The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 31, 1985
Filed:
Sep. 23, 1983
Applicant:
Inventors:
Dean A Hovey, Los Altos, CA (US);
Douglas R Grundstrom, San Jose, CA (US);
James R Yurchenco, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Assignee:
Trace Systems, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G01V / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
250221 ; 7447 / ; 33 / ; 340710 ; 2502 / ;
Abstract
An input apparatus for use with a computer, including a housing having a top aperture and a bottom aperture, a spherical member supported in the housing so that a portion thereof protrudes through the top and bottom apertures, and encoding means for transforming the motion of the ball into computer compatible signals, wherein the input apparatus can be moved over a surface, so as to function as a mouse, or can be supported by its housing, with motive force applied to the portion of the spherical member protruding from the top aperture, so as to function as a trackball.