KR20100057325A - Sata cable apparatus for connection external device with host computer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A SATA(Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) cable connecting a host computer with an exterior device is provided to maximize portability and efficiency of a hard disk by connecting and separating SATA cable easily from a host computer. CONSTITUTION: A SATA connector for a host(210) is comprised of one section housing of a SATA cable. The SATA cable is connected to a SATA interface connector of a host computer. A power connector(212) and a data connector(211) are unified to one housing in the SATA connector. A SATA connector for an external device(220) is connected to the SATA interface connector of the exterior device.

Description

SATA cable connecting the host computer to the external device {SATA CABLE APPARATUS FOR CONNECTION EXTERNAL DEVICE WITH HOST COMPUTER}

The present invention relates to a SATA cable connected to a SATA interface for connecting a host computer and an external device such as an external hard disk.

Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) is standardized by APT Technology, DELL Computer, IBM, Intel, Maxtor, Seagate Technologies, Inc., and is a computer bus developed for data transfer to and from mass storage devices such as hard disks. It's one thing. Since the SATA interface is the same at the application level as the existing ATA interface such as Extended-Integrated Drive Electronics (E-IDE), the software developed in the ATA interface can operate directly on the SATA interface. In addition, the SATA interface ensures fast data transfer rates, small, inexpensive, long cable runs, and other benefits such as hot swap or RAID configurations.

Most host computers today have interfaces of the SATA standard. In addition, in order to store and efficiently manage a large amount of data, an external hard disk that exists outside the host computer and has a SATA standard interface is widely used. In order to use an external hard disk, a connection with a host computer was required, and a means of interconnecting the interface of the host computer and the interface of the external hard disk with a cable was needed. In the related art, for this purpose, the back side of the case of the host computer is disconnected, and a SATA cable is connected to the connector of the motherboard, and at the same time, the power source is connected to the host power source.

In addition, since the SATA cable must be directly connected to the connector inside the host computer case, in order to remove the SATA cable, the host computer case was to be unplugged and disconnected. Therefore, once the computer case was opened and the external hard disk was connected to the host computer, it was very difficult for the general user to freely detach the external hard disk from the host computer.

Today, hard disks have become smaller and palm-sized hard disks are widely used. Under these circumstances, the user wants to freely connect and use such a hard disk with the host computer, or to connect and use the hard disk with a host computer located elsewhere. Technical standards for carrying a hard disk and connecting it with a host computer at an arbitrary location have already been established, and the user's desire to use it is also strong. However, whenever the users want to connect the hard disk to the computer, there was the inconvenience of having to open the host computer case one by one, which is contrary to the above technical environment and user's desire.

On the other hand, in the case of a USB interface, the convenience of connecting and disconnecting a device through the host's USB port is ensured without any difficulty in connecting a device having a USB interface to the host computer. There is an advantage that can be supplied and data communication. Therefore, the USB terminal device does not need to be provided with a separate power supply device, and ease of detachment is guaranteed. Of course, eSATA has the advantage of being able to simply connect and disconnect. However, the eSATA interface has a problem in that an external hard disk must be additionally provided with a separate power supply because of a fatal disadvantage in that power of a host computer cannot be supplied to an external device.

The inventors of the present invention, after earnestly researching in order to solve the inconveniences and disadvantages of the prior art, have come to complete the present invention as a result. In particular, the invention invented a SATA cable that can be connected to the host and hard disk simply and easily.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a SATA cable which is particularly convenient and easily detachable in a SATA interface device that can easily detach an external device and a host computer having a SATA standard interface.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to connect the data cable and the power cable separately to connect a host and an external device using a SATA standard interface, which is not good in appearance and hassle of installation, which is to improve greatly. .

On the other hand, other unspecified objects of the present invention will be further considered within the range that can be easily inferred from the following detailed description and effects.

In order to achieve the above object, the first feature of the present invention is a SATA cable which is detachably attached to an external device having a SATA interface and a SATA interface connector installed in the host computer or internally:

A SATA connector for the host, comprising one end housing of a SATA cable connected to the SATA interface connector of the host computer, wherein the power connector and the data connector are integrated into one housing;

And another end housing of the SATA cable connected to the SATA interface connector of the external device, wherein the power connector and the data connector are integrated into one housing.

Also, preferably, the power connector and the data connector of the host SATA connector may be installed in parallel with each other in the longitudinal direction of the connector housing.

In addition, the power connector and the data connector of the host SATA connector may be installed side by side in the height direction of the connector housing.

