Patent · US Active

Pointing device

US10379635B2 · kind B2 · utility

2Cited by
40References
21Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 5, 2014
Grant dateAug 13, 2019
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 5, 2034

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH03K17/97
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A pointing device (200) for controlling a computer user interface is presented. The pointing device has a housing (210) with a base part (212). It also has an elongate support member (12) and an elongate cursor navigation member (14), the cursor navigation member being movably arranged for rotation about the support member and translation along the support member, the cursor navigation member further being depressible with respect to the base part. A plurality of sensors (602, 604, 610) for detecting rotation, translation and depression of the cursor navigation member is provided, as is computer interface circuitry (608) for connection to a computer. A controller (606) is connected to the plurality of sensors, the controller being configured to cause transmission of data regarding rotation, translation and depression of the cursor navigation member to the computer through the computer interface circuitry. The plurality of sensors include contactless click sensors (610) for detecting deflection of the support member (12) caused when a user depresses the cursor navigation member. The controller is configured to monitor the outputs from the contactless click sensors to detect that the…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.