Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Alan W McRobert

Steven T Kaneko

Eric H Michelman

Glade B Bacon

Timothy T Brewer

Kenneth R Robertson

Anthony R Claflin

Paul E Henderson, Jr

A computer input device uses a standard mouse design and includes at least one thumb wheel or roller to provide three-dimensional cursor positioning. Left and right rollers, for use by left- and right-handed users, protrude from left and right sides of a standard mouse. The left and right rollers are axially mounted on left and right drive shafts that extend axially through left and right encoder wheels, respectively. Each encoder wheel forms part of a transducer for producing signals indicating movement or rotation of the wheel. These signals can be used for calculating cursor movement or for various other purposes in computer software applications. Alternatively, the rollers are coupled to switches or a single roller protrudes from the top of the mouse.

3-D cursor positioning device

A system for preventing inadvertent wrapping of a cursor generated on a computer display detects the location of the cursor in proximity with a border of the display and determines whether a user actually intends the cursor to wrap to the opposite side of the display. The system considers a variety of factors to determine whether the user actually intends to wrap the cursor. The time for which the user moves the cursor against the border, the distance that the cursor would have moved but for the border, and the velocity or acceleration with which the cursor approaches the border can all be considered by the system in determining whether or not to permit the wrapping of the cursor. The system automatically generates an indicator signal to permit the cursor to wrap from one side of the display to the opposite side. The user can select the size of the border and determine whether the border will have a color different from the normal display background color to visually indicate the location of the border to the user. The system can selectively enable and disable the border in response to a variety of factors. The user can manually generate the indicator signal by activating a command signal input. The system can operate in a graphical environment where a plurality of display windows are shown on the computer display. The system defines a border for each window to prevent the inadvertent wrapping of the cursor.

System and method for computer cursor control

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Bothell, WA, United States of America

Alan W McRobert