Patent · US Expired

Cursor apparatus for interactive graphic display system

US4354102A · kind A · utility

11Cited by
3References
9Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateNov 13, 1980
Grant dateOct 12, 1982
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 13, 2000

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F3/038
  • WIPO fieldOptics
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

Graphic data entry in an interactive graphic display system is achieved by means of an apparatus that provides automatic centering of a pointing laser beam on a hand held cursor. The graphic display system provides a means for displaying and comparing through superposition full size overlaid graphical data and projected graphical data on a common display screen. It includes a steerable pointing laser the beam of which scans the display screen in response to a laser beam deflection circuit. The system also includes laser beam position sensing and indicating circuits which accurately measure the laser beam position. Centering of the laser beam on the cursor at the display screen is accomplished by dithering the beam uniformly about its average position in a discrete dither pattern and utilizing the dither pattern to determine misalignment of the beam's average position with respect to the center of the cursor. The cursor includes photo detector elements that are geometrically configured to conform to the dither pattern so that signals derived from an eccentric relationship of the beam dither pattern and the photo detector element configuration can be processed to provide beam misalig…

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