Cursor control device with programmable preset cursor positions
US5367631A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 14, 1992 |
| Grant date | Nov 22, 1994 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 14, 2012 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T74/20201
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and apparatus for instantaneously and discontinuously moving the cursor in a computer system to any one of a plurality of user-selected screen positions is disclosed. In many known computer systems, a cursor control device known as a mouse is used to move and manipulate the position of the display's cursor. In a first preferred embodiment of the present invention, X- and Y-axis position sensing means are incorporated into the mouse's known electronics. A program correlates a plurality of X- and Y-axis mouse positions with a plurality of cursor positions on the display. When the computer user moves the cursor control device into any one of these programmed positions, the cursor on the display automatically moves to the predetermined position. In addition, less extreme motion of the mouse will result in a rate of cursor movement across the screen which increases linearly with the degree of tilt, up to the point where a predefined threshold is reached, at which time the cursor automatically and discontinuously jumps to the user's predefined screen location (s).
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.