JPH08203635A - Connecting method of apparatus and connecting cable unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a versatile connecting cable unit of an OA apparatus which is not restricted by a shape of a connecting connector and the pin number arranged in respective OA apparatuses by combining a pair of specific adapters and a shared cable with each other. CONSTITUTION: In a connecting cable unit 1 to be electrically connected between mutual OA apparatuses, the connecting cable unit is composed of a pair of adapters (1) and a shared cable (2) as follows. (1) A pair of adapters 13 and 14 where apparatus side connectors 13a and 14a to be fitted to connecting connectors 16 and 17 arranged in a prescribed OA apparatus on one side so as to be freely mountable and demountable are electrically connected to the other side connectors 13a and 14a and converting connectors 13b and 14b having the pin number not less than the connecting connectors 16 and 17 having the most pin number in an OA apparatus being a connecting object are respectively arranged. (2) A shared cable 15 where shared connectors 15b to be fitted to the converting connectors 13b and 14b so as to be freely mountable and demountable are respectively installed on both ends of the cable.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of connecting OA equipment and a connection cable unit, and more particularly to each OA.
The present invention relates to a technique effectively applied to connection when the number of pins of a connection connector provided in a device is different from each other.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Today, OA (Office Automation) is used in each department of a company for the purpose of improving work efficiency.
As a result, OA devices such as engineering workstations (hereinafter referred to as “EWS”) and personal computers (hereinafter referred to as “personal computer”) are being introduced one after another. Then, in the next stage, in order to support joint work in groups and departments, there is an increasing need to connect OA devices such as EWS and personal computers to share information.

In connection of such OA equipments, the connectivity between the equipments becomes a problem. For example, "Hitachi Hyakuron Vol. 70 No. 9" issued by Hitachi Hyoronsha Co., Ltd. (issued September 25, 1988) ) Also describes in P42 that ease of OA device connection is a necessary condition for network construction.

A cable is required as a connecting means for connection between OA devices, but depending on the type of OA device or even OA devices of the same type, a connector for connecting devices (hereinafter referred to as "connecting connector"). The shape and number of pins are different. Therefore, a user who wants to connect an OA device is required to connect the OA device via a cable to which a connector corresponding to the connection connector of the OA device to be connected is attached, or as shown in FIG. It is necessary to prepare a connection cable 22 or the like that can connect the devices.

Now, referring to FIG. 3, which is a connection technique studied by the present inventor, the number of pins of one connection connector 26 is made equal to the number of pins of the other connection connector 27 (in this case, Pin number conversion device 21 for matching 9 pins to 25 pins) is connected to, for example, a connection connector 26 (9 pins) of a personal computer, and one end of a connection cable 22 having a 25-pin connector 22a attached to both ends has this pin number. The conversion device 21 is fitted, and the other is fitted with a connector 27 (25 pins) of the EWS to electrically connect the EWS and the personal computer.

[0006]

However, the shapes and the number of pins of the connection connectors 26 and 27 of the OA equipment are often different from each other, and in such a case, a combination of the different connection connectors 26 and 27 is combined. It is necessary to prepare the pin number converting device 21 and the connection cable 22 (hereinafter, referred to as the "connection cable unit 23") by the amount.

In such a connection technique, it is necessary to prepare a predetermined number of connection cable units 23 for each possible combination. Therefore, the number of types of the connection cable units 23 is increased more than necessary, the management becomes complicated, and more connection cable units 23 that are not actually used are generated, resulting in unnecessary cost.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a versatile OA device connecting method and a connecting cable unit which are not restricted by the shape and the number of pins of the connecting connector provided in each OA device. .

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of the present specification and the accompanying drawings.

[0010]

The typical ones of the inventions disclosed in the present application will be outlined below.

That is, in the method of connecting OA equipment according to the present invention, the number of pins of the connection connector provided in the OA equipment to be connected is unified to be equal to or larger than the maximum number of pins in this connection connector, and this unified construction is adopted. Regarding the number of pins, the OA devices are electrically connected to each other with a cable.

The connection cable unit according to the present invention electrically connects the OA devices to each other, and has a device-side connector that is detachably fitted to a connection connector provided on a predetermined OA device on one side. , A pair of adapters that are electrically connected to the device side connector on the other side, and each of which is provided with a conversion connector having a pin number equal to or larger than the maximum number of pins of the OA device to be connected, A common connector that is detachably fitted to the conversion connector is a common cable attached to both ends of the cable, and both OA devices are electrically connected by the common cable via an adapter.

