Patent Application
20160365853
The present disclosure relates generally to an electromechanical switch, more particularly, to an electromechanical switch system using a wiring connector.
This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Electronic control units (ECU) executing software or electronic instructions are commonly found on vehicles for a myriad of uses. During the engineering development process, the vehicle manufacturers and the suppliers providing each ECU may find it necessary to reprogram the software that is executed on the ECU (i.e., “re-flash” the software on the ECU). Many ECUs may include reprogramming interfaces and corresponding wiring connectors, such as those meeting the standards for Universal Serial Bus (USB) to allow the ECU to be reprogrammed with updated software using a personal computer or specialized reprogramming tool. However, when the ECU is not being reprogrammed, there may be no need to provide power to portions of the ECU, such as the USB circuitry. Therefore, this circuitry may be isolated or switched off at times. However, known switching systems generally include costly integrated circuits and/or take up a large amount of space. Accordingly, there exists a need for an improved switching system.
This section provides a general summary of the present disclosure and is not intended to be interpreted as a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features, aspects and objectives.
Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present disclosure to provide a device including an active supply node for coupling to an active electrical supply from a second device. The device also includes a dormant local supply node for selectively supplying power to said device and a first device connector for coupling with the second device through a cable subassembly. A switching unit is coupled to the dormant local supply node and the active supply node and to the first device connector and is configured to selectively decouple the active supply node and the dormant local supply node in an off mode in response to the cable subassembly disengaging the first device connector. The switching unit is also configured to couple the active supply node to the dormant local supply node in an on mode in response to the cable subassembly engaging the first device connector.
According to another aspect of the disclosure a device is provided that includes an active supply node for coupling to an active electrical supply from a second device. The device also includes a dormant local supply node for selectively supplying power to the device and a first device connector having a plurality of first device terminals for coupling with the second device through a cable subassembly. The cable subassembly includes a first cable connector including a plurality of first cable connector terminals for connection to the first device terminals and a shield electrically connected to the first cable connector and at least one of the first cable connector terminals. The device further includes a shield node for coupling with the shield of the cable subassembly through the first device connector. A switching unit is coupled to the dormant local supply node and the active supply node and to the shield node. The switching unit is operable for selectively decoupling the active supply node and the dormant local supply node in an off mode in response to the first cable connector of the cable subassembly disengaging the first device connector. The switching unit additionally couples the active supply node to the dormant local supply node in an on mode in response to the first cable connector of the cable subassembly engaging the first device connector and forming a conductive path through the shield and the at least one of said first device terminals to activate the switching unit.
According to yet another aspect of the disclosure, a switching system is also provided. The switching system includes a first device including a dormant local supply for selectively powering the first device and a first device connector having a plurality of first device terminals. The first device includes a switching unit for selectively coupling at least one of the plurality of first device terminals to the dormant local supply in an on mode. The switching unit also decouples at least one of the first device terminals and the dormant local supply in an off mode. The switching system also includes a cable subassembly including a shield and a first cable connector having a plurality of first cable connector terminals for connection to the first device terminals. A second device is coupled to the cable subassembly for selectively providing power to the first device through at least one of the plurality of first device terminals. The shield of the cable subassembly is electrically connected to at least one of the first cable connector terminals for electrically interconnecting at least one of the first device terminals to the dormant local supply in response to the first cable connector of the cable subassembly engaging the first device connector and forming a conductive path through the shield and at least one of the first device terminals and activating the switching unit.
These and other aspects and areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purpose of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all implementations, and are not intended to limit the present disclosure to only that actually shown. With this in mind, various features and advantages of example embodiments of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following written description when considered in combination with the appended drawings, in which:
In the following description, details are set forth to provide an understanding of the present disclosure. In some instances, certain circuits, structures and techniques have not been described or shown in detail in order not to obscure the disclosure.
In general, the present disclosure relates to switching systems of the type well-suited for use in virtually any application. The switching system of this disclosure will be described in conjunction with one or more example embodiments. However, the specific example embodiments disclosed are merely provided to describe the inventive concepts, features, advantages and objectives will sufficient clarity to permit those skilled in this art to understand and practice the disclosure.
More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a switching system for isolating or selectively connecting a dormant electrical supply to an active electrical supply (i.e., a secondary power supply). For example, the switching system may be used isolate a portion of the circuitry of an electronic control unit (ECU) on a vehicle, such as a universal serial bus (USB) circuit when a cable is not plugged in and connects the isolated circuitry to an active voltage supply (e.g., active USB voltage, typically 5 volts) from a computer when the cable is plugged into the ECU. Therefore, the unused portion of the ECU circuitry (e.g., USB circuit) may be isolated when the cable is not connected and when vehicle power is applied. The switching system may also may be used to provide a dual power source for a micro controller or entire ECU (i.e. using vehicle power or power from a secondary power supply such as the active USB voltage) when programming the controller or ECU, for instance.
Referring to the Figures, wherein like numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views, a switching system 20 is disclosed. As best shown in
As best shown in
Referring now to
A cable subassembly 70 has a first end and a second end and a plurality of cable conductors (not shown) extending from the first end to the second end for electrically interconnecting the first device 22 and a second device (e.g. a personal computer). The cable subassembly 70 includes a shield (not shown) annularly disposed about the cable conductors and extending from the first end to the second end of the cable subassembly 70 for shielding the cable conductors from electromagnetic interference and for preventing the cable conductors from emitting electromagnetic interference.
The cable subassembly 70 includes a first cable connector 72 disposed at the first end of the cable assembly and includes a plurality of first cable connector terminals 74, 76, 78, 80 (
According to an aspect, the cable subassembly 70 additionally may include a second cable connector (not shown) disposed at the second end of the cable assembly and including a plurality of second cable connector terminals (not shown) electrically connected to the cable conductors. The second cable connector may include a second shell (not shown) extending longitudinally from the cable subassembly 70 and disposed about and in a spaced relationship from the second cable connector terminals and electrically connected to the shield of the cable subassembly 70. The second cable connector terminals can include a second cable power terminal and a second cable ground terminal and a second cable positive data terminal and a second cable negative data terminal. It should be understood that while the switching system 20 may include a second cable connector as described above, the switching system 20 may not include a second cable conductor and may be directly attached to or “hard-wired” to the second device, for example.
The shield of the cable subassembly 70 is electrically connected to the first cable ground terminal (as shown by a dashed line in
The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure. Those skilled in the art will recognize that concepts disclosed in association with an example switching system 20 can likewise be implemented into many other systems to control one or more operations and/or functions.
Example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope to those who are skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many different forms and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known processes, well-known device structures, and well-known technologies are not described in detail.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,” and “having,” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed.
When an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “engaged to,” “connected to,” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engaged to,” “directly connected to,” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the example embodiments.
Spatially relative terms, such as “inner,” “outer,” “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,” “upper,” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. Spatially relative terms may be intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the example term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptions used herein interpreted accordingly.
Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings and may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described while within the scope of the appended claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/172,832 filed Jun. 9, 2015. The entire disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62172832 | Jun 2015 | US |
