Structure of USB connector

Abstract

The utility model relates to a structure of a USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector, which comprises an outer shell, an output end insertion part, an output end conductor group, a plurality of output end high-speed differential signal conductor groups, a plurality of output end power supply conductor groups, a plurality of configuration channel conductor groups, a plurality of configuration channel circuit breaking blocks, a switching module, a control piece and an electronic marking wafer, when the electronic storage device is inserted into the output end insertion part at one end of the outer shell, high-speed information transmission and electrical conduction can be carried out by the output end high-speed differential signal conductor group and the output end power conductor group of the output end conductor group; therefore, the switching module can be switched from the state that the channel conductor group is originally configured to be conducted to the state that the channel conductor group is not conducted, so that the electronic mark wafer cannot act, and then firmware updating action can be smoothly carried out.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention provides a USB connector structure that utilizes a simple circuit-breaking mechanism to prevent the electronic tag chip from conducting normally, thereby enabling the firmware update of the electronic storage device to proceed smoothly. Background Technology

[0002] USB Type-C, also known as USB-C, is a hardware interface form of Universal Serial Bus (USB). Its most distinctive feature is that its top and bottom are completely identical, allowing users to work regardless of orientation when plugged in.

[0003] USB-C can be further divided into Universal Serial Bus 4 (USB4) and Thunderbolt 5 (TB5). USB4 requires USB Power Delivery (PD) support for power supply and is a USB power supply expansion standard that uses a USB cable to provide a maximum power of 100W or 240W. TB5, on the other hand, features bidirectional bandwidth of 80Gbps and unidirectional transmission speeds of up to 120Gbps for display applications, enabling faster electronic storage devices and external graphics cards.

[0004] However, the aforementioned USB4 and TB5 do have the following problems and shortcomings that need to be improved during use:

[0005] While USB4 and TB5 offer advantages such as high-speed data transfer and high current capacity, a significant drawback is the inability to directly perform firmware updates using the built-in drivers of Microsoft Windows or Apple Mac systems. This means firmware updates cannot be transferred to solid-state drives (SSDs) or memory card readers (electronic storage devices). The reason for this is that, for example, most electronic storage devices on the market currently operate using Non-Volatile Memory Protocol (NVMe) drivers. When operating in USB4 mode, the actual operating mode uses the system's NVMe driver to run the electronic storage device. However, USB4 itself has an electronic marker chip (E-Marker). The electronic tag chip (IC) is used to announce the material, transmission speed, and power support of the connector transmission line. This makes it impossible to directly update the firmware of the electronic storage device through the system's own driver. It is necessary to rewrite the system driver so that the driver can connect to the electronic storage device and perform read and write operations. The user-written firmware can also be transmitted to the electronic storage device through the driver communication protocol. However, such rewriting process is too complicated, cumbersome, and impractical, and consumes a lot of manpower and time.

[0006] Therefore, how to enable users to enjoy high-speed transmission in the USB4 environment and update the firmware of electronic storage devices through the system's own driver is the direction that the creator of this utility model and related manufacturers in this industry want to research and improve. Utility Model Content

[0007] In view of the above-mentioned shortcomings, the applicant of this utility model collected relevant information and, after continuous attempts and modifications, designed this USB connector structure that uses a simple circuit breaking mechanism to prevent the electronic tag chip from conducting, thereby enabling the firmware update of the electronic storage device to proceed smoothly.

[0008] The main purpose of this invention is to disconnect the power path from the configuration channel conductor group to the electronic tag chip by designing a channel disconnection block and a switching module, so that the electronic tag chip cannot operate and the system cannot recognize the existence of the electronic tag chip. In this way, the firmware update operation of the electronic storage device can be performed by using the system's built-in driver.

[0009] The structure of this utility model that achieves the above-mentioned main objectives includes a housing with an output terminal insertion part at one end. The housing contains an output terminal conductor group located at the output terminal insertion part. The output terminal conductor group includes several output high-speed differential signal conductor groups, several output power conductor groups, and several configuration channel conductor groups. In addition, the housing contains a configuration channel disconnection block and a power switching module that can open or close the configuration channel conductor group as needed. The switching module has a control element for the user to control the operation of the switching module. The housing contains an electronic marker chip electrically connected to the configuration channel conductor group so that the switching module can determine whether to conduct or block the power flowing to the electronic marker chip.

[0010] When the USB connector of this invention is inserted into the counterpart connector using the output insertion part, the high-speed differential signal conductor group, the power conductor group, and the configuration channel conductor group at the output end start to operate and transmit high-speed signals and high current. When the user wants to update the firmware of the electronic storage device, the control of the switching module can be operated to disconnect the conduction path of the configuration channel conductor group, so that the electronic tag chip cannot operate normally. In this way, after connecting the output insertion part to the electronic storage device, the firmware update of the electronic storage device can be performed smoothly.

[0011] By employing the above-mentioned technology, the common problem of not being able to directly perform firmware updates through the system's built-in drivers can be overcome, achieving the advantages described above for this utility model. Attached Figure Description

[0012] Figure 1 This is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0013] Figure 2 This is a front view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0014] Figure 3 This is a circuit diagram showing the disconnection of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0015] Figure 4 This is a switching action diagram of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0016] Figure 5 This is a circuit diagram of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0017] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram illustrating a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] Figure label:

[0019] Outer shell………··1

[0020] Output insertion section... 11

[0021] Output conductor group...2

[0022] Output high-speed differential signal conductor group ··21

[0023] Output power conductor group...22

[0024] Configure channel disconnection block...3

[0025] Electronically labeled chips...4

[0026] Configuration of channel conductor group······5

[0027] Electronic storage devices·······6

[0028] Opponent connector…61

[0029] Switching modules... 7

[0030] Control components………··71

[0031] Slide...711

[0032] Switch…………712 Detailed Implementation

[0033] To achieve the above objectives and effects, the technical means and structure adopted by this utility model are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in order to provide a complete understanding of the preferred embodiments of this utility model.