In addition, a second aspect of the present invention is a SATA cable that is detachably attached to an external device having a SATA interface and an eSATA interface connector of a host computer, respectively:

A one end housing of the SATA cable connected to the SATA interface connector of the external device, comprising: a SATA connector for an external device in which a power connector and a data connector are integrated into one housing;

A branch housing for branching two cables connected to the host computer;

A one end housing of two cables branching from the branch housing, the host SATA connector being connected to an eSATA interface connector of the host computer for data communication; And

And the other end housing of the two cables branching from the branch housing, the USB connector being connected to the USB port of the host computer and receiving power.

In addition, when data communication is performed between the host computer and the external device, the branch housing may further include display means for indicating that data communication is being performed.

Also, the external device is preferably an external hard disk.

Through the above problem solving means, by using the cable of the present invention has the effect that the user can easily detach the hard disk and the host computer having a SATA standard interface. In other words, the user can freely connect and disconnect the SATA cable from the host computer, thereby maximizing the mobility and utility of the hard disk.

Moreover, in the past, the data cable and the power cable had to be separately connected, but since the cable can be easily disconnected, it is possible to eliminate the beauty of installation and the hassle of separation. .

In addition, the eSATA interface was not able to receive power from the host, but by using the USB port of the host, there is an advantage that the power can be efficiently supplied from the host.

Although effects not specifically mentioned in the specification of the present invention, it is added that the potential effects expected by the technical features of the present invention are treated as described in the specification of the present invention.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described specific details for the practice of the invention. In the following description of the present invention, when it is determined that the subject matter of the present invention may be unnecessarily obscured by those skilled in the art such as related well-known functions, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

1 to 3 schematically show an example of the configuration of the SATA interface system of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a SATA station 13 is installed inside the host computer 10, and a power cable of the SATA station 13 is connected to a power source 11 inside the host computer 10 to receive standard power, and a data cable It is connected to the motherboard 12 through the data communication. The SATA cable 20 connects the SATA box 30 and the SATA station 13 in which an external device (eg, an external hard disk) having a SATA interface is accommodated. In the example of FIG. 2, a SATA station 13 ′ is configured outside the host computer 10, and likewise, a power cable and a data cable are connected to the power supply 11 and the motherboard 12 of the host computer 10, respectively. . In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the SATA station 13 is located inside the host computer 10 and an accommodation portion for receiving a SATA cable is located at the front of the host computer 10, but the SATA station 13 in the embodiment of FIG. ″) May be located at the back of the host computer 10 to connect a SATA cable at the back of the computer.

SATA station 13 (13 ') 13 "and SATA box 30 add that the name is defined by the inventor in view of its function and role. The SATA station 13 (13 ') 13 ″ serves as a station to supply power from the host computer and be embedded or external to the host computer for data communication. The SATA box 30 accommodates an external device such as a first hard disk, and the SATA interface portion of the second external device may be opened to allow the connector of one end of the SATA cable 20 to be detached into the corresponding open area.

4 to 7 illustrate various embodiments of the SATA station of the present invention. Meanwhile, the connection structure of the SATA station cable in the host computer 10 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 is substantially the same in the embodiments of FIGS. 4 to 7.

First, the embodiment of Figures 4 and 5 shows a configuration example in which the SATA station has a bracket-shaped housing and is exposed to the back (or front) of the host computer case. As shown in FIG. 4, the SATA station 100 has a bracket housing for exposing and fixing the rear portion or the front portion of the case of the host computer. In general, the front of the case of the PC has a space for inserting a CD or DVD, a USB port, a flash memory card, etc., and also a free space for installing other devices in the host. In addition, there is a power supply unit and a plurality of other connecting means in the rear part of the PC case, and there is a predetermined free space as in the case front part. SATA station 100 may be installed in this free space. In this embodiment, the front portion of the bracket housing of the SATA station 100 has two open grooves 130 and 140, each of which can independently accommodate one SATA cable. have. To this end, each of the power connector portions 132 and 142 and the data connector portions 131 and 141 are formed and integrated in the grooves 130 and 140, respectively. That is, although the power connector parts 132 and 142 and the data connector parts 131 and 141 are physically divided, they are installed side by side in one groove and are integrated in that they accommodate a connector of one SATA cable. will be. The data connector parts 131 and 141 may have three grounds and four active data pins. In addition, the power connector 132, 142 may be composed of 15 pins, three ground pins, each of the three pins used to supply the voltage of 3.3V, 5V, 12V, and staggered spin up It may consist of pins used. Meanwhile, the SATA station 100 is connected to a host computer through two pairs of cables connected to the two grooves 130 and 140, respectively, and the cables are respectively the data cables 110 and 120 and the power cable 111. (121).