The connection cable unit according to the present invention is an O
A device is electrically connected to each other, and a device side connector that is detachably fitted to a connection connector provided on a predetermined OA device is electrically connected to one side and a device side connector is electrically connected to the other side. , A pair of adapters each provided with a conversion connector having a pin number equal to or greater than the maximum number of pins in the series to which the connection connector belongs, and a common connector that is detachably fitted to the conversion connector of this adapter And a shared cable attached to each of the OA devices, and both OA devices are electrically connected by the shared cable via an adapter.

[0014]

According to the above-mentioned means, one type of common cable can be used only by exchanging the adapter without being restricted by the shape and the number of pins of the connecting connector of the OA equipment to be connected.

Therefore, the number of types of connection cable units does not increase more than necessary, and there is no fear that many connection cable units that are not actually used will occur.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an EWS and a personal computer connected using a connection cable unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the connection cable unit.

The connection cable unit 1 of this embodiment is used as an electrical connection means between OA devices such as the EWS 2 and the personal computer 3. The illustrated EWS 2 is a CAD (Computer Aide) for designing a predetermined circuit layout in a semiconductor chip, for example.
The display 5 and the keyboard 6 and the mouse 7 are installed on the table 4, the main body 8 is installed on the right side of the table 4, and the printer 9 is installed on the left side. Therefore, a worker can quickly and accurately design a predetermined circuit by the EWS 2.

As described above, the personal computer 3 is connected to the EWS 2 by the connection cable unit 1,
The same work can be performed while taking out the data of WS2. The personal computer 3 includes a main body 10, a display 11 installed on the main body 10, and a keyboard 12 as an input means.

The EWS 2 and the personal computer 3 have a pair of adapters 13 and 14 and a common cable 15 as shown in FIG.
Are electrically connected by a connection cable unit 1.

One adapter 13 is a connector 16 provided on the EWS 2, and the other adapter 14 is a connector 17 provided on the personal computer 3, for example RS23.
2C type EIA (Electlonic Industries Associatio
n: Electronic Industries Association-Standard) device-side connector 13a, 1
4a are adapted to be detachably fitted to each other. Therefore, for example, a 25-pin connector 1
The device-side connector 13a to be connected to 6 has 25 pins and 9
Device side connector 1 to be connected to the connector 17 of the pin
4a is set to pin 9.

Conversion connectors 13b and 14b electrically connected to the device-side connectors 13a and 14a are provided on the opposite sides of the device-side connectors 13a and 14a, respectively. Each of the conversion connectors 13b and 14b has 25 pins, and is adapted to the larger number of pins of the connection connectors 16 and 17 of the EWS 2 and the personal computer 3 to be connected. Therefore, the 25-pin conversion connector 13
Device side connector 13 in which 16 pins of b are 9 pins
It is a dummy pin that is not electrically connected to any of a.
Note that the conversion connector 13b does not have to be a dummy pin.
The 16 pin insertion portion (not shown) may be used as a blank.

When there are other OA devices to be connected and the maximum number of pins of the connection connector is more than 25 pins, for example, when the maximum number of pins is 29 pins, the number of pins of the conversion connectors 13b and 14b is The number of pins may be equal to or more than that (29 pins or more in this case). In other words, the OA device to be connected here is the two Os that are actually connected.
It does not refer to the A equipment itself, but refers to the OA equipment installed over a predetermined range such as a group, department, or one floor, which is the connection target. Therefore, depending on the range to be captured, the connection target is two OA
It may be limited to equipment, and may be three or more.

The shared cable 15 is composed of, for example, RS
A common connector 15b that is detachably fitted to the conversion connectors 13b and 14b of the adapters 13 and 14 is attached to both ends of the 232C type cable 15a.
Therefore, the common connector 15b has 25 pins, which is the same as the conversion connectors 13b and 14b.

The EWS 2 and the personal computer 3 are connected by the connection cable unit 1 including the adapters 13 and 14 and the common cable 15. That is, the adapter 13
The device side connector 13a is a connector 16 for the EWS2.
The device-side connector 14a of the adapter 14 is connected to the personal computer 3
Of the common cable 1 and the conversion connectors 13b and 14b respectively
5b are respectively fitted and connected.

In this connection cable unit 1, the number of pins of the connection connectors 16 and 17 of the EWS 2 and the personal computer 3 to be connected is converted into the larger number of pins by the adapters 13 and 14 and unified, and the unified number of pins is obtained. Adapter 1
3, 14 are connected to each other by a common connector 15b. Therefore, even if the OA equipment to be connected is the connector 16 or 17 having a different shape or a different number of pins, the adapter 1 capable of converting the number of pins to the maximum number of pins of the OA equipment.
Several types of 3, 4 (that is, each connection connector 16, 17
(Only the type of device side connector 13a, 14a that fits with)
Prepare the desired number over this adapter 13,1
It suffices to prepare one type of shared cable 15 having a shared connector 15b to be fitted with the four conversion connectors 13b and 14b (this is only one type of maximum pin number).

