Universal PC card host
OwnerEdward A. Kantnerinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An electronic device has a host with a card-receiving slot, with the host being capable of receiving and operating low voltage-low current (3.3 volts and no more than 0.12 amp) cards, low voltage-high current cards, high voltage (5 volts)--low current cards, and high voltage-high current cards. The inner end of the slot has a voltage-discriminating first side and an opposite current-discriminating second side. Each side has a switch with an actuator lying at a location that is occupied by a discrimination key portion that is present in one kind of card (low voltage or low current) but not in another kind of card (high voltage or high current). The electronic device has different circuits for energizing or rejecting the types of card sensed by the switches.
Claims7
A PC card-receiving host that has a card-receiving slot with first and second sides, wherein said slot can receive any one of four types of PC cards comprising low-voltage-low current cards, low voltage-high current cards, high voltage-low current cards, and high voltage-high current cards, where each of said four types of cards is designed to operate at a different combination of first or second voltages and first or second current ranges, and wherein said cards each have first and second sides that indicate the particular type of card, wherein each low voltage card has a voltage discrimination key at the first side of the card but each high voltage card does not, and each low current card has a current discrimination key at its second side but each high current card does not, characterized by:
- voltage and current sensing switches mounted on said host;
- said voltage sensing switch is located at said card host first side and has an actuator positioned to be operated by the voltage discrimination key of a low voltage card;
- said current sensing switch is located at said card host second side and has an actuator positioned to be operated by the current discrimination key of a low current card;
- circuitry that can be switched, connected to said voltage and current switches.
An electronic device that can receive low and high current PC cards, comprising:
- an electrical source for flowing current to a PC card, said source being switchable to supply current at no more than a first current level or to supply current of a magnitude that can exceed said first level;
- a card-receiving host which has a card-receiving slot and at least one laterally-extending row of pin contacts;
- a switching device which is operable to switch said source to energize a PC card lying in said slot, and a sensor which selectively senses the presence of a low current PC card and a high current card and which switches said source so it can supply current of a magnitude that is no more said than said first current level only when said sensor senses a low current PC card.
A method for operating an electronic device with a host that has a card-receiving slot, to receive and energize any of four types of cards, namely low voltage-low current cards, low voltage-high current cards, high voltage-low current cards, and high voltage-high current cards, where low voltage cards have card discriminating keys at a middle location of a first side of the card but high voltage cards do not have such keys, and where low current cards have card discriminating key portions at a top location of a second side of the card but high current cards do not, wherein said electronic device can be switched to effectively operate any of said four types of cards, comprising:
- sensing the installation in said slot of a particular one of said four types of cards and switching said electronic device to operate a card of a selected voltage type and a selected current type upon said sensing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.