JP2000353145A - Usb switch - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a USB switch capable of selectively connecting either one of plural upper layer side USB ports to a lower layer side USB port. SOLUTION: The USB switch 10 is constituted of plural upper layer side 1st USB ports 12a, 12b, a lower layer side 2nd USB port 13 and a changeover switch 14 for selectively connecting the 2nd USB port 13 to either one of the 1st USB ports 12a, 12b. Since personal computers or the like connected to respective 1st USB ports 12a, 12b can be selectively connected to a peripheral device connected to the 2nd USB port 13 by the switching operation of the changeover switch 14, a printer can be easily shared by simple constitution.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a USB switch for switching and using a computer peripheral device having a USB interface.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in a personal computer, for example, a USB standard interface (hereinafter referred to as a USB interface) has been adopted as a common interface for connecting various peripheral devices, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a printer, etc., to the personal computer body. ing. In order to connect various peripheral devices having a plurality of USB interfaces to a personal computer, a USB hub having a plurality of USB interface connectors is used.

Here, the USB interface uses a cable combining two signal lines and two power supply lines, and supplies power to various peripheral devices from each USB port via a USB hub. Has become possible.

[0004] Such USB hubs are hierarchically connected, so that, for example, 127 peripheral devices can be used in six layers, and they can be connected as they are live. (So-called hot plugs), the convenience of personal computers and the like is further expanding.

[0005]

By the way, various kinds of peripheral devices having such a USB interface are connected to a single personal computer in a tree-like manner via a hierarchically connected USB hub. It has become. Therefore, a single USB interface peripheral device cannot be shared by a plurality of personal computers.

Therefore, when it is desired to use a peripheral device such as a printer connected to one personal computer with another personal computer, attention is paid to the above-mentioned hot plug, and for convenience, one personal computer temporarily switches from one personal computer to another. After removal, you need to connect to another personal computer. However, there is a problem that the operation of reconnecting the peripheral device to another personal computer every time it is used is complicated and takes a long time for the connection.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, the present invention provides a USB switch in which a plurality of upper-layer USB ports can be selectively connected to one lower-layer USB port. It is intended to be.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there are provided a first USB port on a plurality of upper layers, a second USB port on one lower layer, and a second USB port. A changeover switch for selectively connecting a port to any one of the first USB ports.
This is achieved by a switch.

Preferably, the USB switch according to the present invention further detects a signal of each first USB port and connects the first USB port which has detected the signal to the second USB port. It includes a control unit for controlling.

[0010] In the USB switch according to the present invention, preferably, one of the first USB ports is set as a priority port, and the control unit controls the plurality of first USB ports. When a signal is detected, the changeover switch is controlled so that the first USB port set as the priority port is connected to the second USB port.

[0011] Further, according to the present invention, the above object is provided by
A computer peripheral device having a B interface and connected to a computer or the like via a device-side USB port, and a USB connected to the device-side USB port
A USB switch, comprising: a plurality of upper-layer first USB ports; one lower-layer second USB port connected to the device-side USB port; A changeover switch for selectively connecting the two USB ports to any one of the first USB ports.

According to the above configuration, a personal computer is connected to each of the first USB ports with a USB cable, and a peripheral device, for example, a printer to be shared is connected to the second USB port with a USB cable. By this, this peripheral device
It is connected to a plurality of personal computers via the switch.

By operating the changeover switch, the printer is switched and connected to a personal computer that wants to use the printer. In this state, when print data is output from the personal computer, the print data is output from the first port to which the personal computer is connected to the second port via the changeover switch, and is connected to the second port. Is output to the selected printer. Thus, the printer performs printing based on the print data from the personal computer.

Here, when it is desired to use the printer from another personal computer, the changeover switch is connected to the other personal computer. From this state, when print data is output from the other personal computer, the print data is output from a first port to which the personal computer is connected to a second port via a changeover switch, and the second port Output to the printer connected to. Thus, the printer performs printing based on the print data from the personal computer.