[0034] Please refer to Figures 1 to 6 The figure shown is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, illustrating the following:

[0035] The outer casing 1 has an output insertion part 11 at one end;

[0036] The output conductor group 2, located inside the housing 1 and at the output insertion part 11, has several output high-speed differential signal conductor groups 21, several output power conductor groups 22 disposed between each output high-speed differential signal conductor group 21, and several configuration channel conductor groups 5 (Configuration Channel, CC) disposed on one side of each output power conductor group 22. The configuration channel conductor group 5 is in the form of a terminal or bare copper area.

[0037] Several configuration channel disconnection blocks 3 are located inside the outer casing 1 and on each configuration channel conductor group 5. Each configuration channel disconnection block 3 is provided with a power switching module 7 that can open or close the circuit of each configuration channel conductor group 5 as needed.

[0038] A control element 71, mounted on the switching module 7, for the user to control the operation of the switching module 7; and

[0039] An electronic marker chip 4 (E-MarkerIC) is disposed inside the housing 1 and electrically connected to each configured channel conductor group 5, so that the power supply flowing to the electronic marker chip 4 can be turned on or off by the switching module 7.

[0040] The output insertion part 11 is for insertion into the counterpart connector 61 disposed on the electronic storage device 6, and the counterpart connector 61 and the output conductor group 2 are connectors that conform to one of the USB4 or TB5 (Thunderbolt 5) communication protocols.

[0041] Among them, the control element 71 is either a slide switch or a push-button switch.

[0042] When the control component 71 is a sliding switch, it has a slide groove 711 and a switch 712 movably disposed on the slide groove 711. The switch 712 is connected to the switching module 7. In this embodiment, a sliding switch is used as an example.

[0043] Among them, the output insertion part 11 is a convex body.

[0044] In this embodiment, the high-speed differential signal conductor group 21 at each output terminal, the power supply conductor group 22 at each output terminal, and the configured channel conductor group 5 are elastic conductive metals commonly used in male connectors.

[0045] Among them, each configured channel circuit breaker block 3 is a non-conductive area and can be made of plastic.

[0046] Among them, the switching module 7 is a circuit switcher.

[0047] When a user needs to use the counterpart connector 61 for high-speed signal transmission, they can directly connect the output insertion part 11 to the counterpart connector 61 on the electronic storage device 6 and use the electronic tag chip 4 to achieve USB4 transmission functionality. If the user needs to update the firmware of the electronic storage device 6, the user only needs to toggle the switch 712, causing the switch 712 to move on the slide 711, thereby causing the switching module 7 to switch the originally configured channel conductor group 5 from a conducting state to a non-conducting state. When in the non-conducting state, the electronic tag chip 4 cannot operate normally because there is no power flowing through it. Therefore, the electronic tag chip 4 cannot generate announcement information (such as the material of the transmission line, transmission speed, supported power, etc.), so the system will not read the announcement information, which is equivalent to downgrading the counterpart connector 61 from the original USB4 standard to the USB3 standard. In this way, the output insertion part 11 Once connected to the electronic storage device 6, the system can directly use the built-in driver to update the firmware of the electronic storage device 6, allowing users to switch between USB4 and USB3 functions, or TB5 and USB3 functions as needed, which is very convenient overall.

[0048] In this embodiment, the electronic storage device 6 can be one of a personal computer (PC), a Macintosh computer (MAC), or a notebook computer (NB).

[0049] However, the above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present utility model and should not be construed as limiting the patent scope of the present utility model. Any simple modifications and equivalent structural changes made by using the contents of the present utility model specification and drawings as examples should also be included in the patent scope of the present utility model. This is hereby declared.

Claims

1. A structure for a USB connector, characterized in that, include: The outer casing has an output insertion part at one end; The output conductor group disposed within the housing and located at the output insertion part has several output high-speed differential signal conductor groups, several output power conductor groups disposed between each of the output high-speed differential signal conductor groups, and several configuration channel conductor groups disposed on one side of each of the output power conductor groups. Several configuration channel disconnection blocks are disposed within the housing and located on each configuration channel conductor group. Each configuration channel disconnection block is provided with a power switching module that can open or disconnect each configuration channel conductor group as needed. A control element located on the switching module for the user to control the operation of the switching module; and An electronic tag chip disposed within the housing and electrically connected to each of the configured channel conductor groups is configured to have its power supply to be turned on or off by the switching module.

2. The structure of the USB connector as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The output insertion section is for insertion of the counterpart connector, and the counterpart connector and the output conductor group are connectors that conform to either USB4 or TB5 (Thunderbolt 5) communication protocols.

3. The structure of the USB connector as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The control element is either a slide switch or a push-button switch.

4. The structure of the USB connector as described in claim 3, characterized in that, When the control element is a sliding switch, it has a slide groove and a switch movably disposed on the slide groove, and the switch is connected to the switching module.

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