Method for operating an input device and a laptop computer
US6205021A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 26, 1998 |
| Grant date | Mar 20, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 26, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG05G2009/0474
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method for operating an input device and a laptop computer. The input device may be attached to or detached from the laptop computer and may be accessed by a user in either the attached or detached positions. The user may secure the laptop computer in a stowed configuration without removing the input device and may access the input device immediately upon re-positioning the computer from the stowed configuration to an unstowed configuration. The user may access the input device by manipulating a joystick, touch pad or rotatable sphere. In one embodiment, the user may rotate the rotatable sphere by moving it with the fingers when the input device is attached, and by inverting the input device and moving the input device across a flat surface when the input device is detached.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.