In this way, the personal computers respectively connected to the plurality of first USB ports can be selectively connected to the printer connected to the second USB port by the switching operation of the changeover switch. With such a configuration, the printer can be easily shared. In addition, it is possible to connect not only various peripheral devices but also a USB hub to the second USB port,
In that case, a lower layer peripheral device or USB hub connected to the USB hub can be used from a plurality of personal computers respectively connected to the first USB port.

Further, the signal of each first USB port is detected, and the first USB port which has detected the signal is connected to the second USB port.
If the personal computer includes a control unit that controls the changeover switch to connect to the port, for example, when print data is output from the personal computer, the control unit transmits a signal of the first USB port to which the personal computer is connected. Since the switch is detected and the changeover switch is automatically switched to the first USB port, the changeover operation becomes unnecessary, and the convenience is further improved.

[0017] Of the first USB ports, one of the first USB ports is set as a priority port, and when the control unit detects signals of a plurality of first USB ports simultaneously, the first USB port is set as the priority port. When the changeover switch is controlled to connect the first USB port to the second USB port, the print data is output simultaneously from the personal computers connected to the plurality of first USB ports. Even if the print data is output simultaneously from a plurality of personal computers, the control unit controls the switch so that the personal computer connected to the priority port is preferentially switched and connected. Can be performed.

Note that the USB switch may be built in a peripheral device to be shared. In this case, the USB switch is integrated with the peripheral device, thereby facilitating handling.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a USB switch according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, a USB switch 10 includes first USB ports 12 a and 12 b formed of a plurality of (two in the illustrated example) USB connectors provided on a case 11, and one USB port provided on the case 11. Second USB consisting of two USB connectors
It is composed of a port 13, a changeover switch 14 and a control unit 15 built in the case 11.

The first USB ports 12a, 12b
Are connected to, for example, the first personal computer 16 and the second personal computer 17 via the USB cables 16a and 17a, respectively, on the upper layer side.
4 is connected to the switching side.

The second USB port 13 is connected to a lower peripheral device, for example, a
Connected via the B cable 18a and the case 1
1 is connected to the master side of the changeover switch 14.

The changeover switch 14 is configured to switch and connect each line of the USB interface. When the changeover switch 14 is operated, the first or second personal computer 16, 17 is selectively connected to the first or second personal computer. The connection is switched to the second USB port 13.

The control unit 15 monitors each of the first USB ports 12a and 12b, and
The changeover switch 1 detects the signals of the B ports 12a and 12b, and connects the second USB port 13 to the first USB port 12a or 12b that has detected the signal.
4 is switched. The control unit 15
Sets one of the first USB ports 12a and 12b as a priority port, for example, 12a as the priority port, and at the same time, the bidirectional first USB port 12a
And 12b, the changeover switch 14 is controlled so that the second USB port 13 is preferentially connected to the one first USB port 12a. In addition, the control unit 15 may be omitted, and in this case, the changeover switch 14 is manually switched by the user as needed.

The USB switch 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention
Is configured as described above, and when used,
As shown in FIG. 2, both first USB ports 12a,
The switching of the changeover switch 14 is controlled in accordance with the presence or absence of the signal 12b. That is, the USB port of the first personal computer 16 is on,
If there is a signal, the second personal computer 1
Regardless of the on / off state of the USB port 7 or the presence or absence of a signal, the control unit 15 always controls the changeover switch 14 to the first personal computer 16 side, that is, the first USB port 12a side.

The first personal computer 16
When the USB port of the second personal computer 17 is on and there is no signal, the control unit 15 performs the operation on the second personal computer 17 side, that is, only when the USB port of the second personal computer 17 is on and there is a signal. The changeover switch 14 is controlled to be switched to the first USB port 12b side. On the other hand, the US of the second personal computer 17
When the B port is on and there is no signal, or when the USB port is off, the control unit 15 sets the switch 14 to the first personal computer 16 side, that is, the first USB port 12a side as a priority port. Is switched. In this case, no signal is output from the second USB port 13.

