GB2216692A

GB2216692A - Computer system layout

Info

Publication number: GB2216692A
Application number: GB8904890A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Bernard William Gill
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1988-03-03
Filing date: 1989-03-03
Publication date: 1989-10-11
Anticipated expiration: 2009-03-03
Also published as: GB8805078D0; GB2216692B; GB8904890D0

Abstract

A personal computer system consists of a processor unit 10, a monitor 11, a keyboard 12, a printer 13, and a mouse 17, all as physically separate modules. The mains power supply 16 is fed via cable 31 to the back of the monitor 30 and thence, through a switch 30, via cable 32 to the processor unit 10; the printer 13 is powered via cable 35 from the processor unit 10. All modules of the system are thus powered via a single mains switch 30 in a protected but accessible position on the monitor. The cables 36 and 39 from the keyboard 12 and mouse 17 are taken to the monitor 11, and thence via extension cabling 38 to the processor unit 10. The cables 36 and 39 thus pass from the keyboard and mouse to the module (the monitor) to which they are normally closest, and all other cabling (31-35, 38) can be located in fixed cable runs which are both unobtrusive and protected. <IMAGE>

Description

Computer System 1~ a y o v1 t The present invention relates to the layout of the units of a computer system. Computers - that is, general-purpose stored-program computers - range extremely widely in size. At the lowest end, there are games computers. These are followed by the well-recognized category of personal computers (PC's).

Above these there are what are known as minis, then main-frames, and finally supercomputers. The present invention is concerned with systems of the personal computer type, and particularly with the higher end of the personal computer range.

A personal computer can generally be regarded as consisting of four physical units: a processor unit, a monitor, a keyboard, and a printer. in some of the simplest such computers, the processor unit may be missing, with the processor circuitry being incorporated in the monitor. More usually, the processor unit and the monitor are distinguishable but closely linked, with the monitor being mounted directly on top of the processor unit. These various units are normally all accommodated on a desk or similar work surface.

In addition, there are computer systems or stations which are not univer sally regarded as personal computers but are nevertheless largely self-contained or independent single-user systems, and consist of at least a processor unit, a monitor, and a keyboard. One example is a group of personal computers forming a group of computer stations linked together by some form of local area network.

Although the different stations in the system are linked, they are largely selfcontained and lndependent in that each can be switched on or off independently, and each can be operated independently of all the others. Another example is a group of computer stations sharing a single printer; again, they are largely self-contained and independent in that each can be switched on or off independently, and each- can be operated independently of all the others. (The printer is switched on whenever any user wants to print.) For present purposes, the term "personal computer" is used to include any such computer station.

The units of a personal computer have of course to be interconnected, and this is generally done by means of cables interconnecting them. (In some instances it is possible to eliminate such cables altogether; For example, a keyboard can be linked with the processor unit by an infra-red beam. However, the scope for this kind of technique is limited, for example because no power can be transmitted that way so one of the units has to be battery powered.) The cables are generally multiline cables, carrying various logic signals and also low voltage power supplies between the units.

The presence of such cables is untidy; it is also inconvenient, because the cables can interfere with documents placed on the work surface, and get caught up and jerked, with the possibilities of connections being loosened, the cables or the units themselves being damaged, and other things on the work surface being knocked. (This can be serious if for example a cup of tea gets knocked over.) The various cables between the different units are therefore generally located to emerge from or near the backs of the units, since in that location they are least likely to be accidentally interfered with or to interfere with other things.

Also, they can often be fixed permanently in place at the back of the units as fixed cable runs.

Most computers - including in particular those personal computers with which the present invention is concerned - need a mains power supply. The same design considerations apply to mains leads as to interconnecting cables, so the mains lead or leads to the computer are also normally located to emerge from the backs of the units. (There may be a single mains lead, but there is often a separate mains lead for the printer.) In the case of computers in which the processor unit as such is absent, i.e.

where the processor and monitor form a single unit, the mains lead is usually located to emerge from this unit, which also carries the mains switch. In the case of computers in which there is a distinguishable processor unit, the monitor is often mounted - either on the processor unit or independently - so that it can be swivelled and/or tilted, and it is therefore desirable to minimize its weight and the leads to it. It is therefore conventional for the power unit to be located in the processor unit, which is designed to be the central unit of the system as far as feasible. The mains switch is therefore located on the processor unit, and the mains lead emerges from it.It is desirable to minimize the extent to which mains power is distributed inside the processor unit, so the power unit is normally located towards the back of the processor unit, near where the mains lead enters it, and with the mains switch also located nearby at the back of the processor unit.

As such personal computers have become more elaborate, so the amount of circuitry - such as, for example, a hard disc unit - included in the processor unit has become more bulky. As a result, the size of that unit is often substantial. While it can still be. accommodated below the monitor, it takes up a considerable surface area on the work surface and tends to raise the monitor to a substantial height. In such computers, the monitor and processor unit are often separable. Some users therefore prefer to locate the processor unit on a shelf underneath the work surface, and desks have been designed with shelves for this purpose. This has the disadvantage that the mains switch on the back of the processor unit becomes inaccessible.The user has to stretch down under the work surface to its rear to reach it, or has to use the switch on the mains socket (which may be similarly inaccessible).

Accordingly the present invention provides a personal computer comprising separate monitor and processor unit modules in which the mains power is supplied to the monitor and thence through a mains switch on the monitor to the processor unit.

This modification of the power supply arrangements thus provides a simple solution to the problem.

