 may be pro vided with means for identifying such as identifying markings 39 imprinted directly on the interconnect cable 38 itself color coding a label with identification information connected to the cable 38 or the like to assist the user in selecting the correct interconnect cable for the given host The illustrated seven edge connector embodiment is a simplified example for a connector design Electrical contact configurations may of course be more or less than seven contacts and the two ends need not be the same In a preferred scanner application an intercon nect cable plug with 30 pins is set forth in Table A as follows TABLE A Signal Name TEST_DATA READ_DATA_WAND START_DATA CLOCKIN CLOCKOUT RDATA_RTN SDATA_RTN CLOCK_IN_RTN CLOCK_OUT_RTN Vee VCC_OUT VCC_IN CLEAR__TO_SEND TRANSMIT_DATA RETURN DATA RETURN_S DATA_PLUS DATA MINUS BEEP_IN PWR_EN TRIGGER Pin Data Direction s OO olan PBSeGaGEGSs rbe thee 5 347 113 5 TAB
23. nd electrically connectable only to a specific computer peripheral or class of computer peripherals and a specific host interface the cable connector including at least one electrical connection between two contacts for completing a circuit within the computer peripheral thereby enabling the computer peripheral In another preferred embodiment where the periph eral is a data reading device such as a laser scanner alternate or additional configuration may be provided by reading with the data reading device a label on the interconnect cable The label which may for example be a bar code contains information or instructions by which the data reading device and or the host is con figured BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG 1 is a diagrammatic view of a handheld laser scanner attached to a host computer according to the present invention FIG 2 is a diagrammatic view of an interface connec tor system according to the present invention FIG 3 is a detailed diagrammatic view of a printed circuit board of FIG 2 FIG 4 is a detailed diagrammatic view of an edge connector as in FIG 2 FIG 5 is a diagrammatic view of an alternate periph eral configuration system FIG 6 is an end view of an end connector in FIG 5 taken along line 6 6 FIG 7 is an end view of an end connector in FIG 5 taken along line 7 7 FIG 8 is a connector schematic illustrating an exam ple cable connection scheme for the cable connector of
24. onnector 40 which plugs into the host computer 15 attaching to the edge connector 18 The first end connector 30 includes tabs 34 36 which slide into and mate with corresponding slots 24 26 in the body of the handle of the scanner 10 Different types of scanners may be equipped with different positions of the slots 24 26 Only an end connector 30 having the correct configuration of tabs 34 36 will be correctly physically connectable to the scanner 10 An intercon nect cable 38 without the correct tab configuration cannot physically be plugged into the laser scanner 10 Similarly on the host computer side of the intercon nect cable 38 the second end connector 40 is equipped with a tab 44 which mates with a corresponding slot 17 at the mating edge connector 18 of the host computer 15 Only an end connector 40 having the correct config uration of the tab 44 will be correctly physically con nectable to the host computer 15 An interconnect cable 38 without the correct tab configuration cannot physi cally be plugged into the host computer 10 Therefore in order to connect a particular peripheral such as a laser scanner 10 to a particular host com puter a cable having the correct tab configurations at both end connectors must be selected The unique phys ical configurations ensures that the user must select the correct cable for the host computer and peripheral pair The preferred embodiment may only require tab config uration on the hos
25. onvenient distance from scanner 310 Though the cable connector configuration embodi ment and the cable connector data reader configuration embodiment may be used separately to configure the peripheral the embodiments may be combined to pro vide a comprehensive and readily implemented configu ration procedure By way of example FIG 15 illus trates a peripheral shown as a laser scanner 410 is equipped with a multi interface architecture which allows any one of many different types of host inter faces such as a data terminal 440 a fixed scanner or other point of sale unit 450 or a handheld key entry unit 460 to be selected for a particular scanner A cable 420 is selected corresponding to the particular scanner 410 and the desired host interface 440 450 460 pair In practice the user is supplied with a plurality of specific connector cables which correspond to the possible scanner host pairs which the customer may have When plugged into the scanner the cable 420 itself selects a certain configuration scheme in the scanner 410 The cable 420 may also configure the host inter face The cable 420 may be equipped with physical connector elements to ensure that only the correct cable may be even physically plugged into the host Once plugged into the scanner and the host using the scanner itself the operator then scans the label on the cable which completes or confirms scanner host configura tion Thus a peripheral configurat
