Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for an improved computer pointing device

US5793354A · kind A · utility

22Cited by
9References
18Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateMay 10, 1995
Grant dateAug 11, 1998
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 10, 2015

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F3/0334
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

There is provided a method and apparatus for an improved computer pointing device. The present invention facilitates positioning the computer cursor and includes a pointing device for providing coordinate input signals and a gain control device for providing gain signals, wherein gain is defeined as the ratio of the cursor movement along the y-axis and x-axis relative to the corresponding amount movement of the pointing device along the y-axis and x-axis. The coordinate input signals and gain signals are received by a processor. The processor is operative to execute a program that scales the coordinate input signals as a function of a gain value determined from the gain signal. The processor then outputs the scaled coordinate input signals in a form simulating a mouse output. The pointing device can be any computer peripheral device capable of providing coordinate input signals indicating an amount of movement along the y-axis and x-axis. The gain control device is any device capable of providing gain signals to a processor. One embodiment of the gain control device includes a variable resistor to manipulate the magnitude of the gain signal. The gain control device can also include…

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