Take Apart Tuesday No 9: USB Hub and Automatic Stapler.
Yes. These two items have been combined. I’m not sure if someone’s stapler got in a usb hub or someone’s usb hub got into a stapler. Curiously this product has been discontinued.
Radio Shack: Electric Stapler with USB Ports, Model: 63-308 | Catalog #: 63-308 Thanks Steve for bringing them in!
I’ve put most of the comments in the flickr stream:
The USB hub itself is really simple. It is unpowered. You can’t use it to force the stapler to staple (FAIL!). It uses the ALCOR AU6256 USB 2.0 HUB Controller. I had trouble finding the actual datasheet for this chip but there is a related one here. Once again howstuffworks.com has an article explaining USB hubs, etc. And so does Wikipedia. To sum up: You can have up to 127 devices in a USB network; The upstream port connects to the computer; The 4 other ports are the downstream ports.
Quoting Wikipedia:
During normal transmission, hubs are essentially transparent: data received from its upstream port is broadcast to all devices attached to its downstream ports; data received from a downstream port is generally forwarded to the upstream port only. This way, what is sent by the host is received by all hubs and devices, and what sent by a device is received by the host but not by the other devices (an exception is resume signaling).
It is the ALOCR chip that is handling this mediation.
Moving on to the other completely unrelated consmer electronic in this product – the stapler circuit consists of
- 4.5 V of power from 3 AAA batties
- A 220 uF cap across those leads
- A JK30 110 Fuse ( http://www.supertech-elec.com/electronic/PTC/JK30.htm)
- A FE-130 flat type toy motor (A discontinued model from Nichibo?)
- A 0.1 uF cap to reduce motor noise across the leads of the motor
- DM1 Micro switch with the lever arm removed working with the cam wheel to detect the paper & location of the stapler head.
- A micro push button of unknown make and model on the PCB board which presumably locks out the stapler mechanism when the drawer is open? No, no it doesn’t… so it appears to be an appendix from a different product? I’m looking for a better power supply and will update the post when I get an answer…
The USB hub is going to go in one project, the motor in another. The plastic went into the recycling bin.
Hello,
I bought one of these and it did not come with the manual. I have since found one online and also a youtube video. The staple drawer does not come out when the button is pressed on the back. I am guessing that it was used and the original buyer returned it because the staple holder will not eject.
Is there a way to eject the staple cartage drawer without ruining the device? I have tried using dental floss and pulling out the drawer and I didn’t have any luck. I was afraid if I pulled any harder, I would destroy the entire hub.
My only option is to remove the drawer unscrewing the hub and taking apart the components. However this is a pain every time for 50 staples or whatever they include in a cartage.
Please help!