26. ration selection by electrical connector 121 connecting edge contacts 14 and 13 and by electrical connector 123 connecting edge contacts 1 and 17 FIGS 9 12 illustrate another preferred alternate embodiment in which the peripheral is a handheld data reading device 155 such as a bar code laser scanner a CCD reader or other device The scanner 155 is at tached to a host diagrammatically illustrated as a data terminal 180 by a connector cable 160 with a first end connector 162 plugged into the scanner 155 and the second end connector 164 plugged into the data termi nal 180 The connector cable 160 is provided with a label 175 which contains encoded data which may be read by the data reader 155 The label 175 may for example be a separate tag on which a bar code is im printed or the bar code label may be imprinted directly on the cable 160 itself As described in detail below if required the user may at least partly configure the scanner 155 merely by scanning the bar code label 175 An internal operation routine within the scanner 155 then configures the scanner itself on the basis of the configuration information provided by the bar code As best shown in FIG 10 the first end connector 162 is illustrated as an edge connector having a plurality of edge contacts including contacts 162a 162b for con nection into a corresponding connector in the handle of the scanner 155 FIGS 9 and 11 illustrate the second end connector 164 as a p
27. reader according to claim 1 wherein the multiple contact connector is selected from the group consisting of edge connectors pin connectors plugs and sockets 3 A method for configuring a data reader according to claim 1 wherein the data reader comprises a handheld laser scanner 4 A method for configuring a data reader according to claim 1 further comprising the step of ensuring a correct interconnect cable is selected for the given host and the data reader 5 A method for configuring a data reader for a given host comprising the steps of supplying the data reader with sufficient internal architecture to be configurable for at least two different hosts equipping the data reader with at least two internal configuration selection switch settings the data reader being selectively configured for a given host by selecting a given one or more of said internal configuration selection switch settings selecting a matching interconnect cable which matches the data reader and the given host the interconnect cable having a first end connector for attaching to the data reader the interconnect cable having a label thereon containing encoded data which may be read by the data reader attaching the interconnect cable to the data reader reading the encoded data contained on the label of the interconnect cable with the data reader processing the encoded data which contains instruc tions for selection of internal hardware and or firmware
28. t computer end because it is not antic ipated that the various handheld scanners will require the dedicated interconnect cables but tab configura tions on the peripheral end may be desired in other peripheral applications Further the tab configurations illustrated are but one example means for ensuring proper interconnect cable selection The tabs and slots are readily added to conventional end connectors The design illustrated does not prevent end connectors with out tabs from connecting to the peripheral 10 and the host computer 15 but such design may be modified by one skilled in the art such as by reversing the positions of the slots tabs to prevent such connection Referring to FIGS 3 and 4 the printed circuit board 20 located within the scanner 10 includes an edge connector 21 shown with seven edge contacts 22 num bered 1 through 7 Though there is a distinction be tween edge contacts and pins for the purposes of the present invention they are interchangeable a pin con nector with its mating plug connector may be inter changed for an edge connector pair or any other suit able electrical contact pair The board 20 is designed and constructed to be opera ble with a number of host computers by way of an externally activated hardware configuration provided by the interconnect cable 38 As viewed in FIG 4 in the edge connector 30 the edge contacts 5 and 7 are electrically connected illustrated as being jumped
29. tion mechanisms may be employed The contacts may be electrically connected by a simple hard wire connection The interconnect cable 38 itself may include a printed circuit board 50 preferably in a unitary structure which may provides 50 55 60 65 6 the desired electrical connection between the pins The interconnect cable 38 or the printed circuit board 50 thereon may itself be equipped with dip switches 52 dual inline package switches or some other type of switch An interconnect cable equipped with switches would have certain advantages as only one cable ver sion need be manufactured The cable type correspond ing to a particular peripheral would be selected by set ting the switches by the manufacturer or by the skilled user and the cable could then stamped with an identify ing code 39 As described above the handheld data reader or other computer peripheral is generally connected by a connector cable to a given host or interface The host or interface is typically a host computer such as a central processing unit CPU or other intermediate device which in turn communicates with the CPU The host may be a communication module such as an RF trans mitter which is provides a radio frequency communica tion link to the host computer In such an application the cable is nonetheless connected to the host computer or CPU albeit through the communication module If the peripheral is a printer for example the host may be
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