There are two basic types of USB connectors that you will see in the world of computers and machine embroidery. Each has a specific purpose and often you will see both types on your embroidery machine. It is important to understand the difference between these two types if you wish to use them for transferring designs to and from your computer and/or removable storage devices.

The image below shows a Type "A" USB connector.

The Type "A" connector is commonly considered to be a smart connector. If you have this type connector on your machine, that means the manufacturer built in intelligence to allow the machine to access and read the designs on the device plugged into the connector.

Not only can you read designs from the device, but you can also save designs back to your storage device directly from your machine. An example might be when you have merged and aligned two designs in your machine. You may want to save your new design to a flash drive for later use in the same or different machine. Naturally this would only apply to flash drives or floppy drives, not CDROM drives.

If you wish to make a direct connection between your computer and embroidery machine, this is not the connection you would use. Instead, you would use the Type "B" connector shown below.

Type "B" connectors have no intelligence. They are dumb connectors designed for one-way communications only. You will see this same type connector on printers and other external devices designed for direct connection to a computer.

If you have this type connector on your embroidery machine, it is for connecting your machine directly to a computer. Your machine is totally indifferent to this connection and can not interact with it in any way.

Your computer, on the other hand, will recognize your machine as a removable storage device exactly the same way it recognizes your flash drive or other removable media. Using this connection, you are able to transfer designs from your computer directly to your machine. You are not able to save designs back to your computer through this connection.

To make a connection between your machine and your computer you will need a cable. Your cable should have a Type "B" connector on one end and a Type "A" on the opposite end. The end with the "A" connector will attach to one of your computer's USB ports. It can also be plugged into a USB hub should you have one installed on your computer. The results would be the same.

Both of these connectors serve a single purpose. They allow the transfer of designs to your embroidery machine. You can use one or both depending on your machine configuration. Both types can be connected at the same time with absolutely no problem.

Understanding the difference between these two types of USB connectors is important. Whether it be your computer or a removable storage device, in order to successfully transfer designs to your embroidery machine you must use the right connector or it simply won't work.