Specifically, when the number of pins of the connection connectors 16 and 17 provided in the OA equipment to be connected is 9 types, for example, from 9 pins to an odd number of 25 pins, To unify the maximum number of pins to 25 pins, prepare 9 types of adapters 13 and 14 for converting the connection connectors 16 and 17 of each number of pins to 25 pins, and one type of common cable 15 respectively, as many as necessary. It will be good. On the other hand, if the connecting connectors 16 and 17 are directly connected by cables, possible connecting connectors 16 and 17 are
It is necessary to prepare 81 types of cables, which is a combination of 17 types, and moreover, a required number of cables for each type.

As described above, according to the present connection cable unit 1, by exchanging the adapters 13 and 14,
One type of common cable 15 without being restricted by the shape and the number of pins of the connecting connectors 16 and 17 of the OA equipment to be connected
Will be available. Therefore, the unusable shared cable 15 does not occur, and the number of types of the connection cable unit 1 does not increase more than necessary, and the management is simplified.

Further, since the number of the connecting cable units 1 is not increased, there is no fear that many actually unused ones will occur and no wasteful cost will be incurred.

Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Needless to say.

For example, the connecting connectors 16 and 17 are often one of the models developed in a series of series. In such a case, the adapters 13 and 14 are used. Connector 16,
You may make it connect with the common cable 15 by unifying the number of pins more than the largest number of pins in the connector series to which 17 belongs.

Further, the device side connectors 13a, 14a of the adapters 13, 14 and the conversion connectors 13b, 14b are integrally formed, but both connectors 13a, 14 are formed.
A, 13b, 14b may be connected via a cable.

The OA device to be connected is not limited to the EWS 2 and the personal computer 3, and may be another OA device such as a word processor.

[0034]

The effects obtained by the typical ones of the inventions disclosed in this application will be briefly described as follows.

(1) In other words, according to the connection technology for OA equipment of the present invention, an adapter which makes the number of pins of the connection connector more than the maximum number of pins of the OA equipment to be connected is used, or Since an adapter with the maximum number of pins in the series to which it belongs is used and OA devices are connected via a shared cable via this adapter, it is restricted by the shape and pin number of the connection connector of the OA device to be connected. Without changing the adapter, one type of shared cable can be used. Therefore, versatility can be given to the shared cable and the number of types of connection cable units does not increase more than necessary, so that management can be simplified.

(2) In addition, since the number of connection cable units can be reduced and the number of the connection cable units does not increase, there is no fear that a large number of connection cable units that are not actually used will occur, resulting in a wasteful cost. It does not take.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an EWS and a personal computer connected using a connection cable unit that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the connection cable unit.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a connection cable unit examined by the present inventor.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Connection cable unit 2 Engineering workstation (EW
S) 3 Personal computer (personal computer) 4 Table 5 Display 6 Keyboard 7 Mouse 8 Main body 9 Printer 10 Main body 11 Display 12 Keyboard 13 Adapter 13a Device side connector 13b Conversion connector 14 Adapter 14a Device side connector 14b Conversion connector 15 Shared cable 15a Cable 15b Common connector 16 Connection connector 17 Connection connector 21 Pin number conversion device 22 Connection cable 22a connector 23 Connection cable unit 26 Connection connector 27 Connection connector

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An OA for electrically connecting OA devices to each other.
A method of connecting devices, wherein the number of pins of a connection connector provided in the OA device to be connected is unified to be equal to or larger than the largest number of pins in the connection connector, and the OA device has the unified number of pins. A method of connecting OA devices, characterized in that the two are electrically connected to each other by a cable. 2. A connection cable unit for electrically connecting OA devices to each other, wherein a device-side connector removably fitted to a connection connector provided on a predetermined OA device on one side is on the other side. A pair of adapters each electrically connected to the device-side connector and provided with a conversion connector having a pin number equal to or larger than the connection connector having the largest number of pins in the OA device to be connected; And a common connector that is detachably fitted to the cable, and the common cable is attached to both ends of the cable, and both OA devices are electrically connected by the common cable via the adapter. Cable unit. 3. A connection cable unit for electrically connecting OA devices to each other, wherein a device-side connector that is detachably fitted to a connection connector provided on a predetermined OA device on one side is on the other side. A pair of adapters that are electrically connected to the device-side connector and that are each provided with a conversion connector having a pin number greater than or equal to the maximum number of pins in the series to which the connection connector belongs; A connection cable unit, characterized in that a common connector that fits into the cable is composed of a common cable attached to both ends of the cable, and both OA devices are electrically connected by the common cable via the adapter.