In the SATA station 100 of FIG. 4, the data connector part and the power connector part positioned in the grooves 130 and 140 are arranged side by side in the longitudinal direction of the groove, but in the SATA station 100 of FIG. 5, the groove 130 is formed. The data connector portion and the power connector portion located at 140 are arranged side by side in the height direction of the groove, for example, in a 'T' shape. According to the installation configuration of the grooves, the connector of the SATA cable detachably attached to the groove of FIG. 4 is longer than the connector of the SATA cable of FIG. 5, and the connector of the SATA cable detachably attached to the groove of FIG. 5 is the SATA of FIG. 4. It can be thicker than the cable's connector. In general, the case of configuring the connector groove as in the embodiment of FIG. 5 is useful in that the attachment and detachment is more stable, and also in that a larger number of grooves can be configured.

In the case of the SATA station embodiment of Figs. 6 and 7, a configuration example of the SATA station having a separate housing in the form of a box is shown.

4 and 5 have a bracket-shaped housing, so it is not easy to independently position the host computer. However, in the case of FIGS. 6 and 7, it is also easy to install a SATA station outside the host computer. 4 and 5, the groove may be installed inside the host computer and configured to expose the groove outside the host case at the front or rear surface of the host computer. The SATA station of FIG. 6 has the connector installation configuration of the grooves 130 and 140 as in the case of the SATA station of FIG. 4. Are located side by side. On the other hand, in the SATA station of FIG. 7, as in the case of the SATA station of FIG. 5, the connector installation configuration of the grooves 130 and 140 has the data connector parts 131 and 141 and the power connector part 132 in the height direction of the grooves. 142 is located side by side. As mentioned above, since the grooves 130 and 140 are for accommodating the connector of the SATA cable, the configuration difference of the grooves is directly related to the connector configuration of the SATA cable.

In addition, in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 6, two grooves 130 and 140 may be provided to connect two external devices to the host computer at the same time. In the SATA station 100 of FIG. 7, the grooves 130 and 140 may be connected to each other. 150 are provided so that three external devices can be simultaneously connected to the host computer.

As described above, since the slot of the SATA station is configured to be completely exposed to the outside of the host computer, the user can easily connect and disconnect the SATA cable to the slot of the SATA station. In addition, the ease of detachment does not stop here. In one groove of the SATA station, since the data connector and the power connector are integrally configured together (physically separated), there is an advantage in that the cable can be connected to and disconnected from the groove. In other words, the inconvenience of having to connect to the external hard disk using two cables, respectively. On the other hand, when a plurality of grooves of the SATA station is configured, there is an advantage in that a plurality of external devices can be connected to the host through the SATA standard interface.

The SATA station 100 of the present invention and the SATA box 300 of the present invention described above are novel configurations that are not known in the prior art. And since the first embodiment of the SATA cable 200 of the present invention is based on the SATA station 100 and the SATA box 300 as described above, it is also a novel configuration.

<First Embodiment of SATA Cable>

8 and 9 show an embodiment of the SATA cable 200 peculiar to the present invention. The common feature of the SATA cable 200 of the present invention is that one SATA connector 210 and an external device SATA connector 220 are configured at both ends of one SATA cable. In addition, the SATA connector 210 for the host is connected to the grooves 130 and 140 of the SATA station 100 as one connector housing, wherein the data connector 211 and the power connector 212 have a single connector. It is integrated into the housing.

The SATA cable 200 of FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a cable for attaching and detaching to the grooves 130 and 140 of the SATA station 100 of FIGS. 4 and 6, and the SATA cable 200 of FIG. 9 is illustrated in FIG. 5. And an embodiment of a cable for attaching and detaching the grooves 130 and 140 of the SATA station 100 of FIG. 7. That is, in the case of FIG. 8, the data connector 211 and the power connector 212 are configured side by side in the longitudinal direction of the connector housing. In the case of FIG. 9, the data connector 211 and the power connector 212 are arranged side by side. It is composed. The length of the host SATA connector 210 of the SATA cable 200 of FIG. 8 is longer than the connector of FIG. 9, while the thickness of the connector will be thinner than the connector of FIG. 9.

In addition, light emitting devices 218 and 222 such as LEDs may be installed in the connector housings at both ends of the cable 200, respectively. When downloading to an external device, the light emitting device 222 may flicker or light up, and when uploading to a host, the light emitting device 218 may flicker or light up.

