Contactless connector

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9634728-B2
Application number	US-201414289319-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 28, 2014
Priority date	May 28, 2014
Publication date	Apr 25, 2017
Grant date	Apr 25, 2017

Abstract

A contactless connector includes an insulative housing having a mating interface configured to be coupled to a connector interface of an electronic device. The housing can be reversibly coupled to the connector interface in a first orientation or in a second orientation oriented 180 degrees relative to the first orientation. A communication circuit board is held within the housing that includes a first connector communication chip and a second connector communication chip configured to define wireless communication channels with corresponding device communication chips of the electronic device in either orientation. A sensor senses the orientation of the housing relative to the connector interface of the electronic device to determine if the housing is in the first orientation or in the second orientation. The mode of operation of the first and second connector communication chips is controlled based on the sensed orientation of the housing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A contactless connector comprising:
a housing extending between a mating end and a termination end, the housing having a mating interface at the mating end configured to be coupled to a connector interface of an electronic device, the housing having a first side and a second side opposite the first side, the housing being reversibly coupled to the connector interface in both of a first orientation or a second orientation oriented 180 degrees relative to the first orientation, wherein the first side of said housing faces a first side of the connector interface in the first orientation and the second side of said housing faces a second side of the connector interface in the first orientation, and wherein the first side of said housing faces the second side of the connector interface in the second orientation and the second side of said housing faces the first side of the connector interface in the second orientation;
first and second coupling elements at the first and second sides of said housing, respectively, the first and second coupling elements configured to be secured to corresponding coupling elements of the electronic device in both the first and second orientations;
first and second power terminals at the first and second sides of said housing, respectively, the first and second power terminals being electrically coupled to corresponding device power terminals of the electronic device to supply power to the electronic device, wherein the first and second power terminals are configured to transfer power in both the first and second orientations; and
a contactless data communication circuit board at least partially disposed within the housing, the contactless data communication circuit board having at least one connector contactless data communication chip configured to define a wireless communication channel with a device contactless data communication chip of the electronic device, wherein the at least one connector contactless data communication chip is configured to communicate with the electronic device in both the first and second orientations.

2. The contactless connector of claim 1 , further comprising a sensor configured to sense the orientation of the housing relative to the connector interface of the electronic device to determine if the housing is in the first orientation or in the second orientation.

3. The contactless connector of claim 2 , wherein a mode of operation of the at least one connector contactless data communication chip is switched between a transmit mode and a receive mode based on the sensed orientation of the housing.

4. The contactless connector of claim 2 , further comprising a power circuit supplying power to the first and second power terminals, the sensor being operably coupled to the power circuit to switch polarity of the first and second power terminals based on the sensed orientation of the housing.

5. The contactless connector of claim 1 , wherein the first and second power terminals are hollow power terminals receiving and surrounding the first and second coupling elements.

6. The contactless connector of claim 1 , wherein, in the first orientation, the first power terminal has a positive polarity and the second power terminal has a negative polarity, and wherein, in the second orientation, the first power terminal has a negative polarity and the second power terminal has a positive polarity.

7. The contactless connector of claim 1 , wherein the first and second power terminals comprise a first side positive power terminal and a first side negative power terminal positioned at the first side of the housing, the contactless connector further comprising a second side positive power terminal and second side negative power terminal positioned at the second side of the housing, the power terminals being electrically coupled to corresponding device power terminals of the electronic device to supply power to the electronic device.

8. The contactless connector of claim 7 , wherein the first coupling element is positioned between the first side positive power terminal and the first side negative power terminal, and wherein the second coupling element is positioned between the second side positive power terminal and the second side negative power.

9. The contactless connector of claim 7 , further comprising a positive wire in the housing and a negative wire in the housing, the positive wire being spliced and electrically coupled to the first side positive power terminal and the second side positive power terminal, the negative wire being spliced and electrically coupled to the first side negative power terminal and the second side negative power terminal.

10. The contactless connector of claim 1 , wherein the first and second coupling elements are magnetic coupling elements configured to be magnetically coupled to the corresponding coupling elements of the electronic device.

11. The contactless connector of claim 1 , wherein the at least one connector contactless data communication chip comprises a first connector contactless data communication chip and a second contactless data connector communication chip, the first and second connector contactless data communication chips each operable in a mode of operation that is either a transmit mode or a receive mode, wherein, in the first orientation, the first connector contactless data communication chip is configured to define a first wireless data communication channel with a first device contactless data communication chip of the electronic device and the second connector contactless data communication chip is configured to define a second wireless data communication channel with a second device contactless data communication chip of the electronic device, and wherein in the second orientation, the first connector contactless data communication chip is configured to define the second wireless data communication channel with the second device contactless data communication chip of the electronic device and the second connector contactless data communication chip is configured to define the first wireless data communication channel with the first device contactless data communication chip of the electronic device.

12. The contactless connector of claim 11 , further comprising a sensor configured to sense the orientation of the housing relative to the connector interface of the electronic device to determine if the housing is in the first orientation or in the second orientation, wherein the mode of operation of the first and second connector contactless data communication chips is controlled based on the sensed orientation of the housing.

13. The contactless connector of claim 12 , wherein, when the sensor senses that the housing is in the first orientation, the first connector contactless data communication chip is operated in the transmit mode and the second connector contactless data communication chip is operated in the receive mode, and wherein, when the sensor senses that the housing is in the second orientation, the first connector contactless data communication chip is operated in the receive mode and the second connector contactless data communication chip is operated in the transmit mode.

14. The contactless connector of claim 12 , wherein at least one of the first connector contactless data communications chip or the second connector contactless data communication chip comprises the sensor.

15. The contactless connector of claim 12 , wherein the sensor is at least one of a proximity sensor or a current direction sensor.

16. The contactless connector of claim 11 , wherein the contactless data communicat

Assignees

• Tyco Electronics Corp
• Te Connectivity Corp

Inventors

• Hassan-Ali Mudhafar
• Chan Danny Hon Bun
• Larson Jason

Classifications

• H04B5/79 Primary

  for data transfer in combination with power transfer · CPC title

• H04B5/24

  Inductive coupling · CPC title

• H04B5/22

  Capacitive coupling · CPC title

• H04B5/0031 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04B5/0037

  Electricity · mapped topic