Although it would be possible for the mains switch to be retained on the processor unit and relocated at its front, this alternative is disadvantageous.

It would involve the redesign of the processor unit, and the mains supply would have to be fed through the processor unit to its front, which would involve a design problem: Also, locating the switch on the front of the processor unit would render it more liable to be knocked and accidentally turned off, whether the processor unit was located on the work surface underneath the monitor or under the work surface.

A further feature of the invention relates to the connection to the keyboard, which is conventionally connected to the processor unit in systems in which that unit is distinct from the monitor. By the invention, the keyboard is connected to the monitor instead of direct to the processor unit. This means that the normal cable from the keyboard to the processor unit is replaced by one from the keyboard to the monitor. As a result, the cable to the keyboard is shortened and made easier to manage, since the physical relationship between the keyboard and the monitor is normally closely defined. Cabling must of course be provided to pass the keyboard signals from the monitor to the processor unit, but this will normally only involve increasing the size of the cabling which already exists between the monitor and the processor unit.

Many personal computer systems also include a mouse - a device which can be moved by the user over a flat surface and which incorporates means for signalling the extent of such movement and a press switch. Such a mouse normally has associated with it software which images its movement on the monitor display, and which effects various control actions in response to the operation of the switch in dependence on the position of the image on the display. Such a mouse is normally connected to the processor unit in just the same way as the keyboard is. So correspondingly, by another feature of the invention a mouse is connected to the monitor instead of to the keyboard unit.

A personal computer system embodying the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which: Fig. 1 shows the physical arrangement of the units of the system; and Fig. 2 shows the electrical arrangement of the units of the system.

Referring to Fig. 1, the computer consists of a processor unit 10, a monitor 11, a keyboard 12, a printer 13, and a mouse 17. The processor unit 10 is located on a shelf 14 underneath one end of a desk work surface 15, the monitor 11 and keyboard 12 are located broadly centrally on the work surface, the printer 13 is located an the work surface towards the same end as the processor unit 10, and the mouse 17 is located on the work surface to the right of the keyboard 12.

The system is powered from a mains socket 16; tha various cables connected to the various system units will be described with reference to Fig. 2. On the front of the processor unit 10 there are disc drive units 20 and a panel 21 including various switches and indicators. The monitor 11 has a panel 22 at the side of its front face including various controls, primarily for controlling the monitor (e.g. a brightness control).

Fig. 2 shows the interconnections of the system units. A mains switch 30 is mounted at the back of the monitor 11, with the mains lead 31 from the mains socket 16 leading to it and a further mains lead 32 leading from it to the mains input to the processor unit 10, which is linked to the monitor 11 and the printer 13 by signal cables 33 and 34. With this power arrangement, the processor unit 10 requires no modification; all that is needed is for it to be left permanently switched on.

The monitor 11 has to include the switch 30 and the two mains leads 31 and 32 attached to it. In many personal computer systems the monitor has its own mains power unit, which is powered from the processor unit. In this case, there will already be a mains lead to it, which would normally be fed from the processor unit 10; with this type of monitor, the mains lead 31 and the switch 30 will have to be provided and the switch coupled to the existing mains cable, which will become the cable 32 and will carry power to instead of from the processor unit 10. In fact, some monitors already include their own mains switch; in this case, all that need be done is to attach the cable 32 to the appropriate side of the switch.Of course, if the monitor has no power unit of its own, then the necessary arrangements can be achieved simply by attaching the switch with its two cables to the outside of its casing (so that little or no redesign of the monitor is required).

In most personal computer systems, the printer 13 normally has its own power supply. If the monitor also contains its own power unit, then the processor unit now receives power from the monitor over. the existing power cable. This leaves the existing power cable 35, through which the processor unit would normally receive its mains power, unused. This cable is therefore connected to the printer unit 13 to act as the power supply to the printer.

Thus the whole system is now powered through a single mains cable and controlled by the single switch 30.

Further, in the present system the signal cable 36 from the keyboard 12 is not connected directly to the processor unit 10, but to a connector 37 on the monitor 11 which is in turn connected to the processor unit 10 by a further signal cable 38. This has the advantage that it is easier to keep this cable under control if the end remote from the keyboard is connected to the monitor rather than into the cable runs, since the keyboard normally has a fairly well defined physical relationship with the monitor (the keyboard normally being directly in front of the monitor). The connector 37 can be attached to the outside of the casing of the monitor 11, so that little or no redesign of the monitor is required.

The signal cable 39 from the mouse 17 is, like the cable 36 from the keyboard 12, not connected directly to the processor unit 10, but to the connector 37 on the monitor 11. The connector 37 is a Y connector coupling the two cables 36 and 39 to a single cable 38 to the processor unit 10. The cable 39 can, like the cable 38, be managed more easily by this arrangement.

Claims

1 A personal computer comprising separate monitor and processor unit modules in which - the mains power is supplied to the monitor and thence through a mains switch on the monitor t'o the processor unit.

2 A personal computer according to claim 1 comprising also a separate keyboard module connected to the monitor, and cabling which passes signals from the keyboard to the processor unit via the monitor.

3 A personal computer according to either previous claim comprising also a mouse is connected to the monitor instead of to the keyboard unit, and cabling which passes signals from the mouse to the processor unit via the monitor.

4 A personal computer according to any previous claim comprising also a separate printer module to which mains power is supplied from the processor unit.

5 A personal computer system substantially as herein described with reference to the drawings.