Second Embodiment of SATA Cable

10 shows another embodiment of the SATA cable 200 of the present invention. In this embodiment, it is connected to a host computer having an eSATA standard interface. When the host supports eSATA, there is a problem in that a power connection must be made separately. The present invention solves this problem by receiving a power supply using a USB port. As shown in FIG. 10, the shape of the SATA connector 220 for the external device and the structure of the connection pin 221 are not different from those of the SATA cable of the first embodiment. However, the cable connected to the host is branched into two cables, that is, the data cable 213 and the power cable 215, based on the branch housing 230. The end of the data cable 213 is composed of a SATA connector 214 for the host, and is connected to the eSATA port of the host. The end of the power cable 214 consists of a USB connector 216, which is connected to a USB port of the host computer and receives power from the USB port.

Meanwhile, the branch housing 230 may include a light emitting device (not shown) to indicate that data communication is being performed when data communication is performed between the host computer and an external device. In particular, when the arrow-shaped light emitting devices 231 and 232 are installed on each other, and are downloaded to an external device, the light of the light emitting devices 232 indicating this is turned on, and the light emitting devices 231 are uploaded to a hard disk. ) Can be lit.

10 and 11 show a configuration example of the SATA box 300. As shown in FIG. 10, the SATA box 300 for accommodating a hard disk is made of a box made of synthetic resin or a metal member, and the SATA box 300 may be opened to accommodate or take out the hard disk 330. The opening and closing means may be provided. As illustrated in FIG. 11, the opening and closing means may be a buckle 310 provided on both sides of the SATA box 300, and may be replaced by other equivalent means. Meanwhile, a predetermined open area 320 is formed on one side of the SATA box 300. One end connector of the SATA cable is connected to the SATA interface of the hard disk 330 through the open area 320. It is also possible to directly connect a SATA cable directly to the hard disk 330 without the SATA box 300, but in this case there is a risk that the hard disk 330 is easily damaged, and therefore the important stored in the hard disk 330 There is a risk of data loss. However, the SATA box 300 of the present invention securely accommodates the hard disk 330, and the user only needs to detach the cable through the open area 320, so that the risk of hard disk damage or inconvenience in handling is eliminated. .

In the above, only an external hard disk is referred to as an external device having a SATA interface, but an optical disk drive (ODD), a solid state drive (SSD), and the like may also be included.

On the other hand, the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited by the embodiments explicitly described above. In addition, it should be noted that the protection scope of the present invention may not be limited due to obvious changes or substitutions in the technical field to which the present invention belongs.

1 is a view schematically showing an example of a SATA interface connection system according to the present invention.

2 is a view schematically showing another example of a SATA interface connection system according to the present invention.

3 is a view schematically showing another example of a SATA interface connection system according to the present invention.

4 to 7 are diagrams illustrating various embodiments of a SATA station according to the present invention.

8 and 9 illustrate an embodiment of a SATA cable according to the present invention.

10 is a view showing another embodiment of a SATA cable according to the present invention.

11 and 12 are diagrams illustrating a configuration of a SATA box according to the present invention.

The accompanying drawings show that they are illustrated as a reference for understanding the technical idea of the present invention, by which the scope of the present invention is not limited.

Claims (6)

SATA cables that attach to the host computer either internally or externally, and are attached to removable external devices with SATA interfaces: A SATA connector for the host, comprising one end housing of a SATA cable connected to the SATA interface connector of the host computer, wherein a power connector and a data connector are integrated into one housing; A SATA cable for connecting an external device to a host computer, including: a second end housing of a SATA cable connected to the SATA interface connector of the external device, wherein the power connector and the data connector are integrated into one housing. . The SATA cable for connecting a host computer and an external device according to claim 1, wherein the power connector and the data connector of the host SATA connector are installed side by side in the longitudinal direction of the connector housing. The SATA cable for connecting a host computer and an external device according to claim 1, wherein the power connector and the data connector of the host SATA connector are installed side by side in the height direction of the connector housing. SATA cables that plug into and out of an external device with an SATA interface and an eSATA interface connector on the host computer: A one end housing of a SATA cable connected to a SATA interface connector of the external device, the SATA connector for an external device having a power connector and a data connector integrated into one housing; A branch housing splitting the cable connected to the host computer into two; A one end housing of two cables branching from the branch housing, the host SATA connector being connected to an eSATA interface connector of the host computer for data communication; And The other end housing of the two cables branching from the branch housing, comprising: a USB connector connected to the USB port of the host computer, the power supply; including, the SATA cable for connecting the host computer and the external device. The method of claim 4, wherein When the data communication is made between the host computer and the external device, the branch housing further comprises display means for indicating that data communication is being made, a SATA cable connecting the host computer and the external device. 6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, A SATA cable connecting the external device with a host computer, wherein the external device is a hard disk.

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