Further, the first personal computer 1
If the USB port of the second personal computer 17 is off (and, of course, there is no signal), the control unit 15 will operate the second personal computer 17 only if the USB port of the second personal computer 17 is on and there is a signal. The changeover switch 14 is switched to the 17th side, that is, to the first USB port 12b side. On the other hand, when the USB port of the second personal computer 17 is on and there is no signal or when the USB port is off, the control unit 15 sets the first personal computer 16 side as a priority port,
That is, the changeover switch 14 is connected to the first USB port 12a side.
Is switched. In this case, no signal is output from the second USB port 13. In the case of the printer 18 described above, the control unit 15 monitors the signal of the print data from the first or second personal computer 16, 17. 13
From the peripheral device connected to the first USB port 12a,
It is also possible to monitor the signal going to 12b, so that automatic switching can also take place in the case of peripherals such as scanners.

When, for example, print data is output from the personal computer 16 or 17 in this way, the control unit 15 causes the personal computer 16 or 1 to output the print data.
7 is connected to the first USB port 12a or 12b
Is detected, and the changeover switch 14 is set to the first US
Automatic switching to B port 12a or 12b. Therefore,
There is no need to operate the changeover switch 14 corresponding to the personal computer 16 or 17 on the side of use.

FIG. 3 shows an application example of the USB switch according to the present invention. In FIG. 3, the USB switch 10 is
It is built in the peripheral device 20 to be connected to the second USB port 13. Thereby, the USB switch 10
Is configured integrally with the peripheral device 20, which facilitates handling.

In the embodiment described above, the second US
As a lower-layer peripheral device connected to the B port 13,
Although the printer 18 is shown, the present invention is not limited to this, and other peripheral devices such as a USB-compatible CD-R (recordable C
D) It is clear that a drive, a music performance device and the like can also be connected.

In the above embodiment, two first USB ports 12a and 12b are provided. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and three or more first USB ports may be provided. In this case, by using the changeover switch 14 having the changeover contacts corresponding to the number of the first USB ports, various personal devices connected to the second USB port 13 can be shared by a plurality of personal computers. It becomes possible to do.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, a USB hub can be connected to the second USB port 13, and various peripheral devices and further USB hubs can be connected to this USB hub in a tree shape. By doing so, a large number of various peripheral devices can be switched and used from a plurality of personal computers.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, a personal computer or the like connected to each of a plurality of first USB ports can be selectively connected to a second USB port by operating a changeover switch. Printers can be easily shared with a simple configuration because they can be connected to the peripheral device.

Thus, according to the present invention, there is provided an extremely excellent USB switch capable of selectively connecting a plurality of upper-layer USB ports to one lower-layer USB port. Could be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of a USB switch according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a switching operation of the USB hub of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a peripheral device incorporating a USB switch according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 USB switch 11 Case 12a, 12b First USB port (upper layer side) 13 Second USB port (lower layer side) 14 Changeover switch 15 Control unit 20 Peripheral device

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of first USB ports on an upper layer side, a second USB port on one lower layer side, and a second U port
A switch for selectively connecting the SB port to any one of the first USB ports. 2. The method further comprises detecting a signal of each first USB port and connecting the first USB port having detected the signal to a second USB port.
The U of claim 1, further comprising a control unit for controlling a changeover switch to connect to the B port.
SB switch. 3. The one of the first USB ports, one of the first USB ports is set as a priority port, and when the control unit detects signals of the plurality of first USB ports simultaneously, the priority port is set. The USB switch according to claim 2, wherein the switch is controlled to connect the first USB port set to the second USB port to the second USB port.
Switch. 4. A computer peripheral device provided with a USB interface and connected to a computer or the like via a device-side USB port, comprising a USB switch connected to the device-side USB port. Device is a plurality of upper layer side first USB
A second USB port on one lower layer side connected to the device-side USB port, and a changeover switch for selectively connecting the second USB port to any one of the first USB ports. A computer peripheral characterized by including: